Bisri Affandi Islamic Studies Ahmad Surkati

Bisri Affandi M.A. Islamic Studies

Ahmad Surkati:- His role in ~1-Irshad movement in Java

SHAYKH AHMAD AL-SURKATÏ: HIS ROLE IN AL-IRSHAD HOVEMENT IN JAVA IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

by Bisri Affandi

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGill Unive rsity, Montreal, in partial fulfilment of the require ments for the degree of Master of Arts

Insti tut e of Islami c Studies McGill University Nontre al

March, 1976 ABSTRACT

Au thor Bisri Affandi Title of thesis Shaykh A9rnad al-Surkati: His Role in al-Irsh~d Movernent in Java in the Early Twentieth Century Departrnent Islarnic Studies, McGill University Degree Master of Arts

This thesis is an attempt to study the role of

A9rnad Surkati in al-Irsh~d rnovernent in Java, and its implica t i ons for the Arab cornrnunity in Indonesia. Surkati was a Sudanese Muslirn scholar who, in 1911, came to Indo- nesia as one of the Islamic teachers invited by Jamiat Khair, an Arab organization, which was e stablished in Jaka rta in 1905. The f a ct that the Hadrami Ara bs were divided into two groups, the sayyids who enjoyed elevated position and the non-sayyids, urged Ahmad Surka ti to propaga t e the idea of e qua lity among Mus lims. Thus, in 1913 Surkatr s ponsored the foundation of an Arab organization of Islamic reform called a l-Irsh~d which has been e specially influential by means of its educa tional s ys tem. The i mporta nce of t he

Irsh~di rnovement lies in its effecting a social change in the Ara b cornrnunity a nd making a significant contribution to the bi rth and development of Islamic r eforrn in I ndonesia . ABSTRAIT

Auteur Bisri Affandi

Titre de la thèse Shaykh A~mad al-Surkati: son rôle dans le mouvement al-Irshad à Java au d~but du vingti~me si~cle Departement Etudes Islamiques, Université McGill Diplôme Mai tri se-es-Arts

' . Cette these fait l'objet d'une etude du rôle de Ahmad Surkati de le mouvement al-Irshad à Java, ainsi que ses repercussions dans la communauté arabe d'Indonesie. Surkati, fut un savant Nusulman soudanais qui en 1911 vint en Indonesie en tant que professeur invité par l'organisa tion arab, la Jamiat Khair. Cette dernière fut établie à

Jakarta en 1905. Le fait que les arabes ~a~rami furent divisés en deux groupes, les sayyids (groupes privilegiés) et les non-sayyids, amena AQmad Surkati à propager la notion d'égalité parmi les musulmans. Ainsi, en 1913 Surkati parréna l'organisation arabe de la réforme Islamique entitulée al-Irshad. Cette dernière eut une grande influence grâce à son systême éducationel. Le mouvement Irshadi fut important à cause de ses effets au niveau social parmi la communauté arabe, ainsi que de sa contribution à la naissance et au dépeloppement des réformes Islamiques en Indonesie. ACKNŒv'LEDGEMENTS

The writer would like to express his sincere ap preciation and deepest gratitude to Prof. Charles Adams, in his capacity as Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, NcGill University, who gave hirn the opportunity to study at the Institute, and rendered encouragement in the process that produced this work. The \vri ter also would like to express his indebtedness to his thesis super viser Prof. D. P. Little, not only for devoting a great amount of his valuabe time to supervise the writer, but also his advice was invaluable in determining the ultimate direction and scope of this work. Thanks are also due to Prof. A. M. Abu Hakima, Prof. Niyazi Berkes and Prof. R. N. Verdery from whom the writer profited from their courses during the academie years 1973-1975. The '"ri ter' s most sincere thanks must go to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for the award of a fellmvship, thereby enabling him to com plete his M.A. program at McGill University. It would not have been possible to complete this work without the help of many persons, among whom only a few can be named. Mr. H. Ali and Miss Sal\va Ferahian, the Librarian and the Librarian Assistant, gave much help in locating material. Hrs. E. Law and Mrs. C. Korah gave

iv administrative assistance. The writer would like every one of them to know his sincere gratefulness. Thanks must also be given to my friends Mr. Andy Rippin and Mr. Douglas Crow who kindly devoted their valuable time to edit the English. And also to Hr. t-l. A. Samad and Mr. z. Rasheed who gave much help in reading the Arabie material. In Indonesia the writer's special gratitude goes to Prof. H. A. Nukti Ali, the present Ninister of Re ligious Affairs, who gave him the opportunity to study in Canada and to leave his academie duties at the Faculty

of U~Ül al-Din in Kediri. Thanks must also be given to the officials of al-Irsyad Majlis Da'wah of Surabaya,

especially Ustadh tUmar Hubay~, who sent me various orig inal Arabie and Indonesian sources. Without such aid this work could hardly have been completed. Last but not l east , the \..rriter is indebted to his wife \..rho has always been s o pa tient. She and our children have indeed been of great help. Although all these persans have rendered invaluable services, any possible misconceptions and e rrors of this study belon g to the \vri ter al one.

Hontreal , Harch 17, 1976 B. A.

v SPELLING AND TRANSLITERATION

The Arabie names and terms in this thesis are written according to the English transliteration employed by the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University. The Indonesian names and terms are written according to the new Indonesian spelling used by the government of Indo- nesia since 1972. Bowever, certain nam es of persans written in the old Indonesian spelling \vill appear because they pre fer to use them. The main differences between the old and the new Indonesian spelling are• Old New Pronunciation ch kh similar to ch as in German ach. dj j similar to j a s in Joseph. j y similar to y as in yellmv. sj sy simila r to sh as in shmv. tj c similar to ch as in chalk. The main differences in transliteration from Arabie are a Indonesian English Arabie Indonesian English Arabie

ts th 6 dh (dl) d. ~ h h rr th t • • .la L... dz dh .:> zh z. ~ sy sh 1 y ~ ~...... - sh s 1 . ~ ~ vi TABLE OF CONThNTS

ACKNOWLEDGE:tvŒNTS ...... iv SPELLING AND TRANSLITERATION ...... vi INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Chapter I. Tllli BACKGROUND OF THE IRSHADÏ HOVEl'-'ŒNT 9 1. The Arab Community in Indonesia 2. The Continuity and Change of Islam in Java F'ootnotes • ...... 43 II. SHAYKH AHNAD. SURKAT! AND THE IRSHAD i MOVEtvlENT ...... 51 1. The Origin of the Irshadi Movement 2. Surkati and the Foundation of the Irshadi Hovement 3. The Principles of the Irshadi Movement 4. The Foundation of Irshadi Schools S. The Teachings of Ahmad. Surkati Footnote s . . • ...... 103 III. ISLAHIC CONSERVATISM Vli:RS US ISLM/:IC ...... 113 1. Ba 'Alawi versus Al-Irshad 2. Re formists ver s us Cons ervatives and the Role of Ahmad. Surkati Footnotes • ...... 141 CONCLUSION ...... 147

vii GLOSSARY • 1 1 • • • 154 APPENDIX.L!:S ...... 161 BIBLIOGRAPHY 172

viii INTRODUCTION

Studies on Islamic reform movements in Indonesia can be found in a number of monographs. A. Hukti Ali has written his thesis on the Muhammadiyah movement. 1 Other works on the Muhammadiyah have also been written by Alfian2 and Federspiel. 3 Deliar Noer has written about modern Muslim movements in Indonesia during the reign of the Dutch colonial government (1900-1942),4 and Federspiel has written about Persatuan Islam, an Islamic reform movement founded in 1923 as we11. 5 Islamic reform in Minangkabau (ivest Sumatra) has been studied by Taufiq Abdullah6 and Murni Djamal. These works are almost entirely concerned with the native Indonesian Muslims; very little attention has been given to the Arab movements in Indonesia. This thesis is an attempt therefore to study and examine the nature and the characteristics of Arab Indonesian Nuslims. In this endeavour the writer has confined his work to Shaykh

Ahmad Surkati al-An~ari, who was ân important figure ih the Indonesian reformist movement and a prominent leader of the Indonesian Arab community in the early twentieth century.

1 2

The history of Indonesia records that in the nineteenth century the Arab ~agrami populace in Indo- nesia began to increase because of permanent economie difficulties in Hadramaut together with the comme rcial characteristics of the people and the easier methods of transport available from the Middle East. These

Arabs are seen to have accelerated the change from 8 heterodoxy to orthodoxy. This may be true in a sense that most of them are lja9ramis, whose relig ious practice was tha t of the Shafi'ites and was, the refore, contrary to the Süfi. dervish practice. But their claim to the title of sayyid, and thus their claim to possess exempla- ry piety and r eligious merit, seemed to blur their role as orthodox Nuslims. Ba 'Alawis encouraged people to practice the so-called tawassul (intercession). In this respect t hey made themselves intercessors between other people and God. This practice was compatible with the

Islamic mysticism existing in Indonesia. Furthermore their trading methods and money lending a ctivities made their name unpopular in many villages in Java.

However, i n fluenced by the Niddle East Nusli m developments of the late nineteenth century , the Arab community in Indonesia b egan to educate the young Arab gene ration. In 1901 they founded in J akarta a benevo- 3

lent society called al-Jam'iyat al-Khayriyah (Benevo-

lent Association). This association established schools

and in 1911 invited sorne foreign teachers from the Middle

East. One of these teachers was A0mad Surkati, a Suda

nese scholar who had graduated from Dar al-'UlÜm in

Makkah.

Stimulated by the tension between sayyid and non-sayyid groups in the Arab community, A0mad Surkati

founded al-Irshad movement in 1913. This movement tried

to develop the idea of Islamic reform in Indonesia. In

this respect A~mad Surkati was fortunate to have been

joined by his Sudanese friends who were acquainted with the works of Muhammad. 'Abduh and Rashid Rida.. This small group of foreign teachers seemed to stand at the heart of a communication network which fed a constant

stream of revitalized modern ~uslim thought from the

Niddle East into Java. It formed the nucleus of change

in the Arab community in particular and among Muslims

in general. Thus, despite his Arab orientation, A0mad

Surkati did make a contribution to the birth and development of Islamic reformism in Java as a \vhole. He was able to be very close friends with bath political and non-political Huslim leaders. In addition the significant success of the Irshadi movement in achievi~g a 4

place of respectability among the Indonesian t-'1uslims was largely due to its perseverance in carrying out educational activities. Together with the Muhammadiyah, the Irshadl: movement formed the prelirr.inary stages of the development of Islamic reformism in the early twentieth century. This thesis will only discuss the first stage of the Irshadi development (1913-1930) for the

follm-1ing reasons 1 1. The account of Irshadi development in this thesis is based mainly on Tarikh Thawrat al-Islah wa al-Irshad- written by ' Umar Sulayman- Naji.--9 Sulayman- Naji is the most comprehensive Irshadi author on the history of al-Irshad. Since he has only finished writing about the first stage of the Irshadi development the writer will deal only with that stage. 2. Neither al-Irsyad Najlis Da'wah (al-Irshad Department of Preaching) '"hi ch is presently 'ivri ting the biography of A9mad Surkati,- 10 nor s.alaQ - al-Bakri - al-Yafi - ,_i, \vho wrote on al-Irshad in his Tarikh Hadramawt. al-Siyasi,-- 11 mention anything about Irshadi-- development after 1930. Thus the lack of available material does not permit the writer to discuss Irshadi development after its first - stage. 5

While most of the materials for the first and the second division of the third chapter are derived from secondary sources, the rest (chapter two and first division of chapter three), which are devoted to the imuortant role of Ahmad Surkati in the Irshadf move- ~ . ment--still largely an unexplored topic in Indonesian history--ha s been documented with primary sources, primarily in Arabie, written by A~mad Surkatf himself and his followers, or from Indonesian brochures published by the Irshadf movement. However the fact that it was impossible for the writer to consult the works published by the sayyid group might have caused sorne inadequacies in this thesis. As a result the writer has tried to consult secondary sources. It may be noted tha t this study is devoted to an historical analysis of Islamic ref orm in the Ara b community in Java and, to a lesser extent, of the direct impact of Middle East Islamic ref orm on the development of Indonesian ~uslims. The first chapter of this thesis will deal with Ara bs in Indonesia, especially those I:Jaçlramfs \vho formed communities in the big cities of J ava. An a ccount of the historical background of the Arab settlement and of its H.adra . mf char acteristics appears in the first division of t his cha pter, \vhile the s e cond section deals 6 with the continuity and change of Islam in Java. At the beginning the type of Islam in Java is heterodox and is then followed by the process of orthodoxy due to the contact between Indonesia and Arabia. Lastly , t-'luhammad. 'Abduh, '"hose group later became known as Salafiyah, had a tremendous influence upon Islamic thinking in Indonesia. The first division of chapter t\vO is an account on the origin and development of the Irshadi movement, centering on the role of Ahmad. SurkatL Surkati's teaching of Islamic reformism appears in the second division of this second chapter. In the third chapt er the writer discusses the dispute bet\veen conserva.tive and reformist Arabs and also the basis of the dispute between native traditionalist or conse r- vative Muslims and reformist Nuslims. 7

FOOTNOTES

1A. Mukti Ali, "The Mul,larnrnadiyah Movernent. A Bibliographical Introduction" (unpublished t-'aster' s Thesis, McGill University, 1957).

2Alfian, "Islarnic Modernisrn in Indonesian Pol iticsa The Muharnmadiyah Movernent during the Dutch Co lonical Period (1912-1942)" (unpublished Ph. D. dis sertation, University of Wisconsin, 1969). 3 Howard tv!. Federspiel, "The Muhammadiyaha A Study of an Orthodox Islamic Hovernent in Indonesia," Indonesia, No. 10 (October), 1970, pp. 57-79 4Deliar Noer, The Modernist Nuslim Movernent in Indonesia 1900-1942 (Singaporea Oxford University Press, 1973). 5Howard M. Federspiel, The Persatuan Islam: Islarnic Reform in Twentieth Century Indonesia (Ithaca, N.Y. a Modern Indonesia Project, South East Asia Program, 1970). 6Taufiq Abdullah, "Minangkabau 1900-1927. Pre liminary Studies in Social Development" (unpublished Master's Thesis, Cornell University, 1967). 7Nurni Djamal,. "Dr. H. Abdul Karim Amrullah. His Influence in the Islamic Reform Movement in Hinang kabau in the Early Twentieth Century" (unpublished Master's Thesis, McGill University, 1975). 8The \vord "heterodox" ref ers to a mixture of Islam with pagan animism, Buddhisrn, Hinduism existing 8

in Indonesia along with mysticism brought by ~Üffs coming from Gujarat, India. The word "orthodox" refers to the type of Islam taught by the Prophet, his Co~panions and developed by great Muslim scholars, either in Theology (al-Ash'arr, al-Maturrctr) or in Islamic Law (al-Shafi'I, al-Malikf, al-~anaff and al-Hanbali),. but not in Islamic mysticism • 9 'umar Sula)rrnan Najf, Tarikh Thmvrat al-Islah·-· wa al-Irshad bi Indünïsiya, Vol. I, n.p. , n.d. (Handwritten.) 10Al-Irsyad Hajlis Da '\vah, Riwavat Hidup Syekh Ahmad as-Surkati, 4 Pts. (Surabayaa Siaran Majlis Da'wah, 1972/73). 11 ~ala~ al-Bakri al-Yafi'I, Tarikh Haqramawt al-Siyasi, 2 Vols. (t•1i~r a Hus1=afa al-Ba bi al-lja labi, 1932), II, pp. 254-350. CHAPTER I

THE BACKGROUND OF TP~ IRSHADI MOVE~ŒNT

1. The Arab Community in Indonesia

The census which took place in the Netherlands Indies in 1930 revealed that 71,000 persans claimed to be Arabs as compared to 45,000 in 1920, and 30,000 in 1905. 1 The number of Arab immigrants varied with the economie situation in the Netherlands East Indies and in the Hadramaut, from which the great majority of them came. These immigrants were mostly malest for examnle, "of 503 Arab immigrants in 1938, only twenty-four were women." 2 They married into local families or into the families of Arabs who had pr eceded them. Their rate of intermarriage with Indonesian women remains one of the highest of any foreign minority in the country. In corn- parison to the numbers of peranakan Arab (peranakan: ''half-caste"), the Arab immigrants are very small. The for mer constitute " a pproximately ninety percent of all Arabs in Indonesia." 3 As a whole t hey constitute the

9 10

second largest Oriental minority and non-indigenous racial group (the Chinese being the first),

There were two kinds o f divisions among Inde- nesian people, First, the division for legal and judi- cial pur!)Oses. In this case "the Dutch colonial lmv distinguished between Natives, Europeans, and Oriental

Immigrants,"4 Second, the division for census purposes,

In this case there \vere four racial groups : "Na tives, 5 Europeans, Chinese, and ether foreign Asiatics," The latter division included Arabs, Indians, Malayans, etc.

Thus durin ~ the colonial period, racial iden tity was a recognized category in census enumeration and population r egisters. The lega l determinatiîln of the rights and duties of the four races composing the society depended upon this data, Since the revolution of 1945 a racial discrimination has been prohibited by law, although it

LS. stL . 11 Lmp. 1.LCLt . Ln . governsent pract1ce. , 6

Being Muslims, the Arabs on the whole have b e en assimilated more comple tely than the Chinese, They contributed appr e cia bly to the Indonesian cause during the revolution , Undoubtedly a compara tiv e ly mild sense of pride for the Arab homeland, with its limited oppor- tunities, played a role in the Arab's integration, 11

Historical Development of the Arab Community The Arabs have been coming to the Dutch Indies for centuries, starting before the Islamization of the country in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 7 Most of them \vere traders, lvho, "together \vi th numerous other Oriental n a tionalities, constituted a commercial 8 chain that reached from Egypt to China." Ibn B a1=~ü~ah, the great Arab traveller, spent two months of the year 1347 (during the reign of al-Malik al-?ahir) a\vaiting the change of the monsoon. t'lhile there, he appea rs to have met a numbe r of compatriots and corelig ionists. 9 In this century the Arab colonies were only set up at a few important places in coastal islands. These settlements seemed to be the general r e sult of their corn- mercial activity. G. R. Tibbetts writesa

They were s emi-permanent settlements for the roving merchant popula tion. Many indivi dua ls stayed in them only f or a winter or while t hey ga thered their cargo, while ethers, acting as agents stayed for periods often as long a s t en years . 10

Sorne writers have noticed that t hese Ara b t r aders came during the normal course of business, and that the work of conversion of South-East Asia during the f our- t eenth century was thought t o be the wo r k of zealous

Indian converts who tended to be ~Üfis, but there can 12

be no doubt that the existence of ArPb settlements, sorne of two or three centuries standing, did much to influence local populations and to prepare the way for later proselytizing. The natives originally from the Hadramaut 11 seemed to have come entirely for trade.

