Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development

Home , New Rumi Spelling, Official script

International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 7, July 2020, pp. 68-78, Article ID: IJM_11_07_008 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7 ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 DOI: 10.34218/IJM.11.7.2020.008

JAWI SCRIPT AND THE MALAY SOCIETY: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Farhanah Abdullah, Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman*, Abdul Manan Ali, Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir Centre for Fundamental and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia

Fadzli Adam Centre for Islamic Product and Malay Civilization (INSPIRE), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Terengganu, Malaysia *Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT Jawi script is always associated with the identity of the Malay community. Since decades, Jawi script has been growing rapidly among the Malay community and is associated with the mastery of the Quranic recitation. This is because most of the Jawi script uses Arabic letters in the Quran with some modification to suit the Malay pronunciation to some extents. Lately, there are some issues related to Jawi script and writing. The disadvantages of writing and reading Jawi writings amongst new generation of Malay Muslims are quite significant. This also affects the reading of the Qur'an either among the young or old generations. Several studies conducted confirm the issue. This paper will therefore discuss the development of Jawi script and its association with the Malay community. Some of the research findings related to the study on Jawi writings will be analyzed, besides looking at the future prospects of the Jawi script in Malaysian context. The study uses secondary data related to Jawi scripts and writings coupled with a survey on selected secondary school students‟ mastery of writing and reading Jawi script. All the data are analyzed and presented according to specific themes. Results of the study show that there are still positive prospects for Jawi writing in Malaysia. Several studies conducted found that student achievement in reading Jawi is good. While the aspect of writing Jawi letters, they face problems with relatively low achievement. Therefore, new approaches need to be done to preserve this Malay heritage related to Jawi script which has long considered part of the identity of the Malays. Key words: Jawi Script, Malay Identity, Islamic Heritage

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 68 [email protected] Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development

Cite this Article: Farhanah Abdullah, Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, Abdul Manan Ali, Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir and Fadzli Adam, Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development, International Journal of Management, 11(7), 2020, pp. 68-78. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7

1. INTRODUCTION Before describing the nature and contribution of Jawi script, it is important to understand the meaning of the word Jawi. According to Sejarah Bahasa Melayu (Young Seok, 1990), the word “Jawi” derived from the Arabic language “Jawah”. The word Jawi also associated with the races in Southeast Asia encompassing the Malay race, Champa, Patani, Aceh, Java, Minangkabau, Mandailing, Sundanese, Bugis, Banjar, Lombok, Philippines, and other states. According to Winstedt (1958) and Yusoff (2005), the Jawi script was not directly descended from the Arabs, but the Malays adopted it from the Perso-Arabic script. However, Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas (2011) was on a view that, the Jawi script is directly descended from the Arabic script brought by the Arab missionaries and contained 28 Arabic letters and 5 letters representing the Malay phenome which are absent in the Arabic. The five letters are “cha”, “pa”, “nga”, “ga”, and “nya”. The examples of the Jawi script is illustrated in the table as below:

Table 1 Table of Jawi script

Unlike other races, the Malay is one of the few races that has familiar background with the Jawi script. When the Malay language written using Arabic characters, it was known as the Jawi script. However, Jawi script and Jawi language are designed to write the Malay language only. Other languages of ethnicities are not applicable for the Arabic language. This shows that the Jawi script is specifically created to accommodate the Malay language. Severing the Malay language from the Jawi script would have extremely great damages for the Malay language in that the generation raised to read only the Latin language. This leads to the lack of access within Malays themselves to traditional Malay literature, intellectual, scientific and religious teachings which had been contributed by the Malay civilization. Islam has grown in the Malay Archipelago through the Jawi script for a long time ago. Malay language and literature also flourished through the use of Jawi script amongst the scholars. Thus, Jawi script played an important role when it was widely used to write religious books, stories, laws, and other official documents. The Malay language has been enriched with the words and originated term from Arabic language in the process of

