Abd al-Rauf ibn Ali al-Fansuri al-Sinkili (spelling variation Abdurrauf Singkil, 1615–1693 CE) was a renowned Islamic scholar, spiritual leader of the Shattariyya tariqa and mufti of the Aceh Sultanate.[1][2] He was a confidant of Sultana Safiat al-Din and first to spread the Shattari Sufi order in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.[2] Many of his students became disseminators of Islam.[3] He is commonly known as Sheikh Abd al-Rauf al-Sinkili[4] and posthumously as Teungku Syiah Kuala (Acehnese: "Sheikh in the Estuary").[5]
Al-Sinkili was believed to be a native of Singkil, a town on the western coast of Aceh. Beside being called Al-Sinkili, his other attribution (Arabic: nisba) was Al-Fansuri, relating him to the town of Barus. He could be related to another prominent Sufi poet and writer from that town, Hamzah Fansuri.[1][3]