According to Horleya "we \vould not be far wrong in saying that the Hadramaut visitors to the East Indies up to the middle of the eighteenth century came as traders, and with a few exceptions only began to settle there from about 1750 onwards. The arab colonies in Malacca and Palembang date from this period while those of Siak

(Sumatra) and Pontianak (Bornee) are even earlier but most of the ethers were not founded until well on in the nineteenth century." 12 In this century, however, with the arrival of more stable and economically advan- tageous conditions in the Peninsula and its periphery, and with the extraordinary expansion of tracte, especially after the opening of Suez canal in 1869, the Arab populace began to increase. "It was about the Era of

Steamship," R. B. Ser j eant noted, "that they began to come to the Far East in numbers." 13

By far the larger part of the movement at this time was from the Hadramaut. Of these Hadramfs. . an authori ty has sa id 1 "They are few countries in the \vorld 13

14 where a larger portion ••• lives abroad." , :Generally an Arab already established in the East Indies found jobs for his compatriots. As a result, each of the new colonies tended to originate from the same part of

Hadramaut. Van den Derg tells us that "most of the

Arabs in Indian Archipelago are natives of the great valley between Shibam- and Terim."- 15 He also observed that every local group of Hadramis. . tended to go to a certain country. For example, "the inhabitants of the valley of Daw'an prefer to go to the colonies of Aden,

Jidda, Suakim or Cairo. The inhabitants of the coast prefer British India, especially the Malabar Coast and

Hyderabat1 the Bedouins rarely leave their country." 16

It seems that these Arabs came over in ever- growing numbers to find a temporary haven in the many transit stations and harbour principalities which dotted the northern and the north-eastern coast lines of Java and Sumatra. In these coastal cities the Arab nerchant colony steadily grew as a distinct minority, and during the reign of the Dutch colonial govern ;ent this colony was under Dutch national jurisdiction.

Characteristics of the Hadrami·-· Settlers When Ahmad• Surka.ti founded the al-Irshad movement, he worked prim·ori ly among these Hadrami. . set tl ers. 14

Therefore it is importpnt to discuss the characteristics of these people. There were t h ree classes of Hadra. . mi immig rants in Indone sia. . First, the common people and genera l ly poor cla sses in Hadramaut including the itinerant traders. Second, the educated people who proudly assumed the title of Shavkh. The shaykhs are c onsidered very respected rel;gious leaders. 17 In Hadramaut these shaykhs enjoyed their exalted position. Third, of special importance a r e the s ayyids, who believe the mselves to be t he direct d escendant s o f the Prophe t. In Hadra- maut these savvids claim to h ave the pure st pedigrees o f a ll Ara bian sayyids. They a re descended from a savvid of Ba srah,. Ah.mad al:..Nuhajir, who "is said to h a ve been a descende.nt in the seve nth generation from tvluhammad • s 18 g r andson I:Iusayn. "

Hith regard to the positions o f s a yyids , v an den Be r g writes :

The Sayyids in Hadthr amautare, soto say, the re presentatives o f relig ion and l aw. They rule public opinion i n this respect , and an a ttent i on borderin g on ven eration is paid to them. A S ayyid entering any p l a ce \vher e t he re is company, pl a c e s himself , by full right, in the p ost o f hon our. Al l persans present rise to kiss his h a nd , ev e n those Hho are h 1s. super1ors . 1n . age or e rud" 1t1 . on. 19 15

Furthermore, "as for their daughters, marriage with any individual of different extraction is regarded as a mesalliance oy the law • • • The most pmverful chief of a tribe could not obtain, a s wi fe, the daughter of the 20 lmvest of the Sayyid. " On the other hand a sayyid might marry any woman he pleased. As immigrants the ljaqramf sayyids are d i s persed throughout ljijaz (Saudi Arabia), Egypt, India, Jvlalaysia, Singaoore, 21 In Indonesia they are s ettled in Jal

l. zatlon . Wl . 11 und ermlne . t h el . r poslt . lon. . Il 23 It seems that the rapid development of the Irshadf movement in Indonesia has influenced s orne parts of Hadrama. ut. As \vill be mentioned the dispute between sayyids and non- sayyids concerning the pri v t l eges of the s ayyid.§. \·ms the immediate cause of founding the Irshadi movement in Indonesia. As a result of the r e f orm movement, "in the part of Hadramaut dominated by the Qu ' ayçf ( f or 16

examole Shib~m), the influence of the sayyids hRs greRt- ly diminished, but in th.e Kathirl. areas of the c ountry (for example Si\vÜn and Teri:m), the people \ve re more prog r es s ive and the sayyids still hold pmv-er." 24 It is true that traditionally most Arabs in Indonesia laid claim to the title of Sayyid in the presence of uneducated J ava - nese, a lthough they did not ~ elong to the sayyid group. They formed a respected, influential, and often wealthy class, some\vhat set a part from the ir Indones ian fellmvs. As a rule they wore the loose-flowing robes (jubbah) and turbans of the Arab wo rld. The untutored Indonesian masses tended for centuries to look upon all Arabs, reg e~d l es s of origin, as the direct inheritors of the wisdom of Islam. They looked upon sayyids in particular as being possessors of exempla- ry piety and r e l i_gious merit. "Many sayyids were rega rd ed as s aints ('iva li), even during the ir life-ti:ne ; others have the r eputation of belonging to the category of the 'enlightened' ( ahl al-kashf)," 25 The ir hands were kissed in greeting; their opinion in matters of Muslim law and tradition r,vë::s welcomed. The sayyids even a cted a s religious inst ructors. With regard to the popularity of tne word sayyid, van de r Kroef write s:

The popula rity of the t erm Sayyid in Indonesia is 17

not in the least attested to by the common usage of the word sa.id, most 1 ikely deri ved from sayyid, a descriptive term which is often indiscriminately applied to every Arab in Indies. 26

The Arabs who came from Hadramaut saon obtained a certain affluence in comparison with the small sum on which they lived in their own country. Van den Berg voTri tes 1

But a sum absolutely insufficient for European with their excessive needs in a tropical climate, consti tutes for an Arab not only enough to live upon, but even allows him to make small savings. At Batavia, for example, there are few Ara bs who do not get from 30 to 40 florins a month; if this figure ap pears a little high as minimum for sorne ether colo nies, we must not lose sight of the fact that, generally, living i s cheaper there than in the capi tal of the Dutch possessions. At any r a te, I do not think that there is in Indonesian archipelago a single Arab of Hadthramaut who, unless he is very lazy, earns less than 20 florins a month--that is, more than what he needs to live in Hadthramaut in a comf orta ble manner. 27

These Arabs established themselve s without diff iculty in Indonesia. They became middlemen, small traders and pe tty shop-keepers, thus penetrating into ma rkets and sources of s upply from which European firms r emain aloof . They combine the ancilla ry activity of rnoney lending with 18

these other businesses. There were small numbers of non-Hadrami. . Arabs who tended to help the development of Islamic thought in Java. Generally they were learned people who came to Indonesia due to the stimulation given by their Indo- nesian friends who returned home after they finished studying in Makkah. These Arabs offered instructions in certain subjects, primarily Arabie and Islamic Law.

They gradually developed into a group of non-~a1ramis. Those who are called orang Arab (Arab people) are the non-Hadrami. . Arabs and those who a.re called orang Hadra- --maut (Hadrami. . people) are the Hadrami. . Arabs. According to van der Kroef1

The distinction itself is probably derived from a gradually developing pattern of social dis crimination between those Arabs whose predatory trading methods and rapacious money lending activities have made their name a curse in not a few Indonesian villages, and others who engage in no such sharp practices but are revered as tv1uslim schoolmen and scholars and are thus truly representative of the traditionally respected - 28 Orang Arab.

In the nineteenth century the Dutch government opened the private Western industrial enterprises. The development of these private enterprises by European 19

capital had its impact on the Indonesians and immigrants, including the Arabs and Chinese, The role of the Arabs and Chinese appeared in the fact that they were "the bearers of medium-small agriculture and industry and •· d" .. 29 ~nterme ~ary commerce, Ih other words, they l-lere middlemen for commercial business between the Europeans and the native Indonesi.ans. In this respect they "profited extremely from the growth of trade entailed by the investment of European capital, and they made inevitable contribution to economie development." 30 On the contrary, private \vestern industri.al enterprise seemed to result in a state of economie transition for the Indonesian peasants. In this condition the peasants could hardly cape with their economie difficulties because of an ever- increasing financial hardship resulting from the introduction of incarne t axes and the opening-up of village . . f . 31 econom~es to ore~gners. Javanese peasants became more pressed when the Dutch created the ill-famed Cultuur Stelsel (Cul ti vat ion system) in J ava, \vhich lasted from 1832-1877. 32 According to the theory of this system, a J ava - nese peasant was to be compelled to reserve one-fifth of his l and for growing such products as were in great demand on the European market. In practice, "one-third, one-half, and even the \vhole of these irrigated fields 20

33 were used for that purpose." The peasant, therefore, was no longer free to decide for himself what to grow on that part of his field, but he had to plant those crops which the officials dictated to him; these were crops such as sugar-cane, coffee, indigo and tobacco. 34

Moreover, the execution of this system opened up possibilities for corruption because the officials themselves received a certain percentage of the yield and were therefore personally interested in its volume. George

McTurnan Kahin writesa

In order to secure the effective support of the regents, the government gave them grants of land and made their office hereditary. In addition it gave them, as well as lesser native officials, a direct financial interest in the system's operation, a percentage of the crops collected 35 from the peasantry.

In the words of van der Kroefa

The colonial government initiated a formidable a rray of emancipation schemes which furthered the loosening o f ancient communal bonds within the village and destroyed its self-conditioned , 36 self-sufficient character.

It has been estimated that f rom its beginning in 1832 till 1877 "the l ast yea r o f the net-profits of the 21

Indies, the system had poured approximately 832,000,000 florins into the Dutch treasury." 37 In this period the Arabs were fortunate in gaining for themselves the position of middlemen who "forged the link between the villagers and the outside world." 38 In the villages they tried to buy extra crops (sugar cane, coffee and tobacco) at low priees by paying in ad- vance. By travelling from village ta village it became known ta the Arabs which of the villagers suffered from money shortages. In this case they "turned very early to money lending." 39 In this business the Arabs did not hesitate ta cheat if it \vas ta their advantage. 40 Sorne of the Hadramfs. . came by their wealth through means of this lending out of money ta Javanese villagers. If a villager could not pay back in time--generally repayment was arranged within a specified period--he could easily lose his land and home. It might happen however that the lender would extend the loan period. Morley wrote:

If after the end of this period the loan was still un pa id, the lender may gi ve notice ta the borrm-ver that he must repay before the end of a further period, or else forfeit the right to redeem the article deposited. 41

I t must be noted, however, tha t the re \vere 22

Hadrami scholars who were aware that those who enjoyed such methods must be religious hypocrites. In Java these Arabs were known for their liking for law suits, and their incessant quarrels with the native 'ulama' about religion. These quarrels especially displeased the Dutch authorities, who were bound to abstain from 42 every ~nter. f erence ~n . re 1"~g~ous . a ff a~rs.. Probably the pilgrimage to Makkah and other activities associated with it were largely in the hands of the Arab community. Recruitment of prospective hajis was carried out by pilgrim shaykhs or brokers who, working independently on behalf of Meccan shaykhs, arranged passages for a premium from shipping agents, es- corted the pilgrims to Makkah, and there passed them over to the highest bidding Meccan shaykhs or to the shaykh on \vhose behalf they had been acting. 43 This business ~vas on the whole a respectable and necessary one, p3 rticularly well suited to those Indonesian or Malaysian Arabs who had local knowledge of and contacts in Hejaz. In the mid-nineteenth century, sorne two thousand pilgrims were travelling annually to Makkah from Indo- nesia; by the end of the century, the number had risen to more than seven thousand. 44 The great majority, 23 however took passage from, and returned to, Singapore.45 Thus there were many Indonesian migrations to Singapore solely for the reason of undertaking the t~, the pilgrimage to Nakkah. There were several reasons for this. Throughout the century the Dutch colonial government seemed to be distrustful of what was thought to be the subversive political influence exercised by returning hajis. Attempts were made to discourage the pilgrimage by imposing restrictive regulations requiring, among other things, a means test before departure and an exam- 46 ~nat~on. · upon return. Th e eas~est. way to avo~. d t1ese1 regulations, therefore, was to travel by way of Singapore, where British requirements were less stringent. Nean- while, the Netherlands did not establish a consulate in Jeddah until 1872, and the Dutch government played no part in the carriage of pilgrims late in the century.47 Although the official attitude began to change after 1889 with the advent of c. Snouck Hurgronje as advisor on Arabie and native affairs, "it was only in the beginning of 20th century that the hadji policy lvhich had been defined in 1859, was abolished."48 The first decade of the twentieth century continued to see the majority of Indonesian pilgrims travelling by way of Singapore. 49 Sorne of these Indonesian pilgrims remained for several years to earn sufficient money to take them to Makkah. 24

Others either settled in Malaya on their return or worked there for a time to pay off passage debts incurred in Jeddab.. 50 The religious practice of Hadramis,. . like those of Indonesians, was that of Shafiçites. In itself this school prevailed to the exclusion of all others. Van den Berg \'\l'rote 1

And no more are any heretical or heterodox t-1ahomedans, like the Shiçi, Wahhabi, or Zaidi", to be found there ••• There are no dervishes in Hadthramaut. Moreover, eccentricities in the matter of religion, known under the name of tarika and forming the special occupation of the different orders of dervishes, have never established a footing there. 51

In Indonesia one may note that the Arabs, especially non- savyid scholars, seemed not- to conceal their disdain for the existing Gurus (Shaykhs) of t:ari:qah, but rather they treated them as impostors, who exploited the loyalty of their followers to obtain material benefit. However, this did not prevent people from being some\'\That supers ti tious in Hadramaut. They used to vi si t venerated tombs, for examplea "that of Prophet HÜd, the most important one; that of Prophet Salih in the valley of Sarr; that of the founder of Sayyid of Hadthramaut 25

52 Ahmed bin 'Isa, surnamed al-Mohajir." In addition, there was also "a general belief in occult powers, amu- 53 1 ets ( ' azlma~ ) an d sorcery ( Sl . h r ) • " Th e 1 atter lS . also seen to exist in kyais'· and santris' belief in Indonesia. Even now one can easily find a kyai or a santri who uses certain verses of the Qur,an as jimat (amulet, charrn) to avert an evil spirit or for other purposes, and acts as a dukun (healer). In Indonesia the Ba "Ala\vr54 seemed to encourage Muslims to visit the tombs of Ba 'Alawi: saints to pray for the Saint's intercession on their behalf with God.

For example, Shaykh al-~abshi:'s tomb in Surabaya was the site of annual celebrations. Similar celebrations were also held at the tombs of other saints at Luar Batang, Jakarta, Tegal, Pekalongan and Bogor. 55 These kinds of superstitions certainly were compatible with Islamic mysticisrn, especially that kind of mysticism which based its teaching on saint worship. In Hadramaut we find that religion is the chief abject of concern for its people. The great centres of meeting 'vere the masques and schools, the latter being dependencies of the former. They called their country "Balad'l 'ilm wa'l-di:n [the land of science and religionJ," 56 though among the Bedouins comparatively few people were

literate. There were a large number of primary schools 26 where the children might be seen flocking every morning to learn to write and read Arabie. Having graduated from primary school students continued studying Arabie grammar, Islamic Theology and Law in the secondary school. With regard to Arabie grarnmar, they used well-knovm books called Alfl:yah and al-Aiurüml:yah. Concerning Islamic Theology they used al-Risalah by Ahmad. b. Zayn al-Habshl:. and for Islamic Law (Figh) they used Safinat al-Najat by Salim b. 'Abd Allah- b. Sumayr. 57 These books were widely diffused in Indonesia and they were taught in pondok-pesantrens. Because of economie difficul ties the majori ty of students who graduated from secondary school went no further. Van den Berg writesa

Those, however, who feel a call towards science, go and attend the courses of celebrated scholars est ablished in the principal localities, in Hadthramaut, the superior education. The schol ars explain the most celebrated works on grammar, law, and theology. As for gramrnar, the re are the numerous and voluminous commentaries on the Alf iya and AjrÜmiya a in r egard to l aw, t here are the Minhaj at-Talibin of an-Nawawi and the Takrib or Fath~al Karib of al-Ghazzi, with the ir commentaries; and lastly, in theology, there are the commentaries on the Koran of a l-Baghawt and of t he two J a lal-ad-Din, t he collection of 27

traditions of a1-Bokh~rr, the Ihy~ 'u1Gm ad-din of a1-Ghazz~1i, and the 'Umdat a1-'Aka'id of 58 an-Nasa f1.,~ -- a 11 Hl.. t h t h e1.r . commentar1.es..

It must be noted, however, that those subjects were "the on1y branches of human knmv1edge cu1tivated ser1.ous. 1 y 1.n . H a d ramaut. "sg Van den Berg conc1uded that

"the sciences in \vhich the Ar8 b genius shane in the Niddle Ages--geography, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine--are a11 neg1ected in the highest degree." 60 \Vith regard to the Arab scho1ars in Indonesia van den Berg writesa

The Arab scho1ars, smal1 number in the Indian archipelago it is true, enjoy among their fe11ow countrymen a consideration which wou1d not have been expected, \vhen it is reco1lected, that proba bly a third of them were nothing more than brig ands in their own country. I have been at a gathering of Arabs \vhere the richest merchants and chiefs nominated by the Dutch Government treated a comparative1y poor and obscure in a manner which proved that they regarded him as . . 61 t h e1.r super1.or.

Even though these scho1ars seemed to have control over specifie Nuslim schools, these were on1y Qur'~n schools, the curriculum of \vhich centered mainly on 1earning to read and recite the Qur'~n. These schoo1s were primari1y 28 located in the villages and in the vicinities of Sura- baya, Banyuwangi, Solo and Pekalongan. There \vere very few Arabs who might have conducted instruction at pondok~ pesantrens. One may note that most of the pondok- pesantrens in Java were run by Javanese kyais.