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 69 [email protected] Farhanah Abdullah, Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, Abdul Manan Ali, Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir and Fadzli Adam knowledge transfer. This development can be seen in books and literary works of previous scholar in their field and expertise. There are some Muslim scholars who travel to the Middle East to enhance their religious knowledge. This led to the emergence of many Islamic leaders and Islamic scholars who later, contributed to the development of scientific works within Muslim communities. As a result, many scholars from the Malay Archipelago who managed to produce Jawi-written books to spread knowledge and other God's commandments. The abilities of Muslim scholars in the past to write on ʿAqīdah (Islamic Belief) and Tawḥīd (Oneness of God) are admirable. Among those works are (Abdullah, 2014):  Faridat al-Fara'id (1895 M) written by Sheikh Ahmad bin Muhammad Zain al- Fathani  'Aqidatun Najin (1890 M) written by Sheikh Zainal Abidin bin Muhammad al-Fathani  Ilmu tawḥīd (1622 M) written by Ahmad bin Aminuddin Qadhi (Kedah)  Durarul Fara‟id bisyarhil „Aqaid (1635 M) written by Sheikh Nuruddin ar-Raniri  Bidayatul Hidayah (1757 M) written by Syeikh Muhammad Zain bin Faqih Jalaluddin Aceh  Zahratul Murid fi Bayani Kalimatit Tauhid (1764 M) written by Sheikh Abdus Shamad al-Falimbani  Tuhfatur Raghibin fi Bayani Haqiqati Imanil Mukminin wa Yufsiduhu min Riddatil Murtaddin (1774 M) written by Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad bin Abdullah al-Banjari.  Iqdatul Jawahir (1831 M) written by Sheikh Daud bin Abdullah al-Fathani  Iqdul Juman fi 'Aqaidil Iman (1888 M) written by Sheikh Ahmad al-Fathani From the lists mentioned above, it was clear that Jawi script and its role in producing many Jawi works contributed to the Islamic knowledge and learning foundation. However, status of Jawi script is no longer outstanding as before. This can be seen from the current scenario where many Jawi books cannot compete for its‟ publications and have little support from the related agencies. Many Jawi books have shut down their publishing operations due to the competition with contemporary magazines. It is very disappointing for the publication of Jawi to be disengaged by the Malay Muslims themselves which lead to deterioration among the general public‟s interest to explore and learn Jawi for Islamic knowledge and exploring traditional Malay cultures mostly written in Jawi. In addition, the lack of interest in Jawi scripts amongst younger generations also contributes to the negative perception of Jawi scripts and the lack of Jawi books in market. This paper will therefore discuss the development of Jawi script and its association with the Malay community. Some of the findings related to the study on Jawi writings will be analyzed, besides looking at the future prospect of Jawi script and writing in the Malaysian context based on the recent research conducted on the subject.

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE As mentioned earlier, Jawi is an Arabic alphabet for writing Malay and several other languages in Southeast Asia. Jawi used to be the standard script for the Malay language but has since been replaced by roman alphabet called Rumi. Jawi has since been relegated to a script used for religious, cultural and some administrative purposes amongst the Malay since decades ago. The emergence of many Jawi books has been widely recorded throughout the history of the Malay Archipelago. Some of them are specific to certain areas such as aqidah, fiqh, hadith, history, and other Malay literatures. To certain extents, traditional Jawi works known

