The Ever Changing Malayonesian Cosmological Doctrines …
By: Prof Emeritus Shaharir Mohd Zain – A system of belief of a group of people on anything in the universe (the seen and the unseen) including the origin of themselves, the universe and the configuration of all objects (heavenly bodies) in the universe is considered as the cosmology of the people concerned. Malayonesian people are roughly the Southeast Asian natives whose mother tongue are one of the languages generically named Austronesian language and their lingua franca is one of the Austronesian language named Malay especially before 20th century, and hence the presence of Malay in the word Malayonesia and Malayonesian. The Malayonesian cosmological doctrines here are based on the study of the two Malay inscriptions, the Dong Yen Chau (Vietnam) c. 400 AD, the Talang Tuwo, Palembang (Sumatera, Indonesia) 606S/684 AD, a traditional Malayonesian folklores compiled by Nakula in 1977, a well known best seller Malay manuscript entitled Taj al-Muluk edited by Syaikh Ismail Aceh/al-Asyi in 1893 (which contains the two well known manuscripts, Kejadian Tujuh Petala Langit dan Bumi, by Nur al-Dyn al-Ranyry/Nuruddin al-Raniri (originally written in 1639) dan Siraj al-Zhalam by Syaikh Abbas bin Muhammad Aceh/al-Asyi/Kuta Karang written in 1849 M besides his own essays on Malay medicines, mysticism and predictions). Other sources are the two well known temples in Jawa (Indonesia) the 8th century Candi Borobudur and the 9th century Candi Prambanan, the two oldest Mosques In Indonesia and Malaysia respectively (the 15th century Masjid Demak and the Masjid Kampung Laut), and our own observation on modern Malayonesian cosmology.
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