However, the religious influence of the ~a~rami Arabs appeared mainly in the urban society where they had a sizeable colony, and the populace, \vho consisted of a mixture of races and ethnie groups, were far less involved in the mystical practices. In Java, it is true, the Islamic reform movements are only influential in the cities. In the villages the traditional religious system is still very strong. It seems that urban life has at all t i mes provided a breeding ground for new ideas; such cities as Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo, \vhere there are many Arabs, conform to this pattern. The Ara bs, therefore, appeared to have changed Islam in Java from a mystical type to an orthodox type. To a certain extent they consti tuted a religious vanguard \vho persuaded the popula ce to stress Shari'ah rather than mysticism. To sorne extent i t \va s t rue that s orne Ha. dr. ami scholars and their followers were distinguished from the native population by rigorous obse rvance of the duties of r eli gion, but as van den Berg observed, "as f ar a s 29

the prescriptions of their law rela ting to war against the infidels, I don't believe that one among them 62 troubles himself seriously about them." Van den Berg did not agree with "the opinion tha t Arab colonies con- tained one of the elements considered most hostile to their [Dutch people] government," 63 Van den Berg observed that in any quarrel of the 19th century between the Dutch colonial government and certain Indonesian princes, for example, Perang Aceh (Achehnese War) in Aceh, Perang Padri ( Padri \var) in Minangkabau, Perang Diponegoro (Diponegoro \var) in Java, the I;TaÇramis tend ed to be on the side of the Dutch colonial government. Van den Berg gives Sayyid Mul)ammad b, Abubakar '"Aidid as an e xample of Hadramfs. . who rendered important political services to the Dutch colonial government and then, as a consequence, was granted by the government "the honorary title of Najor in 1877, and two years later that of Pange ran,--that i s the highest title of native no bility,"64 Van den Berg wrotea

The example of Sa:cyid '"Aidid is not the only one that might be mentioned. Seve ral ether distin guished Arabs have given proof of the ir loyalty 65 to the Dutch government.

Ara bs seemed to understand perf ectly that the Dutch 30 govern!nent was superior to them in the field of poli tics, industries, trade and science.

2. The Continuity and Change of Islam in Java

If one observes very closely, Islam in Java has always been in a continuous process of change from the day it \\ras first brought there centuries ago. The birth and development of Islamic reform was, therefore, a further continuation of this process of change. At the time 'ivhen Islam was introduced to lndo- nesia, the dominant religious pattern was a mixture of tradi tional beliefs, ~vhich developed hundreds of yea.rs ago, and a mysticism superimposed on them during the

Buddist and Hindu periods. ~vi th regard to the traditional beliefs of Indonesians Jeanne S. Mintz writes:

The central theme of Indonesian religious life ••• is based on ancient Indonesian belief in a divine, cosmic arder of nature in '!.vhich all aspects of life, are woven into a harmonious pattern. Spirits dominated and still dominate the Indonesian world in part; since many of important spirits were believed to be the souls of the dead, a reverance for ancestors remains an important facet of re ligion ...• There are, of course, evil spirits as well, and it is of cardinal importance to ward off disaster by trying to keep these evil 31

ghosts satisfied too. Things go well when the whole spirit community is contentented. 58

During the ascendency of Hinduism and Buddhism in Indo- nesia benveen the ninth and thirteenth centuries, the traditional beliefs of Indonesians have been fused with these t\vo religions; even Hinduism and Buddhism "have been merged and blended with each other. There are no sharp lines delineating one religion from another, but rather delicate shadings at various points along a con tinuum."67 It has been mentioned that Islam \vas brought to Indonesia from Gujarat in \vestern India, \vhere it was influenced by Hinduism. This mixture of Islam with Hindu elements facilitated the introduction of the new faith among the Indonesians. Hmvever, Islam \vas ac- ceptable in Indonesia in so far as it was able to accept the old religious pattern and able to associ2te itself with existing practices and beliefs. In this respect Islam was fortuna te because it was spread by Süfis:.

Islam appealed to the Indonesians because in their spirit worship and ancestor cult they were essenti a lly mystics, and the brand of Islam which was first introduced \va s mys tic in chara c- 32

ter. It was easy for Indonesians to understand . . . . d . 68 ~t, apprec~ate ~t, an use ~t.

The Muslims in Indonesia, therefore, laid more stress on

Islamic mysticism (ta~awwuf) than on schola stic theology and jurisprudence. However, due to the process of the change of Islam from heterodoxy to orthodoxy, this state of affairs changed. In \vest Java, for example, which had less Hindu influence, the thin strata of Hindu be- 1 iefs quiclcly disappeared, \'lhi le in Central and East Java, Hindu influences \\l'ere strong. T. \v. Arnold wrotea

But, though the work of conversion in the \vest of Java proceeded more slowly than in the ether parts of the island, yet, m.;ing largely to the fact that Hinduism had not taken such deep root among the people here a s in the centre of the island, the victory of Islam over the heathen worship \vhich it supplanted was more complete than in the dis tricts \vhich came immediately under the rule of Rajas [kings] of Hajapahit [Hindu Kingdom in East J avaJ. 69

Neamvhile, r egular shipping traff ic between Europe and the Orient established direct conta ct between Indonesia and Ara bia ; steam navigation and the opening of the Suez canal facilitated intercourse bet\veen the people of both countries and grea tly acceler2. ted the process of cultural r eorientations among Indonesians. Sorne Indonesian pilgrims on the !Jill made a longer stay - ---·- - ·-···-··- -·-··

in Arabia in arder to complete their theological studies. It was said that there was a large colony of Ja,vis in Makkah who \vere in constant communication wi th their 70 f e 11ow contrymen ~n. t h e~r . na~~ve . . 1 an d • These Indo- nesians, joined by an annual flow of Indonesian pilgrims, supplied a large number of religious books. It may be noted that sorne publications of Mal ay and Indonesian works also appeared due to the establishment of a Malay printing office as a section of the Government Press in Makkah in 1884 under the supervision of Zein ibn Muhammad from Petani (Malakka)--C. Snouck Hurgronje called him "a savant of merit." 71 Among other publications area

Sir~i al-Hud~ (dogmat i c book) and Minh~i a l-S al~m (dis

cussing I man and Isl~m) by Za inuddin f rom Hal a ysia; Furü' al-Masa'il (Islamic dogma and law), al-Durr al-Thamin (dogma tic book), Kashf a l-Ghummah (treatise on lif e and death) by Da'ud Abdull ah from Pet ani; a Ma lay commenta ry

on Jawhar al-Taw~id (by Ibrahim al-Laqani) and a commen

t ar y on ~ikam of Ibn 'A~a' All~h by the unknown Acheh nese. These books, a lon g \vi t h sorne Nal ay and Indonesian 72 \vorks published in Cairo, helped t o inf luence t he de - velopment of Islamic thought in Indonesia . The pondok-pesantrens , t hrough t he influx of - t hese books , gradually be came more orthodox, and s o did 34 many people who \vere influenced by Arabs, especially the pilgrims who returned from Makkah. Sir Thomas w. Arnold was correct when he said that& "Mecca has been said to have more influence on the religious life of these Islands than on Turkey, India or Bukhara."-- 73 At this stage in tirne one could contend that Arabia began to take the place once occupied by India in religious practice, and orthodoxy began to illurninate on a large scale the heterodox religious practices. In the early t\ventieth century MulJarnmad 'Abduh, whose group later became knmvn as Salafi'y8 h, had a vir- tually unnoticed but nevertheless tremendous influence upon Islamic thinking in Indonesia. It was the period ical al-t•Ianar 'l.vhich brought this new thought to a large public, not only to Egyptians, but also to Arabs in other countries, including Arab emigrants abroad, and to Indonesian Muslims who studied at al-Azhar or in Makkah. It had come to van den Berg's attention that sorne periodicals, vJhich were published in various ci ti es in the 74 M~"ddl e Eas t , f oun d t h e~r . way to I n d on es ~a.· The most impor t ant periodical was a l- 'Unvat al-lvuthqa (the Indis soluble Bond), which \va s written by Jamal al-DI'n al- Afghani and Nul}.ammad ' Abduh. . Deliar Noer concluded, from his study of the ref ormist movement that this period- 35

ical "had exercised a tremendous influence on the move ment."75

Perhaps the spread of these periodicals is one of the import;:mt results of Huhammad Kiamil Bey, Turkish Consul General in Batavia from 1897-1899, who tried to foster links between South-East Asian Arabs and the Middle East. 76 Anthony Reid writes:

Tmvards the end of 1897, the Arabie al-HalÜmat of Constantinople, the Tamarat al-Funün of 8eirut, and several Egyptian Nelvspapers a cquired correspondents based either in Batavia or Singapore who r egularly complained ë.bout the injustices to which i'·1uslims in general and Arabs in particular we re subjected by the Dutch. This press campaign aroused high hopes that Turkey would intervene to have European sta tus given to Notherlands Indies Arabs. 77

Soon after his appointment, Kiamil encouraged Arabs to send Arab youths f or studying in Conspantinople. "Eleven

~- · ....~ young Arabs left for schooling in Constantinople under his (Kiamil Bey's) auspices. These students enjoyed royal patronage while in the Turkish capital f rom 1898 78 to 1904." Meanwhile, in the first decade of the twentieth century, history recorded the first religious r eform - journal in Na laya ca lled al- Imam (1906-1908). Those -- ---·· -····· -·-·· ····- ... ····-···· ·

who sponsored this periodical, including four leading

figures, were apparently fami 1 iar wi th the 'ivorks of Egyptian reformists. First, tvlul}ammad 'fahir b. Jalal al-Dfn al-Azhar{ from Sumatra was a graduate of al-Azhar

and was a close friend of Rashfd Ri~a. Second, ~1ul}ammad b. Salim al-Kalalf was a wealthy Arab merchant who had spent sorne time in Nakkah and t:gypt and he therefore became acquainted with the works of Hul}ammad 'Abduh and Rashfd Ri9a. The same happened with the third, Haji 'Abbas b. tvluhammad. Taha. of Singapore. The fourth one was Sayyid Shaykh b. Ahmad. al-Hadf, who is said to have been influenced by Nul)ammad 'fahir, wi th 'ivhom he had a . . 79 c 1 ose assoc~at~on. According to W. R. Roff these sponsors "seemed merely to translate from Arabie 'ivorks of one kind or another, but the sources were rarely 80 stated." It must be noted that the extent of al-Imam's circulation seemed very small and a large proportion of its subscribers lived in Indonesia, particularly in

~inangkabau. Descended from a Minangkabau family, Muhammad Tahir sent copies of al-Imam to his friends . . . and pupils, since he had been a teacher in Nakkah, including Shaykh Nuhammad Djamil Djambek, Haji Abdullah -· Ahmad and Haji Abdul Karim Amrullah. 81 Influenced by 37

this journal along with al-Man~r, Abdullah Ahmad issued from ~1inangkabau in 1911 a magazine named al-Munir. 82 This magazine gained a very wide circulation, and one of i ts subscri bers f:.yai Dachlan \va s the founder of the Huhammadiyah movement. It 'vas he who translated several articles from al-Munir into Javanese for the readers in J a.va. 83 In the first issue al-Imam claimed "to remind those '\.vho are forr;etful, arouse those \vho sleep, guide those \vho stray, and gi ve a voice to tho se who speak 84 \vith wisdom. " Al-Imam condemned the dogmatic mental ity of blind obedience (taqlid buta) to the prescribed law. On the contrary it encouraged people to exercise ijtihad (individual investigation). In its opinions

(fatw~s) on disputed matters of religion al-Imam tried to refer to the primary sources of the Islamic doctrine, the Qur"an and the Sunnah. In comparison to Indonesian reformist Nuslims, Hal ay reformists did not found any organized institution. Neither a school of their own nor a movement \vas f ounded.

Hul)ammad 1-'~hir himself seemed to move f rom one position to another. After the publication of a l-Imam stopped at the end of 1908, Huhammad. Tahir. was appointed instruc- - tor of magistrate s in Perak in 1909, and later held 38

a similar post in Jahore. In 1920 he joined Shaykh Hadi to help run a religious school named Madrasah al-Mashhor in .?enang for five yea.rs. Later on he became head teach 85 er at a religious school in J ahore. However, the most significant activity of Malay reformist riuslims was in publication. After the disappearance of the al-Imam periodical, they tried to run other publications, for example, Neracha (1911-1915), Tunas Nelayu (1913-1915) 86 and al-IchHan (1923-1931). The import8 nce of these publications was to propagate the ideas of Islamic ref orm. Influenced by his r e cognition of the above cir- cumstances, Ahmad Dachlan founded in Jogyakarta (in Java) the Muharnmadiyah in 1912. The motivation behind his establishing this organization might be summarized as fol~ lowa 1) After his stay in Makkah in 1890 , and his later r e s idence there (1903-1905), he seemed to be familiar with the idea of Islamic ref orm. 2) Joining Budi Utomo (Pure Endeavour) organizati on in 1909, an organiza tion prima rily concerned \vith im- proving education and cult ure , other members suggested to Ahmad Dachlan that he should e sta blish "a well-organized religious school backed by an organization of a more permanent character in order 39

to avoid the fate of traditional pondok-pesantrens

\·lhich generally had to be closed after the death of 87 the kyai concerned,"

3) A meeting with Ahmad Surkati in 1912, in which they

discussed the contact of ta.fsir al-Manar, encouraged

both of them to found the orga nization needed to de 88 velop ideas of Islamic reform,

Based on its reformist philosophy appearing in its constitution--stRting "that the vitality of the

Muslims is less in modern times than it was formerly;

that reform is needed to restore the Islamic world to

its former position of strength; and that Huslims lost

political control in certain areas of the world because

'moral degradation, spiritual disintegration, intellec- tua1 corrupt~on. an d poverty occurred ~n . 1v1us' . 1 ~rn' soc~ety. '. tl 89

--Muhammadivah focused its movernent, at first, on educational and social efforts, Rnd then on soreading ideas of Islamic reform. Muhammadiyah established sekolah umums (secular schools) as \vell as madrasahs. The sekolah umums of ~!uhammadiyah provided the instruction taught in

Dutch g overnment schools and also taught religion (Arabie,

Tawhid, Fiqh and history of Islam). Delia r Noer observed that in 1925 ~fuhammadiyah had esta blished "eight H. r.s.

(Hollands Inlandse School -- Dutch Speaking native ( e le- 40 mentary) school); one teachers' training school (at Jogyakarta); thirty-two 'second class' five-year schools; one schakelschool (Dutch language elementary school); fourteen madrasah--all with 119 teachers and 4,000 pupils."90 The social effort of Nuhammadiyah focused on establishing medical clinics and orphanages. In 1925 it operated "two clinics (in Jogyakarta and Surabaya) where 12,000 patients received treatment; one poor house (home for the blind), and two orphanages."91 These educational and social activities of Nuha!i'madiyah were regarded a s being stimulated by Christian missionaries. "In short," W. F. Wertheim writes, "the movement '"as active in all those fields in \vhich the Chris- tian missionaries had been \vorking for sorne time al ready."92 With regard to the effort of spreading reformism, Muhammadiyah, as other ref orm movements, believed that by returning to t he true sources of Islam , the QurJan and ijadith, Islam in Indonesia could be purified of all its corruotions by replacing them with the true teachings and practices of the prophet Muhammad.. On the other hand Muhammadiyah also tried to avoid the da nger of taqlid buta (blind acceptance) \vhich had become a major charac- t eristic of Indonesi an Muslims. Consequently ~uhammadiyah 41

agreed to open the gate of ijtihad (the right for individual investigation). In this respect Muham;·nadiyah, in 1927, established Najlis Tarjih or a council for prominent religious scholars. Deliar Noer says that:

The funtion of this council \vas to issue fatwa or ascertain the ~ukm (hukum,judgment) of particular questions on which the .tviuslim comml..mity diff ered among Ltse. lf • 93

It seems that the Majlis Tarjih was also expected to be able to interpret Islam from its true source s which are compatible with modern life. 94 This then would cure the Muslims of their antiintellectual disease which origi- nated from taqlid buta, a disease \vhich they had suf fered from for centuries. Since the time that the reformist Muslim movement in Sumatra as well as in Java established their schools, ther e were two separate types of rel i gious schools in Indonesia. On the one hand t l1ere were the old religious schools run by kya is and their santris ( disciT)les). On the other hand there were mod e rn religious schools established by reformist Muslims. Behind this division stood a basic division of spirit. Those t wo systems of education produced two different educated classes among Indo- - nesian Muslims, each \vith a spirit of its own. These 42 two classes were the kaum tua and the kaum muda. The kaum tua (old fashioned people or conservatives) were those who held that "as 1.ve must be lieve in the Qur'an and the words of the Prophet, so it is obligatory to believe in 'vhatever is given us by the ' ulama-, , " where- as the kaum muda (young people or modernists) held that "all that is obligatory in (our) religion is to believe in the Qur'an and ~ad{th, for there is no man but the Prophet who is free from error."95 In keeping with reformist outlook, the kaum muda crea ted a conflict with the kaum tua or conservative Muslims. In this case, one may consider tha.t the development of Indonesian Muslims since the 1910s has always been characterized by this conf lict. This thesis, therefore, will discuss this element in the third chapter. 43

FOOINOTES

1Justus N. van der Kroef, Indonesia in the Nodern 1vorld, 2 Pts. (Bandunga Masa Baru, 1954), I, p. 250; see also his article, "The Arabs in Indonesia," The Middle East Journal, VII (1953), p. 300. 2van der Kroef, "The Arabs," p. 301. 3Ibid.; see also J. A. E. Morley, "The Arabs and the Eastern Trade," Journal of Nalayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, XXII, Pt. I, p. 155. 4 Army Vandenbosch, The Dutch East Indiesa Its Government, Problems, and Politics (Berkeleya University of California, 1944), pp. 5-6. 5rbid., p. 6. Concern ing the Chinese in Indonesia see Robert C. Bane , "The Role of the Chinese in Indonesia." A paper submitted to Yale University, Foreign Service Institute Nonograph Series, June 1951; Harley F. Nac Nair, The Chinese Abroad (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1924). Concerning the European, see Paul w. van der Ve ur, "The

Eurasian of Inclonesia 1 A Problem and Challenge in Colo nial History," Journal of South Asian History, IX (Sept. 1968), pp. 191-202. 6van der Kroef, Indonesia, p. 251. 7George Fadlo Houran4 Ara b Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Nedieval Times (Princeton, N.J.a Princeton University Press, 1951), p. 78. 8 Van ct er Kroef, Jndonesia, p. 252. - 9E. Denison Ro ss and Eil een Power , eds., Ibn Battuta. 44

Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354, trans. by I-I. A. R. Gibb (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1929), p. 302; see also Ibn Ba~-çü~ah, The Travels of Ibn Batuta, trans. by Samuel Lee (London: Parbury, Allen and Co. , 1825), PP• 222-223. 10G. R. Tibbetts, "Early Nuslim Traders in South East Asia," Journal of the Nalayan Branch of the Royal Asiat~c Society, XXX (1957), p. 44. 11 van den Berg, Hadthramaut and the Arab Colonies

in the Indian Archipelago, trans. by Hajor C. ~v. H. Sealy (Bombay: The Government Central Press, 1887), p. S8; Tibbetts.,"Early Huslim Traders," p. 44. 12Norley,"The Arabs," p. 155. 13R. B. Serjeant, ed., South Arabian Poetry' Prose and Poetry from Hadramaut (London• Taylor's Foreign Press, 1951), p. 4, n. 8. 14w. H. Ingrams, A Report on the Social, Economie and Political Condition of the Hadramaut (Colonial papers No. 123, London, 1936), p. 141. 15van den Berg, Hadthramaut, p. 46.