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 70 [email protected] Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development as Kitab-kitab Jawi also contributed to science and technology. The spread of Islam and the teachings of Islam to the local community is greatly played by Muslim scholars through Jawi writing as their main tool. Other than science and technology, Jawi also contributes to religious aspects (Sulaiman, A., & Al-Edrus, S. M. D., 2012). Jawi script also plays a vital role in the spread of knowledge and Islamic civilization especially in the ASEAN region (Ibrahim, 2015). As Malay Muslims do not understand the Arabic language, Jawi books have become the main source of reference for them to understand the knowledge of faith, religious laws, morals, and many more (Bruinessen, 1990). The changes in the lives of the Malay community in terms of religiosity and view of life are primarily due to Jawi writings‟ roles as an important catalyst (Badaruddin, 2012). Apart from Jawi books, there are also Jawi magazines and newspapers that show concern about religious and non-religious knowledge. Abdullah, A. R. T., & Salleh, A. R. (2015) investigated the economic issues of the Malay community in Malay newspapers such as Saudara, Majalah Guru, Majlis, Al-Ikhwan, and Utusan Melayu. The discussions mainly revolve around the importance of Malay newspapers in expressing the connection of economic issues with the Malay community in 1930s. Their research proposed for Muslims to participate in small businesses and be more progressive and collective. The discussion helps the public and the country to improve the economy. More importantly, Jawi writings are not limited to religious knowledge only, but also comprises many aspects of knowledge. This paper will focus on Jawi script and its development among the Malay community besides looking into its future prospect based on recent study on the writing and reading of Jawi script among new Malay generations. There is no specific research conducted yet on learning Jawi through roman letters. Rather, some of the previous studies focused on conventional approaches related mostly on students' knowledge and mastery of jawi. Their discussions also associated with tools and methods of jawi teaching and time allocated for teachers to focus on students‟ jawi skills. In addition, factors contributing to mastery of jawi writing and reading are also emphasized (Balkhis 1987) besides, issues on jawi reading and writing which are embedded only in subjects related to Islamic Education (Abdul Hamid, 1972). Apart from understanding jawi script and its importance within the Malay community, this paper will also look into some findings on students mastery of writing and reading Jawi through new approach of learning jawi where each student will need to know jawi letters and roman letters and its‟ pronunciation in the learning process.

3. METHODS This study involves analysis of secondary data and documents related to the subject. The data was gathered from library research covering journal articles, books, Jawi manuscripts and magazines related to the subject. For the survey, 370 secondary school students representing schools from four zones in Malaysia namely the East, West, North and South Zones were involved in written and reading Jawi tests. All the data are organized and analysed to draw conclusions on the theme specified to the study.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1. Jawi Script, Writings and the Malay Community Before the arrival of Islam, majority of the Malay community in Southeast Asia believed in animism and dynamism. Elements of Hinduism and Buddhism also existed and had been practiced by the Malays. With the coming of Islam, there was a new religion, a new culture, new life, and new perspective of life for the Malays. For purposes of propagation and education, the Muslim missionaries had to write and translate the Qur`an and other religious

