Keramat (shrine)

A keramat, or kramat, is a type of shrine originally located in the Malay Peninsula and usually associated with pseudo-Islamic beliefs. A typical shrine consists of a grave that is venerated by devotees. Such shrines can be found primarily in Singapore and Indonesia, with a lesser extent in Malaysia and South Africa. Keramat can be situated in cemeteries, mosques and even by itself as roadside shrines.

The word "keramat" is derived from the Arabic word Karāmāt, which refers to miracles performed by a Muslim saint.^[1][2][3] In classical Islamic tradition, karamat can only be performed by people who are pious, who are known as the Awliya.^[4][5] Keramat is also considered to be synonymous with the subcontinental dargâh, which are similarly established enshrined graves that are present throughout South Asia.

A common characteristic shared by most (if not all) keramats is that they involve venerating a grave.^[1][2][3] A mausoleum may be built around the grave, although this is not the case for all keramat. Food and money can be left by devotees as offerings.^[2] The grave is usually also taken care of by a volunteer custodian, who may commission repair work for tombstones as well as manage the site of the grave.^[1][3][6]

In Singapore and Indonesia, keramats can be found not only in cemeteries; but lone graves can be found along sidewalks, pavements, beside civilian buildings, inside jungles, and unusually even in the center of the road.^[1][2][3][7]

Some keramats, especially the ones in jungles, are not venerated graves; but much rather, they are mere mounds of soil that are believed to have spiritual affiliations.^[3][8]

Keramats used to be commonplace in Singapore until the 1970s when redevelopment works caused most of them to be exhumed and their remains transferred to the Muslim parts of the larger Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.^[6] Only eight publicly accessible keramat shrines remain, those being Habib Noh at Shenton Way, Sharifah Rogayah at Duxton Plain Park, Bukit Kasita within the Bukit Purmei estate, Radin Mas Ayu at Telok Blangah, Tok Lasam and Kubur Kassim at Siglap, Iskandar Shah at Fort Canning and Sharif Abdul Rahman on Kusu Island.^[2][6] These shrines still receive visitors from both locals and afar, and are very active, for example the keramat of Habib Noh being located in the grounds of Masjid Haji Muhammad Salih, a mainstream mosque.^[9]

Not all enshrined graves are considered as keramat. The enshrined tomb of Khwaja Habibullah Shah within the Kubur Kassim cemetery complex is not considered as a keramat, with visitors rejecting such terms and instead treating it as a regular grave.^[6] Not all keramat contain human remains either; the keramat of Sharifah Rogayah at Duxton Plains Park is merely a cenotaph built to honour her, while the real grave is at the cemetery of the grand mosque of Bukit Jelutong in Shah Alam.^[10] Another example would be the Keramat Iskandar Shah, which despite being known by Sir Stamford Raffles as a tomb of a Malay king, it is merely a symbolic tomb-shaped memorial dedicated to Parameswara, the founder of Malacca.^[11][12]

Keramats are commonplace in Indonesia and can be found in cemeteries and mosques.^[13][14][15] These shrines are built around the graves of Muslim scholars and ascetics, known as Wali.^[13][14][15] Prominent shrines in Indonesia include the tombs of the Wali Songo, who are believed to be responsible for spreading Islam in Indonesia.^[15] Some keramat are believed to date back to the Umayyad era, such as the tomb of Sheikh Mahmud in Papan Tinggi.^[13] There are keramat graves which are of unusual length, such as the tomb of Prince Jaka Lekana in the village of Sunan Drajat, which is nine metres long.^[16]

The popularity of keramats have resulted in the creation of fake graves for profits. One example was a shrine in Cianjur, which was razed in 2025 after a resident admitted there was no evidence of any burials in the area.^[17][18] In the same year, a mausoleum belonging to an uncertain Mbah Sobari in Ponorogo was demolished by residents as the real grave was located elsewhere.^[19]