16Ibid. 17 Ibid., PP~ 38, 47-48. 18J. Schleifer, "Hadramawt," Encyclopaedia of Islam, Old ed., II, p. 209; see also van den Berg, Hadthramaut, pp. 40-41. 19van den Berg, Harlthramaut, p. 40. 20 Ibid.; for further information on the names of sayyid fa:nilies see o. Lofgren, "Ba 1 Alawi," :2ncyclopaedia 45 of Islam, New ed., I, p. 829.

21A 1-Yan- '· ~, Tarikh,-- pp. 235 -236 ; Doreen Ingrams, A Survey of Social and Economie Conditions in the Aden Protectorate (Londona The Government Printer British Administration, 1949), pp. 38~39; Naji, Tarikh, pp. 70-71; van den Berg, Hadthramaut, pp. 45-46. 22For further information see Ingrams, Aden Protectorate, P• 49. 23Richard H. Sanger, The Arabian Peninsula (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1954), p. 224. 24Ibid.; see also Ingrams, Aden Protectorate, p. 49. 25van den Berg, Hadthramaut, p. 40. 26Van der Kroef, "The Arabs," p. 306. 27van den Berg, Hadthramaut, p. 47 28van der Kroef, Indonesia, pp. 255-256. 29u.s. Department of Commerce Office of Technical Services, Japanese Hilitary Administration in Indonesia (Washingtona Joint Publication Research Service, 1963), p . 35; for further inf ormation see pp. 35-54. 30Ibid., P• 45. 31van der Kroef, Indonesia , P• 261. 32A brief account on Cultuur Stelsel see George NcTurnan Kahin, Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1952), pp. 11-15; Vandenbosch , The Dutch East Indies, pp. 58-62; G. H. van der Kolff , "European Influence on Native Agriculture," in B. Shrieke, The Effect o f Western Inf luence on Native 46

Civilization in the Malay Archipelago (Batavia; G. Kolff and Co., 1929), PP• 107-113. 33van der Kolff, "European Influence," p. 110.

341,... a h~n, ' Nationalism, p. 12 • 35 Ibid., p. 11. 36van der Kroef, Indonesia, p. 261. 37vandenbosch, The Dutch East Indies, p. 59 38van der Kroef, Indonesia, p. 261. 39Ibid. 4°For the details see Horley, "The Arabs," pp. 169-170; see also van der Kroef, Indonesia, PP• 260- 267. 41 Morley, "The Arabs," p. 169. 42For an excellent account of the Dutch colonial policy concerning Indonesian Islam, see Harry J. Benda, The Crescent and the Rising Sune Indonesian Islam under the Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945 (The Haguea W. van Hoeve, 1958), pp. 19-31. 43 For details of the Shaykh system in Makkah as it applied to Indonesian pilgrims see c. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century, trans. by Mohahan (Leiden: Late E. J. Brill, 1931), pp. 222-223. 44J. Vredenbregt, "The Haddj1 Sor:le of Its Fea tures and Functions in Indonesia," Biidragen Tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, CXVIII (1962), p. 93; see also Appendix II, p. 149. 45 Ibid., P• 130. 46 s ee .!.....1..._.,'b'd PP• 98-100 47

4 7 Ibid., p. 130. 48 --Ibid.-- ' p. 100. 49Ibid., p. 117. 50 Ibid., p. 118. 51van den Berg, Hadthramaut, p. 36. 52Ibid. 53Ibid., p . 37. 54B-a lS· a geneo 1 oglca . 1 t erm used ln . Ha d ramaut, especially among the sayyids and shayl

63 rbid., PP• 52-53. 64 Ibid., p. 55. 65Ibid. 66Jeanne s. Mintz, Indonesiaa A Prof ile (Princeton, N.J. a D. van Nostrand Company, 1961), p. 127. 67 Ibid., P• 130. 68Kenneth Perry Landon, Southeast Asia Crossroad of Religions (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1948), PP• 138-139. 69Sir Thomas Arnold, Preaching of Islama A History of Propagation of Huslim Faith, 2nd ed. (London: Constable and Company, 1913), p. 386. 70snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, p. 291. Everybody who came f rom East Indian Archipelago and Malaya \vas called "Jawl," see ibid., p. 6. 71 Ibid., P• 286. 72Ibid., PP• 286-287. 73Arnold, Preaching of Islam, p. 407. 74van den Berg observed that these Arabie period icals ar e as follows: a l-Jaw~ib (Constantinople), al-Insin (Constantinople), al-Jannah (Beirut), Thamarat a l-Funün ( Beirut), Lisan al-~al (Beirut), al -Wa~~ ( Alexandria), RawcJ. at al-Iskandari:yah (Alexandria) and al~ 'Ur\vah al-l"luthqa (Paris), see his Hc.dt!lramaut, p. 52, n. 1. 75 Noer, Nuslim Novement, p . 57. 76Anthony Re id, "Nineteenth Century Pan-Islam in Indones ia and Halaysia ," The Jqurn_9-_l __p f Asian Studies, 49

XXVI, No. 2 (February, 1967), p. 280. 77 Ibid., P• 281. 78 _Q,1_o'I· •ct P• 280 • 79w. R. Roff, "Kaum Huda-Kaum Tua: Innovation and Reaction among the Nalays, 1900-1941," in K. G. Tregonning, ed., Papers_on Malayan History (Singapore: Journa l South East Asian History, 1962), pp. 168-170. 80Ibid,, P• 170, 81 Nulçti Ali, Alam Pikiran Islam Hodern di Indo nesia (Jogyakarta: Nida, 1971), p. 42. 82An account on Islamic reformism in i'1inangkabau has been \vritten by Hurni Djamal, "Abdul Karim Amrullah." 83 Ali, Alam Pikiran, p. 43. 84 Al-Imam, No. 1 (July, 1906), P• 8, quoted by R.off,"Kaum Muda-Kaum Tua," p. 165. 85Roff, "Kaum Nuda-Kaum Tua," p. 169. 86Ibid. 87Noer, Muslim Movement, P• 75.

88 .~\li , "Huhammadiyah," P• 48. 89Federspiel, "Nuhammadiyah," p. 60. 90Noer, Mus l im Movement, p . 83; see also Federspiel, "Muhammadiyah," p . 58; \'1. F. Wertheim, Effects of l'V'estern Civilization on Indonesian Society (New York : Internat iona l Secretariat Institute of Pa cifie Relation, 1950), p. 57. 91Noer, tvluslim ~'lavement, p . 83. 50

92~vertheim, Effects of \vestern Civilization, p. 57. 93 Noer, Muslim Movement, P• 80. 94 For the d e tails and criticism of Mailis Tarjih see Federspiel, "tvluha c~ madiyah," PP• 67-69. 95 Roff, "Kaum Huda-Kaum Tua," p. 163. CHAPTER II

SHAYKH AHMAD. SURKAT! Al'W THE IRSHADI MOVEtvŒNT

1. The Origin of the Irshadi: Hovement

Until the close of the 19th century, the educational interest of the Arabs in Indonesia seemed to be confined to Qur'an schools. These schools offered the pupils recitation of "the Qur'an in the Arabie text without insisting upon their understanding [it]."l In addition the students were also offered instruction in -·-wudÜ' (ritual ablution) and salah·-- (the five daily de- votions). "Neither instruction in writing, nor in arithmetic nor in anything else is offered" by the teachers. The so-called kataman wa.s "a festival to celebrate the fact that the child has read all the thirty chapters of the Qur ,-an." 3 Among the rich Arab merchants who wished their half-caste children to receive more advanced r eligious education, most sent them to Hadra maut.4 According to van den Berg the purpose of this was for their children to "learn to speak the tangue of their father" and prevent them from "becoming worthless 5 fellows." Nothing is mentioned by van den Berg con- cenrning those Arab youth who r eturned to Indonesia or

51 52

Malaya after staying for a few years in Hadramaut except that "many among them begin to employ Malay as their habitual language. They seek the society of the corn- rades of their youth, and shun th2t of Arabs born in Hadthramaut. Sorne give way to gambling or other for- hidden pleasures, sometimes even to the a buse of opium or alcoholic drinks." 6 Kiamil Bey, \vhen he \vas appointed Turkish Consul General in Batavia in 1897, seems to have encouraged the sending of Indonesi an students to Istambul \vi th scholarships from the Ottoman Empire. This practice met with a good response in the Ara b community and eleven young Arabs l eft for schooling in Istambul. 7 In arder that ethers could be sent, a number of l earned Arabs among the sayyids togeth er \vi th various people of the non-sayyid group founded a benevolent s ociety in 1901, named a l-Jam 'iyah a~Khayri yah (Benevolent Associa tion) and known as Jamiat Khair. The founders of this association were al-'AydarGs b. Ahm. ad b. Shih~b, Euhammad. - ,_ al-Faqir and Sa id b. 'Ali b. Ahmad. al-Shih~b. It was l egally r ecognized by the Dutch government on July 17, 1905. 8 Although the majority of its members \Jere of Arab origin t his a s sociation was also opened to na tive Indonesian Muslims. Among the latt er group \va s the 53 founder of the Nuhammadiyah movement, Ahmad Dachlan, who became a member around 1909.9 Generally its leaders were chosen from \veal thy Arabs, most of '\vhom were sayyids "who \vere able to devote their time to the new organiza tion wi thout having to \vorry wi th earning a 1 i ving." 10 This association saon became devoted to improve- ments within the educational field. It sent several youths to Turkey to pursue advanced study and opened elementary schools. The elementary schools became very important since the Ottoman scholarships "were saon ham- pered by the lack of funds as well as by the decline of the caliphate."11 The Jamiat Khair school was not exclusively religious since it of fered a number of non-religious subjects such as arithmetic, history and geography. The medium of instruction \vas the Indonesian language r ather than Ara bie. "Dutch was not t aught; instead English was compulsory." 12 A very interesting fact about Jamiat Khair \vas that it invited c apable teachers from abroad to teach at its school. In 1911 four teachers from Arab countries were invited to teach by Jamiat l(hayr with the hope that they would improve the school with their knowledge of Sunni teachings. The f our were Shaykh AQmad Surkati of 54

Sudan, Shaykh M~ammad Tayyib of Marocco, Shaykh Mu~ammad

b. 'Abd al-~amrd of Makkah (but Sundanese in origin) and al-Hashimr (a native of Tunis). 13 Soon after they arrived in Jakarta, Jamiat Khair

·-·(_, opened two branch schools 1 one v.ras located in Bogor and ,.,as directed by Muhammad. 'Abd al-Haml:d,. and the other was at Kreket (in Jakarta), directed by ~'lu~amrnad !ayyib. Surkatr was made the insoector of all the Jarniat Khair sch oo 1 s, and was b ased Ln. J a k arta. 14 The leaders of Jamiat Khair seemed to have great confidence in Surkati's works. It was on his recornmen- dation that Jamiat Khair invited other teachers from abroad. In 1912 one of his own brothers, joined by three other teachers, carne to Jakarta. They included AbÜ

al-Fagl Nu~ammad al-Satr al-Surkatr (Surkatr•s brother),

Shaykh Mu~ammad NÜr b. Mu~ammad Khayr al-An~arr, Shaykh

Mu~arnmad al-'Aqrb and Shaykh Hasan ~arnrd al-An~arf. All of them were from Sudan. They all joined AQ.rnad

Surkatf in Jakarta except Shaykh Mu~ammad a l-'Aqib who launched a new J amiat school branch in Surabaya. 15 I t may be noted that sorne of these f ore i gn teachers were acquainted '\vi th the 'tvorks of Egyptian reforrners, Nu~amrnad 'Abduh and Rashfd Riga. Nuhammad. ·· ''' NÜr and Mul}ammad a l-'Aqib had studied f or severa l years 55 at al-Azhar and had been pupils of Muhammad. 'Abduh. 16 Surkatf gained knowledge about reformism through cor- 17 responding with sorne Azhar scholars. Nuharamad. NÜr, \vho became one of the teachers at Gordon College in Sudan from 1906 to 1911, 18 might have influenced his friends who went with hio to Indonesia. The history of Islam in Sudan records that there were a number of teachers and judges, including Shaykh Muhammad. Mustafa. al-Haraghf, ·who \vere follm·1ers of fYlulJarnnad 'Abduh.

Charles C. Adams \v-rote 1

Shaykh ï-Ius"t;afa \vas formerly Supreme Sharf 'ah Judge for the Sudan, having been appointed to the office on the recommendation of 'Abduh. A number of others of 'Abduh's disciples have served in the Sudan as judges and as teachers in Gordon IVIemorial College. 19

These teachers emphasized their teaching of Arabie, which \vas important because a knmvledge of Arabie provided a means to understand the basic texts of Islam. 'Abduh had indicated that teaching Arabie was one of his primary aims. "To revive a general knmvledge of the language \vas to provide the means to reform religion." 21 Another important method of their teaching was to develop the minds of the students through emphasis on understanding 56

1 . and cr~t~c~sm. . . ra ther than earn~ng b y memor~zat~on. . . 22 As teachers, they tried to guide their students to sound methods of reasoning. But in reaffirming v1hat they believed to be the fundamental attitude of Islam with regard to reason, they \vere contradicting what had been, for centuries, the established practice among savyid group, for their belief that all Muslims were equal caused their estrangernent from the sayyid group of Jamiat Khair, ':.-Jho fel t that this idea posed a very dangerous threat to their favoured position within the Muslim com munity in Indonesia. 23 The invitation for these teachers to come to Indo- nesia was arranged by Arabs who had been influenced by

the \vorl<.s of the reformists. These were 1 'Abd Allah b.

AbÜ Bakr al-~abshi, M~ammad b. 'Abd al-Ra~man b. Shihab,

Nul}ammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Sha-ç:arr, A~mad b. 'Abd Allah al-Saqqaf- and t Abd al-Mawla- b. Yahya.. - 24 These reformist; Arabs together with foreign teachers tried to encourage people to treat sayyids as equals. Sorne non-sayyids dispensed with practising taqbil (kissing the hands of sayyids). This -vms started by 'Umar r-1anqush, the head 25 of local Arab community in Jakarta. It has been men tioned previously that taqbil was considered a require- ment for a non-sayyid whenever he met a sayyid. Further- 57

more, the struggle for the equality of non-s2.yyids found

support from the fatw~ (legal opinion) given by Rashfd Rid~,. who considered marriage between a non-sayyid and a sharffah permissible. This opinion was in answer to

the letter of Shaykh 'Umar al-'A~~~s (a prominent sayyid in Singapore) en ti tled "The l'Jarriage between a Sharffah and a non-Sharff and Esteemed Position of Ahl al-Bayt [the descendant of 'Alf]" with the date Muharram. 1323 A.H • (Narch 1905 A.D.). Follmving the belief of the sayyid group al-'Att~s.. affirmed as followsa

The equality of a bridegroom to a bride in marriage is a necessity. l'lith regard to ancestral lineage there are four degreesa (1) Non-Arabs are not equal to the Arabs. (2) Non-Qurashaites are not equal to Qurashaites. (3) Qurashaites are not equal to BanG H~shim. (4) BanG H~shim are not equal to the descendants o f Fatimah- . through H.asan and Husayn.. 26

Thus the highest degree was filled by the descendants of Fatimah. through Hasan . and Husayn, . then follmved the BanG Hashim, the people of Quraysh, other Arabs and lastly non-Arab people. Based on those conditions 'Attas. . con- cludeda

It is not permissible to marry the sayyidah to a 58

non-sayyid, even if she accepts it and disregards quality or even \vith the agreement of her \vali, for the right of equality is based on essential . d 27 h onour and not requ~re one.

Rashid Rida in his opinion concluded:

Marriage is ba sed on common interest and every group of people have the best knmvledge in regard to their interest. And the Islamic la'>·J' does not prevent them from choosing Hhat is good for tt.em, on the other hand Islamic law prohibits harlllful . 28 act~ons.

Perhaps it was not without motive that Surkati composed the arjÜzah (poem) called Ummahat al-Akhlaq (the Nothers of Morality), \vhich it \vas compulsory to sing at the beginning and end of every class. The trans- lation of his poem is1

One has no pride for his lineage or clothes . Nor for accumulation of silver and gold. But pride should be obtained through knowledge and culture. And r eligion is the light of the wise men. 29

These events seemed to increase the tension between the conservative s ayyids and the non-sa·vyids and \vere to cause an eventual split benveen them. By tha t 59

time, Surkatt hirnself became the leading intellectual leader of the reform group. Joined by non-sayyid Arabs he left Jamiat Khair and formed a new organization, Jam 'tya.h --·-·al-Islah wa al-Irshad al-'~~abryah (Arab Association for Improvement and Guidance), knmvn as al-I_rshad, in 1913.

It gained legal recognition from the government on Sep 30 tember 6, 1914.