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 71 [email protected] Farhanah Abdullah, Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, Abdul Manan Ali, Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir and Fadzli Adam books from Arabic to Malay and thus the Jawi manuscripts were produced. Some important terms used for Jawi manuscripts instruments that have been borrowed from Arabic, for example, the word “kertas” (Arabic qirtas) (English: paper), “dakwat” (Arabic” dawat), (English: inkhorn) and “pena” (Arabic qalam) (English: pen). These three terms are writing instruments used to produce manuscripts. Prior to the age of Islam in the Archipelago, the above-mentioned writing instruments were unknown because as said earlier, written notes were mostly made on stones, leaves, wood (lontar, nipah) and metal (Mahayudin Hj Yahaya, 2016). Islam slowly discarded the practices of Hinduism and Buddhism and helped the Malays find their own identities and objectives in their lives. Among the Islamic cultures that were absorbed into Malay cultures were the language and its writings. Za‟ba (1965) mentioned that many Arabic words were incorporated into the Malay language, for example „Allah‟ (God), „Malaikat‟ (Angel), „Rasul‟ (Messenger), „Nabi‟ (Prophet), „Kitab‟ (Quran) and many more. The strong influence of Islam has a great impact on the writings. There is no book written or translated by Malay scholars from Hindu books, but the switch was seen when there were many Malays who began to learn the philosophies of Islam in which contribute to the emergence of Malay scholars and philosophers. Many Kitab-kitab Jawi (Jawi books and writings) have become references to the Muslim society. This can be seen for example works of Sheikh Zainal Abidin al-Fatani such as 'Aqidah al-Najin, Kasyf al-Ghaibiyyat, Miftah al-Murid fi 'Ilm al-Tawhid and lrsyad al- 'Ibad ila Sabil al-Rasyad. More importantly, these works written in Jawi scripts indirectly put the Malay community in a favourable position such as in terms of spreading of Islam and Islamic knowledge in the region, Malay region as centre of learnings and the acknowledgement of Jawi as a Malay identity. Historical record also showed that some Jawi writings had its original titles in the Arabic language such as Sulalatus Salatin, Tuhfat al-Nafis, Bustanus- Salatin and others (Zainal Abidin Abdul Wahid, 1992). The spreading of Islam also can be found in Kuala Berang, Terengganu. For example, the Terengganu Inscription Stone was written in the Malay language using the Jawi script. The writings contained the Islamic Law that is including criminal law jurisprudence, financial transactions and law of marriage which are the fundamentals of Islam. Since technology has not yet been developed in the early days, Muslim scholars and students used Jawi and Arabic books in their learning process. The transfer of knowledge from the Arabic language to the Malay language resulted in rapid growth of development of knowledge in the Malay world. This led to the increase of translated writings by Muslim scholars. Besides that, Kitab-kitab Jawi contributed in improving the system of education in the Malay community. Some of the writings were used by Tok Guru in their teachings. The Kitab-kitab Jawi acted as the syllabus in teaching and learning Islamic studies. The Jawi script also helped people to understand more about the pillars of Islam, the Quran and hadith, as both were originally in the Arabic language. Even in today‟s modern era, there exist religious classes and lectures that use Jawi writings as their main medium of learning. With the arrival of Islam, pondok and madrasah learning centres had become more organized and systematic. This was acknowledged by Abdullah Jusoh (1990) in which he stated that an organized educational system began at the Tok Guru‟s house before being expanded to surau and mosques and later into pondok and madrasah. The followings are some of the Jawi writings focusing on ʿAqīdah and Tawḥīd which available in pondok and madrasah; i) Bidayatul Hidayah (1757 M) written by Syeikh Muhammad Zain bin Faqih Jalaluddin Aceh, ii) Zahratul Murid fi Bayani Kalimatit Tauhid (1764 M) written by Sheikh Abdus Shamad al-Falimbani, iii). Tuhfatur Raghibin fi Bayani Haqiqati Imaanil Mukminin wa Yufsiduhu min Riddatil Murtaddin (1774 M) written by

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Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad bin Abdullah al-Banjari and iv) Iqdatul Jawahir (1831 M) written by Sheikh Daud bin Abdullah al-Fathani.