Keramat shrines, known locally as kramat, have a presence in South Africa amongst the Cape Malays. They are elaborate mausoleums built around the tombs of Muslim scholars.^[20][21] One such example is the kramat of Sheikh Yusuf, built on the grave of Yusuf al-Makassari, a Muslim scholar from Makassar who was exiled to South Africa in the 17th century by the Dutch colonialists.^[22][23] The kramat of Sheikh Yusuf is a very popular destination for most Cape Malays, who venerate and honour the saint.^[22][23] A row of ten kramats in Cape Town, known as the "Circle of Kramats" are also considered to be heritage sites.^[21][23][24]

Keramats have made a presence in Malaysia, such as the shrine of Dato Koyah in Penang and Tok Janggut in Kuala Lumpur.^[25] A town in Malaysia is also called Kampung Datuk Keramat, which derives its name from an enshrined grave in the area belonging to a deceased Muslim scholar who was regarded as a saint and ascetic.^[26] However, enshrined graves are generally not considered to be keramat, with the Islamic councils of most Malaysian states threatening to demolish shrines if they become places for worshipping the graves.^[2]

Worship and veneration of keramat is considered to be adapted from pre-Islamic animist beliefs; traditions that native Malays did not give up even after converting to Sunni Islam.^[2][3][8] Most keramat belong to deceased Muslim personalities, which include scholars, mystics and even rulers and people of royalty.^[2] In a rare case, a keramat belonging to a Sikh saint at Outram was once a venerated spot for the Sikh community in Singapore, before it was demolished in 1966 and the remains cremated.^[6]

Non-Muslims are known to visit keramats, either to pay respects or to worship the deceased.^[1][3][27] For example, the Keramat Kusu is also an interfaith hub, with devotees of different backgrounds including both Taoist and Hindus worshipping the shrine and asking it for blessings.^[28][29] It is also reported that there have been Chinese devotees at the shrine of Habib Syed Ismail before its exhumation in the 1990s.^[6] Keramat Iskandar Shah is also a tourist attraction in Fort Canning, however, religious rituals are not allowed to be carried out at the site.^[6] The Borobudur Temple in Indonesia is considered a "keramat" by some, who believe it dates back to biblical times.^[30]

In mainstream Sunni Islam, grave veneration is generally forbidden. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) compares grave veneration to the idol worship of the polytheistic Meccans, in his work Mafāṭīḥ al-ghayb.^[31] Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (d. 1071) narrated a Hadith which stated that those who build around graves and venerate them will be the "worst to Allah on the day of resurrection."^[32] Hanbali theologian Ibn Qudamah (d. 1223) reported that taking graves as a special place for prayer resembles the veneration of idols by prostrating to them and coming near to them.^[33] The founder of the Shafi'i school of thought, Imam al-Shafi'i, was opposed to building shrines and mausoleums around graves, although later Shafi'i scholars rescinded this fatwa and allowed construction of small, but not lavish, mausoleums.^[34][35]

Opposition to the mainstream Islamic view has been held by Sunni scholars as well. Ismail Haqqi Bursevi (d. 1725) deemed it permissible to build a mosque over the grave of a deceased person.^[36] Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi (d. 1921) agreed that it was permissible to build shrines around the graves and venerate them; Barelwi himself was buried in a large mosque and mausoleum complex after his death.^[37][38] Dār al-Iftā' al-Miṣriyya, an Egyptian committee for scholarly research, states that it is permissible to build shrines over graves as long as the shrine or mausoleum building is not meant to be extravagant, basing this ruling on an older statement of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi.^[31][39] Gibril Fouad Haddad recommended that graves of the pious be decorated and venerated with shrines in order to mark them for their followers.^[40] Sanaullah Panipati (d. 1847) narrates a statement that it is recommended for one to pray in a mosque which is adjoined with tombs of Awliya.^[41]

The Chinese-Malay folk religious worship of Datuk Keramat, later called Datuk Gong, is an evolution of the keramat concept that involves Chinese shrines representing a Malay Muslim old man, known as a Datuk.^[42][43] The worship of Datuk Keramat is still largely present amongst local Chinese in Malaysia.^[42][43] In 1987, the Datuk Keramat faith in Singapore was slightly clamped down when temple administrators were ordered to remove the Islamic symbols from shrines.^[44] The Keramat Kusu shrine, however, still exists to this day.

• Dargâh
• Maqām
• Mazār
• Maqbara
• Gongbei
• Türbe