Influenced by the tension \vi thin the Arab communi ty, the organization of Jarniat IZhair did not fare very well. It rernained small although it was not confined solely to Jakarta. Deliar Koer has this to say about the group:

It started with about sevffitty members and grew very slowly, the year 1915 registering only a 1 •out one thousand mernbers. By this year, hmvever, its decline was noted. It could not match the activities of al-Irshad \vhich had bee n established in 1913 by those me:nbers of D jamiat Chair \vho had quit this organi- . 31 za t lOn.

Hm·Jever, the importance of Jamiat Khair lies in the fact that it started an organization of a modern character (with a hierarchy, enrolled members and regular meetings) and established schools \vhich introduced, to a certain extent, a modern method of instruction \vi th organized classes and grades and a curriculum. This never 60 before happened in Java.

2. Surkati and the Foundation of the Irshâdi Hovement

Surk.ati. \vas born in Donqola, Sudan, in 1292 A.H.

( 1872 A. D.). His father, f.~ ul].ammad Surkati., seems to have been a persan of \vorthy chara cter. He Has one of the people who 1. .rcre s a id to derive the ir name from a noted al -An~ari, Jabir b. 'Abd Allah. 32 Thus Hui:ammad was one of the Jawabra or Jawâbirah, ctescendents of Jâbir b. 'Abd Allah, \vho had been driven into :Jonqola during the reign of 33 Salim I of Turl~ey. He Has graduate of al-Azhar and 1·1as said to have had a vast collection of books. 3 i~ Afte r Ahm. ad b. Huh . ammad obtained his ba s ic educa- tian he was sent to the home of a gafi~, a professional reciter of the Qur'an by heart. He accomplished this task before he 1vas grown up. Then he studied Mabadi' a l-Fiqh wa al-Tawl;id (Rudiments of I s lamic Law and Theology) ·1.-1ith his father. 35 It may be usef ul to brief ly r eview t he s ystem of t raditi onal educa tion in Sudan. Bath the method and curriculum wer e very tr2ditional. At the beginning the children l earned the Qur'ân by heart, the res ult of Hhich, a ccordin,s to Su c1.aneses, 1-ms " t o strengthen faith and give a f ounda tion f or the doctrine s based on Qur'anic ve rses 61 and the text of certain traditions." 36 After learning the Qur'an, sorne of these students continued studying other Islamic sciences Hhich consisted of "Tawl}id (The ology) according to the madhhab of al-Ash'ari; and Fiqh ( Islamic Lm·l) according to the madhhab of Ibn Halik. " 37 Hmvever, Surkati could not follmv his father and complete his studies at al-Azhar, instead, after his father's doath in 1314 A.H (1896) he went to Arabia. He lived in ~adinah for four years1 to improve his Arabie with Al)mad Bazanji; to study Fiqh \vith Shayl

Shayl

(Studies on Tafs:lr), legal opinions and several simple 40 poems. Nothing of interest is recorded with r egard to his direct relation wi th Mu~ammad ÇAbduh and Rash:Ld Ri~~ except, as mentioned in Riwayat Hidup as-Surkati (the biography of al-Surkati)41 that during his stay in Makkah he was to acquaint himself \-li th the t eaching of 'Abduh by frequently corresponding with sorne Azhar scholars under the i nfluence of 'Abduh, Thus, Hhen J amiat Khair tried to find sorne teachers who had gr aduated from al-Azhar, the friends of Surkat:L chose him as the first candidate, with the intention that he would r e present 42 them in extending Islamic reform. Joined by- Muh. ammad

'fayyib of Morocco and f Abd al-H am:Ld of Sudan, Surkat:L left i·.iakkah for Jakarta in 1329 A.H. (1911 A.D.). 43

I·!ena\\7hile, after an extended stay in Jakarta and sorne -,;vork for Jamiat Khair, Surka t:L be came involved in the dispute be tween s ayyid and non-sayyid Ara bs. His involvement began wi th his f a tw~ (opinion ) expressed in Solo, in vlhich he considered permissibl e , as Rash:Ld Rida. . had, the marriage of a non-sayyid and a s ayyid's daughter. At the s ame time he a lso s t r essed that Islam championed the equa lity of Muslims and did not recognize the existence of elevated positions of certa in gr oups because 63

of birth, wealth or rank. This opinion was given in a meeting with a sayyid group in Solo in which 'Umar Sa'l.d b. Sunkar raised the same question as had been raised by 44 'umar 'A ~~as- ln· s·lngapore. Th"lS f atwa - mean t t o a t - tack the conservative sayyid faction of the Arab commu ni ty. l·Jhen sorne sayyids proposed that Surkatl. should advise all his non-sayyid students to kiss the hands of sayyid students, Surkatl. preferred to resign his position at Jarniat Khair than to so advise his non-sayyid stu- 45- dents. \\'hile teaching in the Jamiat Khair school in the morning , Surkatl. opened evening courses \vhich ivere attended by Arab youths. 46 The purpose of these new courses was to examine the possibilities for rehabilitating the Huslims in Indonesia. He seems to have been seeking friends with whom he might cooperate. 47 vlith the arrival of his Sudanese friends who were already familiar \vith Hu9-ammad 'Abduh's teachings, Surkatl. became more steeped in the Horks of the Egyptian reformer as well as the works of Ibn Tayml.yah and Ibn Qayyim. Perhaps this small group of foreign teachers stood at the heart of a communication net'\vork \vhich fed a constant stream of revitalized modern Nuslim thought from Niddle East iEto Java. It formed the nucleus which ca.used 64

change in the Arab community in particular and in Huslim Indonesia in general. Because of the tension bet'l.veen sayyid and non-sayyid groups, as has been discussed above, Surkati concentrated his efforts on forming a group of dedicated follmvers. i"Ieetings \vi th prominent non-sayyid Arabs were held to groom and train a number of his close friends, his promising students and his disciples. Dur ing this period of transition Shaykh 'Umar IvlanqÜsh, a non-sayyid Arab who beca:ae the head of the Arab commu nity in Jakarta, Sa'id b. Salim Hash'abi and Salih. . 'Ubayd 'Abdat, prominent non-savyids and rich traders, joined Surkatl.'s effort. These persans thus became the core

• • • • _c h . 48 group Ln preparLng an organLzatLon Ol t eLr own. Among the native Nuslims Al}mad Surl<.atf found support from such prominent leaders as Kyai Haji Ahmad Dachlan and Haji Zamzarn . Ahmad Dachlan and Surkati prom- ised each other that each would work to rehabilitate Indonesian Huslims. Surkati would work among the Arab

communi ty 'l.vhile Dac ~ üan would \.York among the native Indo nesian Muslims by establishing the Huhammadiyah in 1912.49 Another acquaintance of Surkati, Haji Zamzam of Bandung , founded Persatuan Islam in 1923, a modern r-1uslim organization Hhich \vorked in Islamic education and in publication as \vell. The purpose of the organization \vas 65

"to enlarge discussions on religious tapies tha t had been underta.ken on an informa! basis for several month."SO Alfian Hrote on the influence of Surka ti. on Haji Zamzam:

Haji Zamzam (1894-1952) obtained his relig ious education in Makl<.ah \vhere he s pent three-and-a half yea rs, and also through his friendship with Ahmad Surka ti of al-Irshad. 51

Thus, inspite of his Arab orienta tion, Surkati, vlho died in 1943, \Vas i nstrument a l i n the birth and development of Islamic Reforrüsm in J ava a s a whole . Federspie l calls him "an early advocate o f fundamentalist I slamic thought in Indonesia . " 52 Surkatf \vas a ble to be come close friends \vith a ll mode rnist Nusli ms bec ause of "beth his popula rity as a highly respected religious scholar and his good personality ." 53 It has been mentioned tha t t he Irshadi. mover.1ent was founded in J a.ka rta. in 1913 a.nd its legP l recognit5_on was given by the Dutch governrnent on Sept ember 6, 1914. Its leading f ounder s were a s followsz 1) Shaykh Ahmad Sur!cati.. 2) Sh.3.ykh ' Umar NanqÜsh . 3) Sa 'I.ct Na sh' a bL 4) Shaykh Muha mmad 'Ubayd 'Abdat . • 5) Shaykh Sali m b. 'Iwa~ Ba l wa 'l. 66

In its first period of development, the Irshadi movement

was under the chairman ship of Salim- b. ' Iwa~ Balwa·l,- ' and its administra tive included Shaykh f1uhammad. 'Ubayd 'Abbud as s ecret ary and Sa'id b. Salim Mash'abi as treasurer. 54 According to Mailis Da'wah al-Irsvad (al-Irshad Department of Preaching ), the name Irshad referred to the name Jam'iyat al-Da'wah Ha al-Irshad (the Association f or Propaganda and Guidance) founded by Rashid Rida. in Egypt. 55 It is said tha t "the formal opening of the school, wlüch was situated on the island of Rodah at Ca iro, took place

on the eve of the birth da-y of the .prophet Huhammad. and the classes began the folloHing day, 13 Rabi' al-A\vwal, 56 1330 A.H. (f.Iarch 3, 1912 A.D. )" The founding of this Associa tion for Propaganda and Guidance was a direct effort of Rashid Rida. who wanted to "urge Husli ms to devote their means to that most excellent of a ll good vmrks , nnmely, the f ounding of schools." 57 He had this to say a

The f ounding of schools is better t han t i1e founding of ma sques , for the prayer of an i gnorant man in a masque is va l ue l ess , 1vhe reas , through the founding of schools, i gnorance 1-.rill be r emoved and thus both secular and r eligious works will be correctly per formect . 58 67

The school which was called Dar al-Da'wah wa al-Irshad (the School of Propaganda and Guidance) had a preference for students from distant Muslim lands including East Africa, North Africa, Turkey, Turkistan, India, Java and Nalaysia. Unfortunately "the school 'l.vas discontinued on the outbreak of the Great \Var, however, and has not, up to the present, been reopened." 59

3. The Principles of the Irshadi Movement

Al-Irshad movement is based on the following five principlesa 1) To hold the doctrine of God's Unity by purifying de- votions and prayers from their contamination by polytheistic elements. 2) To realize equality among Muslims and to seek the legal judgements found in the Qur'an and Sunnah, and to follow the way of salaf in solution to all disputed religious matters. 3) To combat the so-called taqlid a'ma (blind acceptance)

which conflicts with both ~ (reason) and naql (the Qur'an and Hadith) • • 4) To spread Islamic sciences and Arab culture as approved by God. 68

5) To attempt to create mutual understanding between Indonesian Muslims and the Arabs. 60 Based on these principles al-Irshad created its consti tution in 1914. The name of the movement appears in article 1 of the Irshadl. constitution, that is Jam'fyat al-I~al). \va al-Irshad al-' Arabl.yah (Arab Association for improvement and Guidance) with its central office in Jakarta. The second article of the Irshadf constitution mentions three purposes for future development of the

Irshadt movement in Indonesia. These are1 (1) to improve the religious and socio-economical conditions of Nuslims in general and Arabs in particular by means of the establishment of schools, orphanages, nursi ng homes and hospitals; (2) to spread the idea of Islamic reform among Muslims through \vritings and publications, meetings,lec tures, study sessions and missions; (3) to help ether organizations which have a common interest with the al-Irshad on the condition that they do not contradict Islamic Law or local government. It may be noted that the constitution o f the Irshadl. movement is able to be changed since additional a rticles to it a r e permitted. These changes are only allmved to be made by the Irshadi 61 congresses. 69

4. The Foundation of Irshadi Schools

Soon after the foundation of Irshadi movement Surkati handed over his school to this movement and became the principal of al-Irshad school. He was joined by the greatest scholar of Hadramaut in Indonesia, Ustidh 62 Nuhammad. 'Ubayd- 'AbbÜd, and all his friends from abroact. In 1913 the Irshadi movement established the follm-ving schools: 1) A three-year primary school ( a\V\,7aliyah). 2) A four-year elementary school (ibtida,Iyah). 3) A nvo-year secondary school (ta ihtziyah). 4) A four-year school of tea chers (mu'allimin). 63 In 1915 a l-Irshad movement established a graduate school 64 called Takhassus. ·-. •

The Curriculum

In comparison with Muhammadiyah, the Irsh~di school offered a curriculum of religious instruction, in which Arabie \vas the most important subject. Severa l

additional courses equivalent t o those found i ~ the colonial school system were taught, -.;..;hile the schools of Nuha'":'lffiadiyah of fereà mainl y a curriculum equiva lent to that of the Dutch school system, plus religious in /' 65 struction. 70

According to a list of teachers given by Nahmud Junus and dated 1913, the first Irshadl. school of Jakarta h2,d eleven teachers from abroad and only one Indonesian teacher, the latter of whom taught Indonesian language. 66 In the three-year primé:!.ry scl1ool (aW\vall.yah), three religious courses (Qira'ah or Qur'an Recitation,

MuQadathah or Arabie Conversation, and Mu~ala'ah or Arabie Reading and \Jriting) were more frequently taught than instruction in non-religious courses, which included Indonesian, arithmetic and s ports. I n the four-year element2ry school program the Qur'an, Fiqh ( Islamic Law), -·-Nah'" and Sarf·-- ( Grammar and Syntax of Arabie), !''luta la' ah and Imla' (Arabie Dictation) were the main courses, in addition to vJhich there \·Jas i nstruction in his tory, ge-

ography, tl1e Indonesian language, arithœetic, drawin ~ and s ports. The two-year secondary school program offered

Islamic subjects (Ta\vl}l.d , Fiqh, Tafsl.r aDd ~adl. th), Arabie, Indonesian and English as the main courses. In the four-year program of the Mu'alliml.n (School of Ieach- ers) the main course s included Islamics, Arabie, pedagogy, English and Inè.one sian. The study of T?:[sir, ?' iven in

both secondary school and sc~ool of te a c~ers, was derived

from Taf str al-~·Ianar , and the study of 1jadl.th included 1·'iatn (Te xt of Jj.a.dl._th) c.nd 'Ilm a l-l).ad l.th ( Science of 71

- ) 67 ~adith • A graduate school, called Takha~~~~, was established in 1915 with a curriculum of exclusively religious instruction. The classes were given in the evening to students who had already passed comprehensive examinations. The curriculum included Adab al-Lughah al-'Arabiyah (Arabie Literature), Man~iq (Logic),

Balaghah (Rhetoric), Fiqh wa U~Ül al-Fiqh (Urisprudence and its Principles), Tafsir, ~adith and 'Ilm al-~adith, 68 and Falsafah (Philosophy).

Irshadi School Branches

From 1917 the Irshad seemed to have a twin program. One aimed at the establishment of al-Irshad school branches in Java; the other aimed at the spreading of ideas of Islamic reform among Indonesian Muslims. First of all, one should note that an apparent success in creating an awar eness of importance of education among the non-sayyid Arabs enabled al-Irshad to work more fully in construct- ingits future development and progress. The first major concern of Atmad Surkati, and rightly so, seems to have been the formation of significant numbe r of followers to become the hard-core of the movement in order to help him to carry out his mission and continue it after his death. I n t he beginni ng Ahmad Surkati devoted h i s a tten- • 72 tion to the improvement of al-Irshad schools of Jakarta. Since 1917, the history of al-Irshad is characterized by the flourisl1L1g of i ts branch schools. Iwo branch schools began together in 1917; these were Surabaya (East Java) and Tegal (Central Java). The former \vas opened and run by Abu al-Fagl al-An~ari (Surkati's brother) who was joined by 'Abd Allah b. Salim (a graduate of Irshadi school of Jakarta). This school invited two ~gyptian teachers, Eul:a::1mad L-Iurshidi and 'Abd al-Qadir al-~fuhanna; the latter became the principal of this school. In 1922 'Abd al-Qadir al-Muhanna was replaced by 'Umar b. Salim

Hubay~, a graduate of al-Irshad school of Jakarta. Having established a monetary foundation for maintenance, called Yayasan al-Irsyad (al-Irshad Foundation), this school soon established various offshoots. 69 The branch school of al-Irshad in Tegal was opened and run by a student of Surkati, 'Abd Allah b. Salim al-'Aç:-ças al-'Alawi, together with Shaykh NuJ:tammad NÜr al-An~ari and another graduate of al-Irsl1ad Jakarta, Sayyid 'Ali Harharah. Shaykh AbÜ al-Fagl was also one of its teachers. During 1918 and 1919 three other bra'ches were opened in Pel~alongan (Central Java), Cirebon (\'lest Java) and Bumiayu (Central Java). Al-Irshad school of Pekalongan 73

was run by 'Umar Sulayman Naji, a graduate of Jakarta who was a famous writer of al-Irshad's issues and the chairman of the Department of Education of al-Irshad. He was replaced by Husayn b. Nasir al-Bakri and Iskandar Idris. . . . The school was eventually run exclusively by its own grad uates. In 1919 the branch school of al-Irshad in Cirebon was opened and run by students of Surkati. In Bumiayu the school \vas run by Hasan. Hamid. al-Ansari . of Sudan, lvho was eventually replaced by sorne graduates of al-Irshad schools 70 at Jakarta. Realizing that the number of students of al-Irshad schools increased quickly and not only were recruited a- mongst the Arabs but also from indigenous children as well, Surkatt proposed a plan in 1919 for the future development

of the sbools. His proposal included the follmving points 1 1) Al-Irshad should have an inspector whose duty it would be to inspect all al-Irshad schools. He would stay at l east one \veek at each branch school in order to supervise and discuss with its teachers problems concerned with education. 2) Al-Irshad should hav e a unified program , t hat is, all al-Irshad schools should have similar curricula. 3) New books for use i n the Irshadi schools should be written as soon as possible because all books available were sent from Middle East and these were prepared for 74

Are.bic speakin8 students 1

4) Al-Irshad should have a libra ry for use by those grad-

u2.te s Fho 1\'ere trained to Hri te the ir mm opini ons.