4.2. Jawi script and Al-Quran Traditionally, in Malay region and Muslim community in particular, the children were taught to read or recite the Quran from an early age. After they had mastered reading the Quran, they were exposed to Islamic books and teachings. When the new schools through British encouragement were established, the same technique of learning and writing the Jawi script continued. One thing that contributed to the technique preservation was that the children were sent to school after they reached six years old. Normally, Malay children in the past learned the Quran and continued to learn the Jawi script before they reached six years old. In fact, there were even children who had not reached mumayyiz (the age at which a child can discern between right and wrong) who were taught to recite the Quran. The first step in learning and writing the Jawi script is the teaching of the alphabets. After mastering alphabet writing, they moved to the next stage, which is reading the Jawi script. According to Abdullah et al. (2016), learning the Quran recitation was conducted by a routine teacher, according to their free time, ordinarily in the late afternoon and evening. The Quran teachers know the pronunciation and can recite the Quran fluently, so only the teachers of the Quran alone can teach the Quran. At the first level, the students were instructed to recognize letters and recitation style to break off and connect the sentences. Then, they were taught the Quran recitation method and rhythm according to the tone which had been adjusted with the meaning of the sentence. Furthermore, there are similarities in learning and writing the Quran and Jawi script in Malaysia. Muslims can trace back the history and development of Islam in Seerah Nabawiyyah. There is an explanation of the Quranic revelation and the teaching method of the Quran during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the companions. The first relation of the Quran and the Jawi script is the starting age in learning which Muslim children began to learn at early age. Currently, in Malaysia, there are two teaching methods of the Quran which were once introduced, namely the Baghdadiyah method and Iqra‟ method. The teaching method of the Quran through the Baghdadiyyah method is based on the muqaddam. The aim of the muqaddam book is to set up the ability to read the Quran and this method has contributed significantly to the traditional Malay community (Kamarul Azmi & Mohd Aderi, 2013). The Muqaddam book is divided into two parts: the first part introduces hija'iyyah letters, connected letters and lined up letters. The second part is the composition of the whole Quranic verses (30 juz‟). The first step of the Baghdadiyyah method begins with recognizing the letters of hija'iyyah, followed by the connected letters and letters with the system of sign. After learning the letters, the next step is to move to the second part of the Muqaddam book. The teaching of the Quran through the Baghdadiyyah method has three stages, namely:  The first stage, which is general reading. At this stage, the teacher is assigned to teach how to read the Quran correctly as well as emphasizing tajwid. Based on the recognized letters from before, the reading ability is built.  The second stage is repetitive reading. This stage emphasizes more on reading with tajwid and to develop a better and steady pronunciation.  The third stage is rhythmic reading. According to Kamarul Azmi and Mohd Aderi (2013), the Baghdadiyyah method has some disadvantages. The method only emphasizes one aspect of the Quran, which is reading. Other aspects such as writing, memorization and understanding of the Quran are not taken into

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 73 [email protected] Farhanah Abdullah, Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, Abdul Manan Ali, Firdaus Khairi Abdul Kadir and Fadzli Adam account. Besides that, the ability of a student to read is also limited to the type Quran that is commonly used. Hence, it is quite difficult to read if the student was given a Quran that he or she is not familiar with. In order to improve the teaching method of the Quran, the Iqra method was then introduced, originally from Indonesia and was founded by Ustaz Haji As'ad Humam. Iqra‟ method is structured in a perfect and integrated way. It begins with basic learning with a series of connected letters and then to the point of learning meaningful verses. The Iqra‟ method consists of six volumes and can encourage various ages in studying the Quran. The significant contribution of utilizing the Iqra‟ method is the practice of writing letters and sentences in the six volumes, leading to the mastery of Quran reading skills. Thus, learning how to recite the Quran indirectly assisted the Malays in the past to recognize the Jawi script in which indicate there is clearly a relationship between the Quran and the Jawi script.

4.3. Jawi as a Malay Symbol and Identity According to Amat Juhari (1996), the use of Indian writing or Rencong did not fit the new culture of the Malay society. To replace the Indian writing and to accommodate the new surroundings, Arabic writings were taken and used in the Malay language. The use of Arabic writings made many Malay scholarly works more productive. Therefore, Arabic writing or known as the Jawi script was produced and becomes a vital tool in spreading Islam and other knowledge related to the Malay culture and heritage. The Malay people in the past learned the Jawi script quickly enough as there had not been any distraction from other writings. This is because Jawi scripts had become the main language at that time. Business relationships with foreign merchants were written in the Jawi script, such as figures of official agreement, documents, commerce consent and letters on official government matters. Since then, most European, Chinese and Indian traders came to the Malay world by using the Malay language as the medium of communication and business and accepted the Jawi script as the official script (Abdullah & Nasir, 2017). Furthermore, all subjects taught in schools in the past used the Jawi script. There was no excuse from having to practice and learn the Jawi writing until they mastered the Jawi script because it became a part of their daily lives and important tools for business transactions. During the British rule, the unfederated Malay states had used the Jawi script officially. The Jawi script became an important intermediary in every aspect of administrations, customs, traditions and trading activities. For example, the Jawi script was used to record an agreement between the traders and to write up legal matters. The government also used the Jawi script to record all activities related to the administration, legislation, language, and international and diplomatic relations. Thus, the Malay language in the Jawi script became the lingua franca for all societies including the royals, the elites, religious scholars and the masses at large. Despite the general tendency of the Malays to stick to the Jawi script, the influence of the Roman alphabets continued to spread among the new generation of Malays. Problems began to rise as Roman alphabets took over the important role of the Jawi script which was used as heavily as before. The stipulation of Language Act. Or Akta Bahasa 1963, which sets Roman alphabets as the official writing for the Malay language, contributed to the declining role of the Jawi script. The number of people who knew and mastered the Jawi script decreased drastically and until the 1980s and 1990s, most Malay children were no longer familiar with the Jawi script (Amat Juhari, 1996). As mentioned earlier, the Jawi script was a symbol of the Malay culture and civilization. People can see many Jawi scripts in state like Kelantan. Compared to other states, the presence of the Jawi script in Kelantan is obvious as there are many public signboards, shops

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 74 [email protected] Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development names and advertisements written in Jawi. Besides putting the Roman alphabets, they also utilized the Jawi script. This is a continuous effort that should be implemented in other states too as it is a part of the Malay civilization and heritage. Besides that, there are souvenirs based on the Jawi script. The arts of Jawi is written and engraved on walls and tiles of buildings. The symbol of Jawi can be seen in many mosques. Nowadays, Jawi calligraphers also play a very important job in preserving and highlighting the Jawi script as a Malay symbol. It is a big loss if this skill becomes unappreciated. Because of the lack of interest among the younger generations, there are less people who want to learn the skills of calligraphy arts. As such, the opportunities to learn calligraphy should be provided in schools and universities as an effort to develop the younger successors of Jawi calligraphers. In the past, the use of Jawi was also exercised on coins. Malay people used coins with Jawi words on it. In this modern era, these coins have become a historical asset and is much favoured by coin collectors. Fortunately, the use of Jawi is still utilized in Ringgit Malaysia. The Jawi words written on the money are “Ringgit Malaysia” and “Bank Negara Malaysia”. The words can be seen in the figure as follows:

Figure 1 One Ringgit Malaysia At this point, it was clear that the coming of Islam into the Malay region has raised the prestige of the Malay language, whose purpose is no longer limited to daily life. It is to express both scholarly and scientific works and even achieve standards as the lingua franca that is widely used in the Malay world. Jawi is mostly used in the Southeast Asia compared to other regions. It has been used by Malays and other races as well thus making the Jawi script and the Malays are interrelated and significant to the existence of both.

4.4. Some findings on Reading and Writing Jawi Script In the preceding discussions, it was clearly stated that Jawi mastery become an indicator of the Malay Muslim identity and heritage (Kang Kyoung Seok, 2013). Before the arrival of the British colonialists, Jawi texts and scripts are inseparable with the Malay community as they were associated with the ability to master religious knowledge and Malay cultures. Later, Jawi writing has been gradually marginalized in the mainstream education system, while its mastery among the Malay community began to loose. Despite various government efforts to uphold Jawi texts, the methods implemented through the program rely heavily on the measure provided without new initiatives from the teachers. As a result, students fail to recognize and connect Jawi letters properly and are unable to understand the Qur'anic verses. The phenomenon of weakness in Jawi spelling and pronunciation also affects the reading of the Quran and the mastery of Islamic education as a whole. The data also showed that 83.3% of students who failed in Islamic Education, were also weak in Jawi spelling skills (Nik Rosila,