5) Al-Irshad should provide a r egula r p e riod ical, the pur-

pose of Hhich \vould be to spread the ideas of reform

among I ndonesian Nuslims~

6) Sta ff meetings should occur a t l east e v e ry four months

in arder to anticipate future developments~

7) Al-Irshad should graduate students qualified f or jobs

a s gove r nmental o f ficia ls 1 This consideration \vas

made especially for indigenous graduates~

8) Besides Arabie, graduates hopefully would become fluent 71 in Ind one sian a nd Dutch~

However, the I r s h adi move ment seeme d o pposed t o

sorne points o f Surka tr• s proposal, mainly because of

l a ck of f inancing ~ It wa s said tha t t he trades o f its

members were in a s t ate o f decli n e as a r e sult o f ~lo rld

Har I. \li th regard to t he first point, Surkatr himself

was a p pointe d Inspe c ter o f a l-Irshad schools and theref ore

assumed a more r esponsible positi on with r espect to the

future dev el o ~ment o f al-Irshad s cho ols . In this respe ct

Surkatr could h arclly a c cor:1plish h is d u ty. Perha p s i t

was bacau se he was trying to solve s o ~any problems i n

1 his p o s ition in a l-Irsh~d tha t in 1921 he a s k ed t o retire 75

for a while from the teaching staff of al-Irshad. He engaged in trade together \vith 'Awad Shabal from 1921- 1923.72 In 1923, soon after the return of Srukatf, a l-Irshad published for one yea r a monthly periodical called al-Dhakhfrah (the Treasure). 73 After its branch schools s uccessfully produced their gradua t e s, a l-Irshad, in its first s t age (1913- 1930), opened three more branches. These we re Banyu wangi (East Java) in 1927, Bondowoso (East J ava) in 1928 and Bogor (West J ava) in 1928. Most of the tea che rs of the t hr ee branches gr adua t ed from a l-I rshad school 74 branch of Sur abaya and Pekalongan. All Irs hadi schools lve r e intended to be a ttended by Nusli m chi ldren in general not only Arabs . Un like the pondok-pesantrens, which stress ed the memoriza tion of involved legal and theological trea tises , these schools of a l-Ir shad s ought to provide s tudents \vit h compr e hension of ba sic Islamic tea chings. Al-Irshad schools appar ently conside r ed the s tudy of Ara bie a s a ba sis of

I sl ami c sciences due t o t he fact tha t t he Qur ' an, ~ad ft h and a l a r ge number of r e ligious texts Her e wr itten i n thi s l anguage . I n comparison to ether r e f ormi s t schools in J ava the study of Arabie a s pr a ctis ed by a l-Irshad school s was much more i ntensive . Wi th r egard to t he s tudy 76 of Tafsir and Tmvl).id, al-Irshad \vas to concern itself \vi th the Horks of Mul).ammad 'Abduh and Rashid Ric.l3.. Tafsir al-Manar and Risalat al-Tawhid·- were listed as references in al-Irshad schools. 75 Al-Irshad seemed to choose the teachings of Muhammad. 'Abduh and Rashid Rida. as the best means for the revitalization of Islam. By following the concept of reform expounded by these men, al-Irshad believed the revitalization would be accomplished. The importance of the Irshadi school in Jakarta was described bv Sulayman Naji as followsa

The first central school of al-Irshad in Jakarta that achieved considerable progress under the leadership of Sha.ykh al-Surkati was the primary cause for social and cultural development. 76

The significant success of al-Irshad in achieving a place of respectability Hithin the Indonesian Nuslim cummunity \·ms largely due to i ts perseverance in ca.rrying out educational activity. This success resulted, in the first place, from its open competition with the Jamiat Khair. Sulayman l'·T aji has this to saya

Al-Irshad was founded in J akarta in 1914 in a very hostile environment and amid public opposition. ------·--····- -······· -· ···

The opposition of al-Irshad wanted to suppress it while it 'v-as in the early stages of its foundation. But it grew stronger and f a. ster. 77

In this respect al-Irshad found its supporters from within,

araon3 Indonesian ~-Iuslims, c.nd from \vithout, among Egyptian reformists. Soon after the school of al-Irshad was founded, contact with other modern f.'luslim movements, especially Huhammadiyah, became very close; these t\vo schools formed preliminary stages of developing the reform movement in the colonial territories. Consequently, many Muhammadiyah children enrolled in al-Irshad- schools. 78 In its periodical ce.lled Adil (Justice) Huhamr.1adiyah recognizes that it had the advantage of educational deve- lopmen t s implemented by the a l-Irshad:

Among ether things the superiority of al-Irshad is tha t t here are many prominent 'ulama' and school tea chers of Muhammadiyah \vho are gr adua t e s f rom Irshâdi s chools . In this respect one mi ght con sider al-Irshad as the teacher of the ~'!uhammadiyah. 79

On the e t her hand, it is mentioned in Hadha Bayan li al-Nas t ha t a diploma f rom al-Irshad school '"as r e cog nized as be ing equivalent to a diploma of t he Thanawtyah 80 (Secondar y) of al-Azha r. The second r eason f or i ts success was due to 78

the men who ran and supported it. Their will to succeed in developing organization was "witnessed by large fi- nancLa. 1 contrL . b utLons . ma d e to t h e organLzatLon.· · " 81 F ur- thermore Deliar Noer writes:

The first and second meeting of the organization in 1915 resulted in a collection of funds f700 and f7,000 respectively, all from the board's members. At about the same time a contribution of f25,000 was received from Sjech Umar Manggus, captain of Arabs, f15,000 from Said bin Salim Nasjhabi, a trader, and f60,000 from Abdullah bin Alwi Alatas, a sypathizer from the Sajid group. 82

Lastly, the third reason for its success was due

to the Dutch colonial po licy towards ~1uslims. Since

al-Irsh~d activity was limited to the 'ubGctryah (worship) part of religion and did not deal \vi th poli ti cal matters

(unlil~e the Sarelcat Islam) the Dutch government gave the fullest freedom to al-Irshad.- 83 The Dutch governrnent was even "very interested in channelling Islamic energies into nonpo 1 LtLca. . 1 actLVLtLes. . . . ,.84 The approach of al-Irshad to education in a changing world was quite different from the traditional school of pondok-oesantrens. Al-Irshad was established to promote the cause of modernist Islam. It was not concerned with establishing a system that reflected the 79 native Indonesian character; it sought to rid religion of local beliefs and practices that were contrary to its original teachings. Consequently, al-Irshad made no attempt to invoke the spirit of the pe s antrens, the tradi tional t"luslim centre of learning . On the contrary , al-Irsl1ad went along ~vi th the r.luhammadi,_yah movement in Java in r epresenting attempts at combatting old-fashion ideas and educating Indonesian î··luslirns in the ivays of the modern world. Of these two movements the l"luhammadiyah was considerably larger and more influential, although during its formative years (1912-1919) it developed very 85 slowly. With regard to schooling, al-Irshad was much more concerned with religious instruction \vhich Hould provide students with tools to meet the hope of reformist Muslims. Be ing ma sters of Arabie, the graduates of al-Irshad school -.;vere respected by all Indonesian Muslims. Furthermore, it trained teachers to be very effective and produced many capa ble followers to continue its future development. The purpose of this school Has also to meet the sh.ortages of teachers not only iv ~. thin the al-Irs_had movement, but also in other reformist schools.

Irshadi Graduates

It may be useful to mention some graduates of 80

al-Irshad school. Below are some indigenous gradua tes who played an important role in the development of modernist Nuslims in Indonesia: 1) Yunus Anis of Jogyaka rta, a prominent leader of i':·luhamlll§tdiyah movement. l-Ie had the honour of being nicknamed "the backbone of Nuha mmadiyah," because of his service as General Secretary of the organization for about twenty five years. 2) Prof. Dr. T. M. Hasby As-Shiddieqy of Aceh, a famous author on ljadfth, Tafsfr and Fiqh of the modern-day Islam in Indonesia. He devoted his life to be a pro fessor at t he Institut Agama Islam Negeri (Islam Sta te Institute) in Jogyaka rta. 3) Prof. Kahar I-1uzakkir of Jogyakarta. He continued his studies at Dar al-'UlÜm in Cairo. He was very active in the struggle for Indonesian' s independence and 1;,_yas one of t he signers of J c:: l<. a rta Charter (dated June 22, 1945). Eventually, he be came Rector of Universitas Islam Indonesia (Islam University of Indonesia) in Jogyaka rta. 4) Nuhammad Rasjidi of Jogyakarta, first Hinister of Re ligious Affairs of Indonesia Independence. Once a professor at McGill University in Montreal, he is now / at the University of Indone sia in Jakarta. e 81

5) Prof. Farid Ma'ruf of Jogyakarta, a leading member of Huhammadiyah. Formerly he was a professor at the Institut Agama Islam Negeri (Islam State Institute); he then be came the Director-General of the "Hajj af f airs" in the Department of Religious Affairs. 86 There are many other gracluates iVho work as teacher in madrasahs (eclucational i astitutions), government of ficials and traders. Among the Arab graduates iv-ho became prominent in the development of Indonesian Islam area 1) 'Umar Hubays. His f irst position Has as Director of • al-Irshad school of Surabaya. At the same time he '!,vas very active in Masyumi (r1ajlis Syura Huslimin Indonesia , or The Council of Inclone sian Huslims), and later became a representative in Parliament, repre- s enting Nasyullli Party. NoH he is a prof essor a t Erlangga Universit y in Sura baya. 2) Sa 'id b. 'Abd Allah b. 'falib al-Hamda.nL He was a master in Fiqh and be came a professor in the Faculty of Sha ri'ah in Jogyaka rta. At the s ame time he was an author o f many books on Fiqh ; he iv-as the refore called Faqih al-Irshadfyin (a r enowned sch ola r in Islamic jurispr udence belon3i ng to al-Irshad). 3) 'Abd al-Ral).man Daswiclan. He iv-as the f ounder of 82

Persatuan Arab Indonesia (Indonesian Arab Unity) and then 'vas very active in Masyumi. He had been a deputy of the Hinister of Information. There are many others, 'vho a re nmv mostly tea chers in 87 al-Irsh~d school branches and traders.

The Spreading of Reformism

At the close of the 1910s, the two classes of Indonesian Huslims, t he kaum tua and kaum muda, appeared in Sura baya. The former (kaum tua ) 'vas under the leadership of 'dahhab Hasbullah \vl.l.o established a madrasah cal led Nahdlatul h'a tan (Renaissance of t he Fatherland). By the establishment of Nahdlatul Ula ma (the first kaum tua organization ) in 1926 Nahdlatul Watan had e stablished many branches in Sura baya and l'lalang. The l a tter (l

Huslims denounced each other as kafir and musyrik (polytheist), ••• Hahhab and his supporters, for ex ample, expressed agreement with the introduction of d 1e modern school system i n religious education, but \vere a ga inst any changes in t he curri culum in \vhich he still recognized the L-1dispensability of the madhhab books. 92

It was not by acciden t tha t a t the close of the first decade of the t\ventieth century Surabaya ( tl1e cap ital of East Java) gradually became a centra l area of dis pute bet iveen l

The Sha r ikah Ti ja rl:yah 1 i-al-'fab' \va a l-Nash r ( Tr acte Uni on f or Printing and Publishing ) was founded in Sura baya under the directorsh ip of Sayyid Huh.am mad b. Ra 'rs b. 'falib. The f irst periodi ca l, ca lled al-Sa lam, was published under the editorship of Huha;n. mad a l-Uashi mf 84

of Tunis, Unfortunately i t \vas hal ted after i ts first issue in 1920. The second periodical, called al-Irshad, lasted for one year, In the following years the -·matba'ah (printing office) published books which were donated to the schools of the al-Irshad.- 93 In 1923 al-Irshad- published a periodica l called al-Dhakhirah. This \vill be discussed later. In these activities al-Irshad of Surabya was fortunate in gaining the cooperation of sorne prominent reformist Muslims; among them were: Kyai Haji Mas Hansur, the f ounder of a madrasah (religious school) called Hizbul \vatan (Partv of Fatherland); Pakih Hasjim, a famous reformist from i''linangkabau, whose t a bligh \vas held at

. ~.. a l-Irshad branch of Surabaya ; and Kyai Haji Ahmad Dachlan, the founder of Nuhammadiyah, who established the Muhammadiyah branch of Sura baya on November 1, 1921 under the leadership of Kyai Haji Mas Mansur and Pakih Ha sjim.94 This establishment of a Nul1.ammacl iyah branch in Surabaya added to the fact that many tradi tionalst leaders lived in East Java made the town a centre for competition between the ka um tua and ka um muda, It was also in Surabaya that Ahmad Hasan became a true r eformist and joined Persatuan Islam. He \vas a son of Ahmad , a native f rom India who married an Indone s ian 85

woman of Surabaya. Living in Singa.pore, Hasan v.ra s un-

familiar with the works of Haji Jal~l al-Din, a leading . . ~r 1 . 95 re f orm~st ~n 1·-a ay s~a. After moving to Surabaya in

1921, he joined study sessions held by al-Irs h~d \vhich

Surkati himself frequented to l aunch ideas of refor~ .

H. N. ~~lil} Su'aydi ha s this to s ay about Ahmad Hasan:

After he studied Islamic sci en ces with sorne religious teachers (in Singapore), he eventually met the founder of al-Irsh~d, Shaykh AlJmad al-Surkati, and became one of t hose who derived 96 sat~s. f a ct~on . f r om h"~s work s.

In 1924 Ahmad Hasan lef t his a ctivities a s trader and

joined the Persatuan Islam movement, Hhich v.ras under the leadership of Haji Zamzam. Later on Ahmad Hasan's vie\v point gave r eal format and individuality to the movement and cl earl y pl a ced i t l'li thin the modernist r·iuslim camp . 97 Realiz i ng t hat t he modernist Husli ms had al- r eady founded t heir organizations, t he traditionalists, at t heir meeting of 31 J anuar y , 1926 in Sur abaya, f ounded an organization of t heir mvn ca lled Nahdlatul Ul ama. As an association of orthodox kyais and s antris, its statutes emphasized stri ct adherence t o one o f the f our

Islamic schools (I~anafi , M~li k i, S h~f 'I and tianba li), 86

especially the Sh~fi'I school, and promoted the obser 98 vance of Islamic law in society.

S. The Teachings of A0mad Surkati

Surkati did not lvrite a grea t number of books. His va rious vie\vs on Islamic refor m had a lready been written in al-Dhakhirah pe riodical unde r his editorship and al-Masa'il al-Thalath. The first al-Dhakhirah appeared on Hul:arram 1342 (A.D. 1923) and the l a st one on

Sha\V\·Jal 1342 (A.D. 1924). A l- Nas~'il a l-Thalath was published by the l~shadi movement in 1925. Another fatwa of Sur ka tl: called Sura tul-Jawab (the Duplica te Ans\ver) a ppeared i n 191 5 in the Utusan Hindia O·li ssionary of Hindia), a daily ne\·Jspaper under the editorsh ip of Tjokro- a rn i noto. The motive of Suratul-Ja\•7ab \va s to ans,-ver t he ques t l. On o f s a yyl' d s. 99 La s tly , i n 1938 he a lso gave a f a n-va to i'luhai!lmadiyah l eaders who pos ed questions on a l-din (rel igion), a l-dunva (world) and iitih~d. 100 His fatwa on such question s \vas ba s ed on a l-Nasa 'il a l-Tha lath. Appar entl y Surkatf was awar e t ha t the a ctual cond i tion of Indones ian Muslims i n general was decadent and felt t hat t he sp i r i t of this decadence shoul d be ar- r e s t ed . The social, mor al a nd i ntell e ctua l condi tions 87

'ivere deplorable, marked by many degrading customs which were not part of the Islamic religion. The people acted in ignorance of true Islam; they therefore failed to practise \vhë. t they should have knmvn. Sukatt concluded that the cure of those many ills rested in a return to the true Islam. Indeed the task \vhich he set himself involved a restatement of \vhat Islam really was rather than a consideration of its implications for modern soci ety. Surkatt thought the former the most important of his goals. In the introduction of his periodical al-Dhakhtrah, for example, he writes his four purposes as follows1

1) To show as false the ~adtths and fabricated stories believed by Indonesian Huslims to be teachine; s of Islam.

Harry of them were included in the ~üft books \vhich became the basis of Muslim thought in Indonesia. 2) To refute all the arguDents against Islam by using

reason backed by use of the Qur'an and ~adtth. In this respect he hoped to encourage Muslims to practise true religion. 3) To explain that Islam is a religion of virtue, that Islam is suitable for every nation everywhere and in every period. 4) To encourage Nusli:ns to follow the \vay of progress in

order not to be the subjects of foreign powers and 88

foreign influences. 101 A significant colurnn of al-Dhakhirah was al-Fata~va (Legal Opinions) given by Surl

[The] ~·Jahhabi movement, largely emanating f rom Arabia, was represented in Indonesia by Ahmad Surlcati al-Ansari, a famed scholar steeped in the works of Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn Qayim, bath precursors of the Wahhabi move ment and the Egyptian reformism as \ve11. 103

These objectionable traditional pra ctices incl uded the emphasis on mysticism and the performance of unauthorized rituals and orayers intended to pass merit to the spirit of recently deceased Muslims, Surkat{'s opinion on such matters ivas that talq{n (instruction given to the deceased at his grave side soon after the buria l is complete) was bid'ah (innovation) on the ba sis tllat both the Qur'an and ~~acll:th did not ci te this practice. U ~ a llt (the voici ng of the intention to pray as a prelude t o t he prayer itself) was also condemned on the ba sis th2t the intention of prayer (niyyat al-~alah) should not be spoken but should be s a id inte rnally. Surkat{ wrote that -·--usall{ \vas ghuluww f{ al-d{n (excess in religion) because the Qur'an saysa "Commit no excess in your religion." (4a 104 171). He als o argued t hat Q~ al l{ \vas not pra ctised 90

during the life of the prophet Hul)ammad. Certain rituals performed in the tombs of deceased Muslims had been termed as munkar (abominable practice), batil (untruth) and mardÜd (refutable) on the basis that the rituals were . . . 105 b eyond I s 1 aP.l~C teacn~ n gs.

In keeping with his reformist outlook, Surkatf had been concerned tvi th promoting those practices among

Muslims which he regarded as religiously correct and he was involved in convincing Muslims to abandon those practices having no historical justification. A tract called al-Masa'il al-Thalath (the Three Problems) contributed by him in 1925 succintly outlined his religious teachings.

The three oroblems were as follows z al-i -jtihad \va a1-taqlld, al-sunnah l;va al-bid 'ah and ziyarat al-qubÜr wa al-tawassul.

Al-Iitihad wa al-Taqlfd

First of all, Surlç2tf explained that there are matters on Hhich the Qur''an and Hadfth. give no clear guidance. These happen: (1) if the text of the Qur'an is not clear; (2) if there are doubts as to the authority of the ~adith; (3) if the Qur'an and ~adfth state only a general principle and not a particular ruling; or (4) if, both the Qur'an and tladfth are silent. In these 91 cases, reason must act as an interpreter. Ihose who possess the necessary knmvledge and intellectual power 106 must exerc~se. ~Jt~ . . . h-da • s urcat~1 ... ' s v~eH . ~s . b ase d on sürah 39:18 s E. ying a 11 Ny servants are those lvho hear advice and follmv the best thereof. Suc:1 a re t':wse vJh om Allah guideth, and such are men of understanding , .. and sürah

38a30 11 [This is] a Scripture that He have r evealed unto thee, full of blessing, that they may ponder its revela- tions, and that men of understanding may ref lect." Surkatl: affirmed that the 'tvord -·ahsanah Ü (the best thereof) in sürah 39 1 18 me ans "'tvh i ch i s more in a ccordance \vi th the human pro3ress and proved by reason ... 107 Surkatl: pointed out that there is a distinction bet1veen a cts directed towa rds the lvorship of God ( 'iba.dat) and those directed tmvards other rn.en and lif e in the \vorld ( mu '-ame.lat- ) • The former are considered the same as creeds ( al-'agi'id), a rrd theref ore there is no possibility to exercise iitihad. He s aid :

Neither iitihad nor qiy~s ( analogy) s hould be exer cis ed i n reli gious ma tters conce rning lvor s hip, creed and eschatology, and there is no 108 auc~t~on,1 1. . nor may sorne b o d y d"~m~n~s . . h t h em.

Surkati si1owed people that the ~ur 1 an and l:jadith have 92

laid dmm specifie rules about \vorship and cre ed; about relations Hith other men, they laid dmm for t he most part, only gener a l prin cip l e s, leaving men to apply the principles to all c i rcumstances. I n h is fatwa g ive n to

~'Iuhammadiyah l e a ders, ~·:ho pose d t h e question on a l-din, al-d'=!_nya and ijt ihad , h e p o i nted ou t tha t the word a l-din refers to r e lig ious matte rs a n d the word a l-dunya r e f e rs toworldly matters. He sta ted t hat a l-din mean s relig ious pr e c epts g i v e n by God \vhich e v e r y body, \vho h a s fait h in

God, h as to obey , a nd t h e word a l-dunya r e fers to t he 109 l}adi th 1 "Y ou knmv better y our \vorld l y ma tters." He pointe d o ut that the r e l igious at t i tude tmvard a l-dunya. refers to the sGrah 22a78, ~He has i~pos ed no dif ficulty on you in r e ligion," In t h is r e spe ct Surkati c oncluded t hat the rel i g iou s a tti t ud e tmvard a l-duny a means that e v e r y t·!usli m shou ld study \vorld l y scie nces a s a ba sis of worldly h appiness and those wh o possess the nece ssa r y knowl e d ge and intell e c t ual p owe r should exercis e i jtihi d ,llO

Howe ver , Surk ati d id not ask peo ple t o exerc i se i jtihad. He only mentioned tllat t he d oor o f i itihad vm s 1 11 st~"11 open t o tn. ose H" 't1 0 met t l:1e con ct ~• t J._on s o f muJ . t a h"d~ •

He affirrned t he significa nce o f t h e i jtihad f o r t h e f ol- l mvi n g reason s 1

1) He wa n ted peo pl e t o s t udy and refer the Qur ' a n a nd 93

l)adl.th, and not merely to be satisfied v.ri th their traditional references, the kyais or ' u 1 ama-, • Spe- cifically, if there is a difference of opinion on a

r eligious ma tter one s hould only r efer to the Qur, ~n 112 and Hadl.th. - or Sunnah. In this case Surkatl. intended to free the minds of Muslims from the chain of belief on a uthority without question or objection. 2) He asked people to follow the practice of the Salaf

( "ilders"). The uni ty of the ~lusl ims is neces sari ly connected \vi th truth. There can be no real agreement among Nusli ms unless they all a3ree on the truth; possession of truth is the most fundamental sign of Islam, and the true Islam is tha t which was taught by the Prophet and the "Elders."113 \vhen Surkatl. talked about salaf he seemed to refer to Nuhammad 'Abduh rather than Rashl.d Rid~.. "'Abduh does not use this term in a technica l sense to rnean the first gene r a tion of friends and discinles of t h e Prophet; he uses it more generally to refer to the centra l tradition of Sunnl. Islam in its period of deve lopment ; the gr eat theologians of t he third and f ourth centuries, a l-As h 'arl., al-Baqillanl. and al-Naturidi,--- are also salaf." 114 According t o Rida,. the Islam of the "Elders" is "tha t . • > of the first generation tvho had knmvn prophet r·iul)ammad, 94

and the only ijma' which is valid is that of this generation."llS Surkati said that the salaf is "that of generation which consisted of Nuhajirtn (those Meccans who emigrated to Hadinah in early period) and -·-Ansar (the Nedinan followers of Muhammad. who granted him refuge after the Hegira) and those \vho followed the way they studiect." 116 Surkatt affirmed that none of these people applied the taqltd as people did in his own period; on the contrary, they studied Islam from its original sources, the Qur'an and the Hadith.. 117 3) He \vanted to show people that the Imams of the great madhhabs (AbÜ Hanifah,. Halik b. Anas, Shafi 'T and Ibn l:janbal) did not mean for ethers to follow their interpretation blindly, \vithout checking their correct ness with the Qur'an and the Sunnah. In this respect

Surkatt quoted their wordsa for example; AbÜ ~antfah saida "One should not give a legal opinion based on my words 'tvithout the knowledge of my proof;" 118 Imam Malik saida "Take notice of my view. If it suits the Qur'an and Sunnah, take it. If not, leave it;" 119 and Imam Shafi't saida "Whenever you find in my books something contrary to the Sunnah of the Prophe t, take the Sunnah and l eave my mords." 120

Accordingly, Surkatt concluded that "blind accep- 95

tance" applied by the people was only permissible for t:10se \vho "have no understandine and knmvledge of Islam, and laclc ability for studying."lZl The rest should try

to refer their religious life to the Qur'~n and Hadith or Sunnah of the Prophet. 122 His rejection of taall.d

'umy~nr (blind acceptance) was based on his belief that it tended to believe that Sharl:'ah (Islamic Law) was

produced by jurists, 'ulam~' or kyais, and not by God 12 3 and His Prophet. This kind of taqll:d, Surkatl: argued, did not conform to the Sunnah of the Prophet and had never been done by the Salaf. Therefore, it v.ras bid 'ah or lnnovatlon.. . 124 Surkatl: then divided muqallids (those \vho exercise taqlid) into three categories: 1) One who basically has the ability and chance to understand Islamic teaching but does not devote his ability

to the study of the Qur'~n and I;Iadl:th, nor does he understand them. According to Surkatl:, this person

has been indicated by s~rah al-A'r~f, 179a

Already have I.··Je urged unto hell many of jinn and

humankind, having hearts ~·Jherewi th they und er stand not, and having eyes \vherewi th they see . . . h h h t 125 not, and h av~n g ears wnere\·nt.. t ey ear no .

2) One 'tvho has not had any chance to study Islamic teachings. 96

He should ask ·the 'ulama' about matters for his religious life. Surkati pointed out th2t this muoallid is cited in the Qur'an, sürah al-Na!J-1, 43z "Ask the follmver of the Remembrance if ye knmv not;" and t he

~Iaditha "The cure of \veakness is to ask a question." According to Surkati, these references indicate that an 'alim is to 3ive answers wh ich a re ba sed on the Qur'an and Sunnah and not on his own, or someone else's, 126 specu1 at~on. an d b e l'~e f • 3) One could hardly understand elaborations of Islamic

teachinr!: s for lack of a bi 1 i ty. Thus his case allmvs ,.. 1'17 him to apply tagl~d. - In addition, Surkati encouraged people to develop the idea of ittiba' or ta'assi (following or imitation). Surkati wrotea

As to the [act of] follm1ing ( i ttiba') and imitation (ta 'assi), it is the adoption of the fully warranted religious juclgement of Hhoever has been famous be cause of his knowledge, piety and vigilance [in a ccepting un-finalized matters] because of trust

in his version or be cause o f r eal or claimed compa t~ ibilit y lvitll his understanding. Imitation is of ten the same. Both [ittiba' and ta'assiJ are good if they do not contradict r eality or a judgement \vhich ha s been proved by a stronger warranting text or

.... ~"" a sound proof of reason. 1 28 97

Thus the first step of muttabi' (he who exercises ittiba') is to consult several judgements of recognized scholars, and the second is to adopt the judgement of an authority he prefers. Surkati pointed out that the idea of ittiba'

\vas bas ed Ol!. the Qur, a ;-: in sürah al-Zumar' 18' Il Hho hear advice and follmv the best t l1 ereof. Such are those whom Allah euideth, and such are men of understancling ." 129

Al-Sunnah wa al-Bid'ah

Surkati explained that the word sunnah \>Vas usually understood as tvlul}ammad' s sunnah which included: "his utterances, his deeds and his unspoken approval in order to g ive details for the general verses in the Qur'an." 130 He therefore rejected the meaning of the sunnah as "to create a new way or new deeds without having any previous equal." 131 Noreover he said:

\·Jhenever the Hard sunnah is described in a re ligious sense, the meaning is exclusively a kind of revelation, for the Qur'an has said1 "\'le re veal unto thee the Scripture with truth, that you must judge benveen rnankind by that \vhich Allah shmveth thee. " 13 2

Based on such verses of the Qur'an and texts of

./ ljadl:th he reaffirmeci. repeatedly that Islam is only what 98

1;-,ras brought by the prophet Hul}ammad; that in its perfec- tian Islam does not need additions and therefore any innovation is considered as a devia tion froœ the truth 13 3 and leads one a stray. It must be not ed, i n addi t i on, that with r e spect to innovation other than in religious ma tters Surkati rega rded them as be ing permissiole. He s aid: "There is no bid ' ah lJ-asanah (bid ' ah \vhich is good) or mal)Üdah ( praiseivorthy) in rel i gious matters, but in vmrldly matte rs innova tion is al ways \ve lcome." 134 Religious pr a ctices, ivhich Here judged by AlJ-mad Surl<.a ti a s bid 'ah but \vere very common in I nd onesia, a re 135 a s followss t a qlid buta (blind acceptance); -·--usalli (voicing of t he i ntention to pray a s a prelude to t he pr aye r i tse l f );136 taloin (instruction given to the deceased a t his grave side saon a fter the buria l is corn- plete ) ; 137 t ahlil- ( the a ct of repe a t ing words declaring God's Unity , la ilaha illa Allah, by many tvrus lims ivho join wi th t he family of t he deceased intending to cleans e t he s i ns o f the deceased ) ; 1-3 8 ziyara - t a l-qubur- ( v isiti ng tombs ) t o which i s affixed pr actising the s o-ca lled munka r a t ( a bomina bl e pra ctice s) i ncludi n g t awa ssul ( in t er c e s s i on ) or i s tishf a ' (to inter cede on behal f of t he d ead) an d na dl1r ( votl. ve o ff e r ln. g ) ; 1 3 9 q lra . - 1 at a 1 -manaql - . b ( the r eading of t he bi ogr aphy of ce rta in s a i n t s intend i ng 99

14 0 to gaLn. t1e1.r l . bl ess1.ngs. ) ; and a 1 -g1.yam . - f:;~ qL~~at. maw l'1. d al-Nabl: (the act of standing up out of reverence for the Prophet \vhen, during the Prophet' s birthday ceremony, the birth of the Prophe t is mentioned during the reading of

111.s . b"'Lo ' grap ,ay ) • 141

Ziyara t al-QubÜr wa al-Tawassul

Surkatl: stated that ziyarat al-gubÜr (visiting tombs) could be considered sunnah (meritorious) if the intention is to have a tender heart and to recall the Hereafter. Tnis consideration is based on the hadl:th in which the prophet Muç_ammad said: "Visit tombs but do not say hu ir ( unseemly sayings such as l ament a tion and seeking the blessing of the deceased)," and "Visit tombs because you might r emember the Herea fter." 14 2 Surka tl: pointed out t ha t ziyarat al-qubÜr should exclude any kind of munkarat which include : intercession, saint worship, seeking t he blessing of the deceased in arder to obta in a certain need, sitting and r e c iting the Qur 'an on the graveyards , and making a sacrif i ce on behal f o f the dec ea sed.lL~ 3 All these practices were considered by Surkatl: as un- Islamic in his fat\vas in bath a l-Xasa 'il a l-Th::::.lath and al-Dhakhirah,

wï th r egard to the istishfa ' bi al-amwat ( to in t ercede with the dead ) or tawassul ( intercession) Surka ti 100

affirmed tha.t i t "~;vas one of the munkarat since this practice did not take place during the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad. and non of the Companions of the Prophet visited 144 his tomb in arder to practise istishfa' or tawassu1.

Surkati refused any ~adith which supported the idea of intercession; for example, the Prophet saida "If you need something , ask f or it from Allah with my ble ssing ," and "0 God I ask for something from You on behalf of those who 5 would ask You." 14 According to Surkati the word wasilah, appearing in the sürah 5~35 saying: "0 ye who be lieve! Be mindful of your duty ta Allah, wa ibtaghÜ ilayhi al-wasilah (and seek the ,.,ay of approa ch unto Him)," means al-a'mal - . ( ) . 146 al-~ a119ah good deeds and not a cert a ~n person.

\Vhoever wants to practise intercession should inter cede by obeying the i nstructions of God as taught by His prophe t Muhammad.. He should neit h er f ollow hi s mvn pass ion nor "l;vo rship God beyond His permis . 147 S l.Ono

It may be not ed t hat what Surkati wrote about ziyara t a l-gubÜr wa al-tawassul in al -~1a s a 'il al-Thalath was a r epetition of \vha t he had written i n a l-Dhal

Suhaimi, a dire ct or of Madras ah Darul ~a ' ar if in Ban j ar- negara, who raised the question of intercession wi th the 101 formula• "0 God, give me my needs with the blessing of

Your prophets! 11 or "0 God, I ask for property from You 149 with the blessing of Your saints!" As a whole Surkatf concluded that "grave worship, intercession and saint- worship practised by Muslims who suffer from difficulties are shirk (polytheistic), therefore they will be rejected by God in the Herea fter and their good deeds will be use- .. 150 1 es s.

What has been taught by A~mad Surkatf concerning the meaning of wasflah first opposed the practice of intercession and saint-worship as practised by the common people. Kenneth Perry Landon has this to s a y about the practice of intercession in Indonesiaa

Persons who desire their [saints'] aid in solving the problem of life go to their tombs and make a vow that they will do certain things if the saint will cause certain things to come to pass. As an offering the usual things, s uch a s incense , rice, and flowe rs, are taken to the tomb. The person in whose behalf the vow is made usually has his head washed at the s a cred spot as symbol of devotion and purif ication. Food offered to honor the s a int is a lwa ys eaten by living persons, either by those making the vow or b y poor persons who benefit by the offering . To hallow the food, a village t eacher of Islam who knows s orne Arabie i s present. This adds the necessary blessing of Islam t o l ift the cer emony a degr e e a bove 102

the ordinary veneration of spirit. 151

Second, Surkatf's teaching encountered opposition from the stand of sayyids who claimed to have a venerated position and therefore they claimed to be intercessors 152 between others and God. Third, it encountered opposition from ~Üffs who base their teachings on ~vasilah or ----·--wasitah. According to the SÜfi. concept, the word wasilah means a shaykh or guru (teacher) who has the right to teach 'ilm al-gaqfqah (the science of reality) with which a murfd (pupil) might attain ma'rifah(gnosis).153 However, as far as Surkatf's teaching is concerned, the word wasi~ah was never connected to ~Üfism. Nevertheless there is no doubt that he r e jected the SÜfi teaching on • wasilah. Al-Irsyad Ma jlis Da • wah held the view that "the basic cause of the appearances of bid'ah and khurafah ( superstition ) in Islam is due to the spread of Sufism.".- 154 103

FOOTNOTES

1A. D. A. de Kat Angelina, Colonial Policy, trans. by G. J. Reiner (The Haguea M. Nijhoff, 1931), p. 199. 2van der Kroef, Indonesia, p. 270. 3 Angelino, Colonial Policy, p. 200. 4 Van den Berg, Hadthramaut, p. 59. 5Ibid. 6Ibid., pp. 59-60. 7Reid, "Nineteenth Century Pan-Islam," p. 280; cf., Abubakar Acheh, Salaf (Jakartaa Permata, 1970), p. 103. 8Abubakar, Salaf, p. 104; Noer, Muslim Move ment, p. 58. 9Ahmad Dachlan's file number is 770, see Abubakar, Salaf, p. 103. lONoer, Muslim Movement, p. 59.