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2007). In 2009, RM2.2 million was allocated by the government (KEKWA), and RM1.5 by MOE for promotion of jawi texts but the effect was not yet fully successful (Bernama, 2010). Thus, a study was conducted to develop a new method of learning Jawi using roman letters among secondary school students. Data collection involves interviews and reading tests to identify respondents‟ ability to recognize and read Jawi letters involving 370 secondary school students from four zones in Peninsular Malaysia. Pre and Post tests are conducted to measure the effectiveness of the new method. The findings show that there is an increase in student achievement in reading and writing jawi through the new method. Overall results from the pre and post tests show an increase by 13% on students‟ achievements. The South Zone (Johor) recorded the highest results of 84.64% (pre test) and 91.16% (post test) an increase by 7%. Students representing the North Zone (Kedah and P. Pinang) scored 71.53% (pre test) and 82.84% (post test) with an increase by 11%. While the students' achievement from the East Zone (Terengganu) scored 51.51% (pre test) and 64.5% (post test) increase by 13%, followed by students from the Western Zone (Selangor) who scored 42.59% (pre test) and 68.44% an increase by 26%. Students from the state of Johor have earned a significant achievement in jawi reading and writing compared to students from other states. This is due to several factors among which is their attending daily religious classes organized by the state government that emphasize on reading and writing Jawi in religious subjects offered. From the interviews with groups of teachers involved, the study also found that the students are more skillful in reading Jawi text as compared to writing and linking Jawi letters. This finding shows that the use of jawi textbooks is still relevant for today religious classes in the government schools and should be continued as the students are still able to read correctly and understand the meaning of the jawi letters or text. Other factors contribute to students‟ weakness in jawi are due to the jawi spelling system which is constantly changing. These changes have some impacts to students and teachers in identifying the correct or standardized Jawi writing and spelling. Result of the study also found that the students‟ existing knowledge and interest in learning Jawi contributed to their mastery in writing and reading Jawi texts.

5. CONCLUSION Throughout the study, many Jawi-written works have been produced by Malay Muslim scholars covering the areas of ʿaqīdah (belief), fiqh (jurisprudence), hadith (Prophet traditions), the Quran, tasawwuf (sufism) and more in which indicate that Jawi script has played an important role when it was widely used to write religious books, stories, laws, and administration. Before the arrival of the British colonialists, Jawi texts and scripts are inseparable with the Malay community as they were associated with the ability to master religious knowledge and Malay cultures. Since technology has not yet been developed in the early days, Muslim scholars and students used Jawi and Arabic books in their learning process. The transfer of knowledge from the Arabic language to the Malay language resulted in rapid growth of development of knowledge in the Malay world. This led to the increase of translated writings by Muslim scholars. Besides that, Kitab-kitab Jawi (Jawi traditional writings) contributed in improving the system of education in the Malay community. Some of the writings were used by Tok Guru (teacher) in their teachings. The Kitab-kitab Jawi (Jawi traditional writings) acted as the syllabus in teaching and learning Islamic studies. The Jawi script also helped people to understand more about the pillars of Islam, the Quran and hadith, as both were originally in the Arabic language. Later, Jawi writing has been gradually marginalized in the mainstream education system, while its mastery among the Malay community began to decrease. Despite various government efforts to uphold Jawi texts, the methods implemented through the program rely heavily on the measure provided without new initiatives from the teachers. As a result,

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 76 [email protected] Jawi Script and the Malay Society: Historical Background and Development students fail to recognize and connect Jawi letters properly and are unable to understand the Qur'anic verses. With some effort to restore the role of Jawi script in disseminating Islamic knowledge amongst the Malay Muslima, a study was conducted recently on identifying new method of learning Jawi through roman letters. Students are capable of writing jawi scripts correctly though the new technique starting with an exposure to the correct jawi pronunciation method, basic method of converting roman letters into jawi scripts, jawi exchange of letters into roman letters, jawi connection formulas through roman letters and, special technique of writing jawi letters and jawi sentences. Results from the pre and post test conducted on the secondary schools students learning this new technique is immense with 13% increase in term of their achievement. From this study, it is hope that the Government through the Ministry of Education can encourage teachers and researchers to produce more innovative ideas in developing new rules of jawi learning through the allocation of special research grants for them. Awareness on the importance of jawi should also be disclosed among parents/guardians to enable them to cultivate and instill jawi interest amongst their children at the early age. Special time for jawi subjects should also be allocated at the secondary school level to enable students to improve their jawi skills with teachers or invited jawi experts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study was part of a research conducted under sponsorship of the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (FRGS 59392) related to the new learning methods of Jawi in Selected Schools, Malaysia.

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