11 Ibid. 12Ibid. 13 'umar Sulayman Najr, Tarikh, p. 31. 14Ibid., PP• 31-32. 15rbid., p. 32.

16M aJ.1. 1.s Da'wah, Riwayat, II, p. 16. 17 Ibid., I, p. 3. 104

18Ibid,, III, p. 17. 19charles C, Adams, Islam and Modernism in Egypt (Londona Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 209; see also J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Sudan (Londona Oxford University Press, 1949), p. 121. 20In the six-year program of al-Madrasah al-Khayriyah, the instructions of Arabie, including conversation, reading and writing, grammar and syntax, were listed (in its curriculum) more frequently than other subjects, see Junus, Sedjarah Pendidikan Islam di Indonesia (Djakarta a Pustaka Mahmudiah, 1960), .p. 266. 21 Adams, Islam, p. 115. 22In comparison with traditional pondok-pesantrens where the kyais or teachers used the method of teaching called weton (lit. reading), the kyais only read the re ligious books and did not ask the students whether they understood or not. In Jamia t Khair the teachers tried to present the lessons in such a way that their students would understand, No examination existed in pondok pesantren. In Jamiat Kha ir t e sts and examinations were regul arly given in orde r to eva luate t he progress of the pupils, see Abubakar, Salaf, p. 130; Junus, Sedjarah, pp. 50, 195; also Amir Hamzah Wiryosukarto, Pembaruan Pengajaran dan Pendi dikan Islam (Jogyakartaa Penyelengga ra Publikasi Pembaruan Pendidi kan, 1962), p. 74. 23Naj1, Tar1kh, P• 33; Noer, Muslim Movement, P• 60, 24N·- T- a J-~~, ar~"'"'i.....,l-. ll, p. 71 • 25 Noe r , Muslim Movement, p. 62. 105

26A1- Y-f.a L ''="L, T-arLkh,,. p. 244. 27 Ibid., p. 246. 28Ibid., P• 253. 29Naji, Tarikh, PP• 34-35. 30Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, I, P• 6. 31Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 61. 32Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, I, p. 3; Naji, Tarikh, p. 37. 33see Majlis Da'wah, Riway~, I, P• 3; cf., Trimingham, Islam, PP• 83-85. 34N-aJL,·'=" Tarikh, p. 37. 35Ibid. 36Trimingham, Islam, pp. 116-117. 37Ibid., p. 118. 3 ~---NaJL,.,. TarLkh,- ,. p. 38 • 39Ibid. 40Ibid. 41 Maj1is Da'wah, Riwayat, I, p. 3. 42Naji, Tarikh, P• 31. 43Ibid. 44MaJ ·1· LS Da ' wa h , R"Lwayat, I , p. 5 • 45 Naji,---- Tarikh, p. 34. 46Ibid., p. 47. 47Ali, "Muhammadiyah," p. 48. 106

48Naji, Tarikh, p. 34. 49Ali, "Muhammadiyah," p. 48. 5°Federspiel, Persatuan Islam, p. 12. 51 Alfian, "Islamic Modernism," p. 182. 52Federspiel, Persatuan Islam, p. 12. 53Alfian, "Islamic Modernism," p. 174, 54 NaJ~,- .~ T-ar~k~ h , p. 67 • 55Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, I, P• S. 56Adams, Islam, P• 197. 57 Ibid., P• 195. 58Ibid. 59 Ibid., P• 198. 60 - ~ -- Naj~, Tarikh, p. 68. 61 For further constitutional information see this thesis, Appendix I. 67 JNaJ~,--- .~ T-ar~k~ h , P• 67 • 63 i'aJ~1 ·1· ~s D a ' wa h , R'~wayat, III, p. 16. 64Ibid. 65Ruth T. Mc Vey, "Taman Siswa and the Indonesian National Awakening," Indonesia, No. 4 (October), 1967, p. 133. 66rhese teachers includeda 1) Shaykh Agmad Surkati, a graduate of Dar al-'UlÜm Makkah ( 1905). 2) Shaykh Mugammad al-'Aqib, a graduate of al-Azhar (1909). 107

3) Abu al-Fadl,• a graduate of Gordon College Sudan (1911) • 4) MliQammad al-Hashimi, a graduate of Kulliyat al-Zaytun Tunisia. 5) Mu~ammad al-'Ar~as, a graduate of Faculty of Engineering Constantinople. 6) Shaykh 'Abd al-Ra~im, a graduate of al-Azhar. 7) Shaykh Muhammad. al-Nur, a graduate of al-Azhar (1906) • 8) St. Abdul Hamid, an instructor of Indonesian language. 9) Shaykh Mu~ammad al-Madani, a graduate of al-Azhar. 10) Abu 2ayd al-Mi~ri, a graduate of al-Azhar. 11) Shaykh Hasan. Hamid. al-Ansari,. a graduate of Kulliyat al-Shari'ah wa al-Din Sudan (1909). 12) Shaykh ~asan AbÜ 'Ali al-Thiqah, a graduate of Dar al-'Ulum Makkah. See Junus, Sedjarah, p. 267; also Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, III, P• 16. 67Junus, Sedjarah, pp. 270-272; see also this thesis, Appendix IIA,B,C and D. 68rbid., p. 272; see also this thesis, Appendix liE. 69Programa Mu'tamar al-Irsjad ke 28 (Surabaya• Perhimpunan al-Irsjad, 1954), P• 4; see also Naji, Tarikh, P• 121. 70Naj1, - ~ Tar1kh,- ~ p. 121. 71 Ibid., PP• 103-109. 72 Ibid., PP• 109-110. 73 A~mad Surkat1,~ e d ., a- 1 · D hakhLrah, ~ 10 Vols. (Batavia• Borobudur, A.H. 1342/A.D. 1923). 108

75Junus, Sediarah, pp. 271-273. 76 Naji,---- Tarikh, p. 110 • 77 Ibid., P• 64. 78For example, Junus Anis, Farid Ma'ruf and Muhammad Rasjidi, see ibid., p. 123. 79Adil, 2 December, 1939, quoted by Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, III, p. 15.

80Hadha --- Bayan li-al-Nas- ( Surabayaa D~wan~ - al-Tarbiyah wa al-Ta'lim, n.d.), p. 14. 81 Noer, !1\!!?_lL~LtiQYement, P• 64. 82 rbid., p. 64, n. 97. fis abbreviation of florin. One florin is equivalent ta one guilder (Dutch money). 83For an account on Dutch colonial policy toward Muslims see Benda, The Crescent, pp. 19-31. 84 Mc Vey, "Taman Siswa," p. 132. 85For detail account on Muhammadiyah's formative years see Alfian, "Islamic Hodernism," PP• 212-264. 86For a list of Indonesian graduates of Irshadi schools and their short biographies see Naji, Tarikh, pp. 123-124. 87A list of Arab graduates appears in ibid., PP• 125-130. 88see Haji Abubakar, Sedjarah Hidup K. H. A. Wahid Hasjim dan Karangan Tersiar (Djakarta: Panitya Buku Peringatan Alm. K. H. A. Wahid Hasjim, 1957), pp. 469-470; also Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 226. 109

89Missions engaged in work among co-religionists. 90The ward y~alli literally means "I declare my intention to pray." The term -·--usalli in Indonesia refers to the voicing of the intention to pray as a prelude to the prayer itself. 91Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 226. 92 Ibid., p. 227.

93N-aJ~,·"' Tarikh, PP• 133-134. 94 Noer, Muslim Movement, PP• 226-227. 95Federspiel, Persatuan Islam, p. 14. 96Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, III, p. 16. Haji Salih. . S u ' ayd~,.. is a graduate of Irshadi. school of Surabaya. 97Federspiel, Persatuan Islam, p. 13. 98Nahdlatul Ulama's statutes appears in Abubakar, Sedjarah Hidup, PP• 503-507. 99Suratul-Jawab will be discussed in the third chapt er.

1008 urk at~,"' ''Fatwa kepad a p • p • Nuhammadiyah,', in Hajlis Da'wah, Riwayat, IV, pp. 22-35. 101surkati, al-Dhakhirah, I, p. 3. 102Abubakar, Salaf, p. 106. 103van der Kroef, "Adat and Islam in Indonesian Nationalism," United Asia, 4 (1952), p. 317. 104Surkati, - al-Dhakhirah,- I, p. 32. lOSibid., PP• 45-46. 110

106surkati, "Fatwa," pp. 34-35; see also his al-Masa'il al-Thalath (Bataviaa Borobudur, 1925), ppe 9-11. 107surkati, al-Masa'il, p. 11; Surkati, "Fatwa," p. 33. 108surkatl., al-Masa'il, p. 24; see his "Fatwa," p. 34. 109 ,. 8 urkat1., "Fatwa," p. 30. 110rb·d1. • , p. 29. 111According to Surkati, the conditions for a mujtahid are as followsa he should be familiar with the major principles of the Qur'an and Sunnah; he should have knowledges of ijma', Arabie, the principles of jurisprudence and the abrogated and abrogating texts of the Qur'an and Hadith. • 112surkati quoted sürah 4a58 sayinga "If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to God and His apostle," see ibid,, p. 11. 113Ibid., p. 14. 114Albert Hourani, Arabie Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939 (Londona Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 178. 115rbid., p. 230. 116 Surkat1.,,.. a 1 - Masa -'. 1.1, p. 14 • 117His statement is based on the haditha "There remain with you matters which will not lead you astray as long as you keep hold of them, that is the Qur'an and the Sunnah," see ibid., p. 14. 111

118Ibid., p. 15. 119Ibid., p. 16. 120Ibid,, p. 17.

121 Ibid., p. 18. 122Ibid. 123Ibid., p. 23. 124Ibid., P• 21. 125Ibid. 126Ibid., P• 22. 127Ibid. 128Ibid., pp. 22-23. 129Ibid., p. 23. 130Ibid. 131 Ibid. 132Ibid. 133Ibid., P• 33. 134Ibid. For general account on bid'ah, see D. B. Mcdonald, "Bid'a," Encyclopaedia of Islam, Old ed., Vol. Ia2, p. 712; J. Robson, "Bid'a," Encyclopaedia of Islam, New ed., Vol. I, p. 1199. 135 SurkatL,~ al-Masa-, il, p. 21; Hadha--- Bayan, p. 25. 136surkati, al-Dhakhirah, I, p. 32; Hadha Bayan, p. 31. 137surkati, al-Dhakhirah, II, p. 18; Hadha ,~ ,· Bayan, p. 29. 112

138surkati:, al-Dhalmi:rah, II, p. 19: Hadha Bayan, p. 27. 139surkati:, al-Dhakhi:rah, I, PP• 45-46. 140Ibid., III, p. 158. 141 Ibid., PP• 158-159; Hadha Bayan, P• 25. 142surkati:, al-Nasa'il, p. 45. 143Ibid. 144Ibid. 145Ibid. 146Ibid., P• 46. 147surkati, al-Dhakhirah, I, p . 46 148Ibid., pp. 42-46 and II, pp. 141-152. 149Ibid., III, p. 140. ISO Surkati,- al-Masa-, il, p. 52. 151Landon, Southeast Asia, PP• 155-156. 152See Sulayman- Naji, - - Tarikh, - - p. 7 3. 153Kyai Nuhammad Kusnun, a Sha-ç-çari shaykh in Java, private interview. 154Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, p. 2. CHAPTER III

ISLAMIC CONSERVATISM VERSUS ISLAMIC REFORMISM

1. Ba 'Alawi versus Al-Irshad

The dispute bet\veen Ba 'Alawi and al-Irshad was focused on the problem of changing the existing social order which had its roots in the Hadramaut. Al-Irshad challenged the unquestioning acceptance of the belief that every sayyid is born in his place in the social or der and must remain in it; that he is a wasilah (inter cesser) and others therefore should take the blessing from him; that a non-sayyid may not marry his daughter; that non-sayyids should kiss his hand; and the like. The success of Irshadi Arabs coincided perfectly with their success in developing ideas of Islarnic reform. In this respect al-rrshad found sorne support from national and reform Huslim groups. On the other hand, Ba- ' Alawi- could hardly defend their idea, because the existence of venerated positions resulting from being a descendant of the Prophet was contrary to Sunni teachings. In this case the development of Islam from heterodoxy to orthodoxy which occurred among Indonesian Muslims must have meant a change in the attitude of Musli ms in general

113 114 toward sayyid Arabs • Among the sayyid group itself there \vere certain educ;1.ted savyids who rejected their own ex alted positions. These sayyids include 'Abd Allah b. AbÜ Bakr al-Habshi, MutJ.ammad b. 'Abd al-Ragman b. Shihab,

I'1utJ.ammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Sha~iri, Al}mad b. 'Abd Allah al-Saqqaf and al-Ma,vla b. Yal}ya. 1 According to the Irshadi '..rriter Sulayman Naji, these savyids were knmvn to have been acquainted \vitll the works of Ibn Taymiyah, Ibn Qayyim, NulJarnmad 'Abduh and Rashid Ri

Perhaps i t \'.TaS these people \vho were cal led by Del iar Noer a "progressive group" of sayyids who consisted of "the family of A.al Yahya and Aal Shiha b."3 The first step of non-sayyids in changing the attitude towards sayyids was to free tl1emselves f rom the ir administrative depeadency on the sayyids. Certain non- savyids succeeded in gaining tl1e confidence of the Dutch goverœnent. Consequently some of them Here appointed as

"head of a local Ar a~-: communi t y \vi t h who rn the government dealt in matters of common intere st to the community."4 For exampl e , 'Umar ManqÜsh was a ppointcd i n J akarta and

'Iwaç. Sunkar in Solo. 5 With the arriva l of f oreign 115

teachers invited b~· Jamiat Khair, 'umar ManqGsh, along with the efforts of non-sayyid teachers, tried developing the idea of Islamic reform. Perhaps the main fac-

tor which inspired the flQ!l:~sayyids to advoca.te reformism Has Rashl:d Ri1a' s opinion (fatwa) that marriage benveen a non-sayyid and a sharl:fah (a sayvid' s daughter), vms permissible. 6 In 1905 there was, in Singapore, a mar

riage benveen an Indian ~Iuslirn and a sharl:fah. This mar riage produced an uproar arnong J::Ia

Rashrd Ri1~ opposed 'Umar S~lim's opinion and co~sidered that such marriage was permissible. In 1912 Surkati visited his friend Shaykh 'hva

'Iwag Sunlzar' s farnily, raised a question concerning a marriage beti\reen a non-sayyid and a sharifah. Based on the Qur 'an • 116 and ~adfth, Surkatf's answer carne to the sarne conclusion as the fatwa given by Rashfd Rida.. This fatwa produced the violent enrnity of the sayyid group towards Surkati. In another meeting between Surkati and a group of sayyid Arabs in Jakarta, the latter stated that Surkati had cornrnitted a great error which would never be excused by the sayyids. 8 Due to the sayyids' enrnity and the fact that Jarniat Khair was dorninated by the sayyid group, Surkati resigned his position at Jarniat Khair. It may be noted that before his leaving Jamiat Khair, Surkati and his friends--all foreign teachers whose coming to Indonesia was a result of the invitation of Jamiat Khair-- requested return to their country or to Makkah at the expense of Jamiat Khair. Jarniat Khair refused their request and forced them to advise all non-sayyid students ,. 9 to practise the taqb1l. Soon after leaving Jarniat Khair Surkati changed h1s. evenJ_ng . course 1.n. t o a ma d rasa h 1n . t h e rnorn1ng. . lü In this case the prorninent leaders of non-sayyid Arabs, including Shaykh 'umar ManqÜsh, Shaykh Salih. . 'Ubayd 'Abdat and Shaykh Salim Mash'abi succeeded in providing the building located at Jati in Jakarta. All the foreign teachers joined Surkatf and the majority of students, • especially the students of non-sayyid Arabs, rnoved from 117

Jamiat Khair to this new school. 11 I t '>vas .this school

that became the fiEst Irsh~dt school in Jakarta in 1913. The resignation of beth the foreign teachers and the majority of students resulted in a marked decline of the Jamiat Khair. It seems that the fat\va of 'umar b. Salim al-' Attas al-' Almvt 'vritten in 1905 '!.vas reprinted by 0 0 sayyid Arabs as a brochure in 1911 , and '!.vas s pread among

~a~rami sayyids in Singapore, beco;,ing the basis of their viewpoint on marriage. The tension bet'''een sayyid and non-sayyid Arabs in Java stimulated Jamiat Khair leaders to spread that brochure among Hadrami Arabs in Indonesia. 0 0 Realizing that this brochure seemed to have an inf luence, especially among uneducated Arabs, Surkati, a year after the recognition of al-Irshad movement by the Dutch gov ernment on September 6, 1914, wrote a fatwa on the e- quality of the Huslims called Sura tul Jmvab (The Dupli cate Answer). The purpose of this fatwa was to empha size the Irshadi belie f that the pe rpetuation of class distinctions demanded by Ba 'Almvt in r e ligion was contrary to Islamic social doctrine \vhich the a l-Irshad upheld , i.e, equal rights for all Muslims. This fa.twa appeared in Suluh Hindia (November 1915), a daily belonging to Sarikat Islam and under the editorship of Tjokr oaminoto. • 118 The fatwa was also publtshed by al-Irshad as a brochure

directed to all ~a~ramf Arabs. Thus the spread of this brochure was a response to 'Umar b. Salim's brochure spread by Ba- ' Alawi. - 12 In Suratul Jm\Tab Surkati- denied the existence of five degrees of people based on ancestral lineage, that is, as bas been mentioned in the second chapter of this thesis, that the highest degree was filled

by (1) the descendants of Fa~imah through ~asan and

~usayn, followed by (2) Banü Hashim, (3) the people of Quraysh, (4) other Arabs and (5) non-Arabs. Surkatf affirmed that Islam was a religion for all !llankind, and that, within Islam, there were to be no distinctions or prerogatives based on race and ancestry. He cited ref erences from the Qur'an and Sunnah and concluded that the only distinction among believers was in the perfection of their worship of God. 13 \Vith regard to the marriage between a sayyid's daughter and a non-sayyid, he took examples from the Sunnah, which mentioned that the Prophet wedded Zaynab b. Jahsh. to Zayd b. Harithah.. At first Zaynab refused, but then she agreed because of the coming

of the revelation of sürah al-At]zab, 36a "And it becometh

not a believing man or a believing mowan, W~len Allah and His messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affaira ..... 14 119

Surkati also mentioned the marriage between the daughter of the Prophet, Ruqayyah, and 'Uthman b. 'Affan, who was not a descendant of the Bani-- Hashim. 15 It seems that the leaders of Ba 'Alawf responded to Surkatt•s fatwa without any well-reasoned arguments. Discussed below are sorne of the attacks launched by Ba 'Alawt against Surkatf and the Irshadf peoplea

1) Ba 'Alawt•s attacks against Surkati

The spread of Suratul Jawab through bath the Suluh Bindia daily and brochures increased the conflict between sayyid and non-sayyid Arabs. The success of this Suratul Jawab along with Surkati's success in developing the Irshadi school made Surkatf the spiritual father of the non-sayyid Arabs. As such, it was not surprising that he was also a chief target of the Ba 'Alawi attacks. In this case Ba 'Alawt seemed to dissociate Surkati and his friends from Hadrami Arabs. 'Alawt wrote in their • • Ba periodical Iqbala

0 Hadramis,. . excuse me for saying that you have been deceived and despised [by SurkatiJ and that you therefore handed your religious leadership, your honour and your nationality over to those who have nothing in common with you, nor a national r elation ship, nor a lineage relationship, nor a madhha b re- l atLOTIS. h"Lp. 16 120

In the Iqbal number 42 Ba 'Alawi wrote1

The Sudanese are a group of destructive immigrant who have intoxicated the brains of the people with the idea of socialism; thus they have become enemies of high class people [sayyids]. They conceal goodness [venerated position of sayyids] from students; instead they teach the idea of blind equality. 17

\Vhen Ba 'Alawi knew that their effort did not have any effect on non-sayyids, they then switched to accusing Surkati of advising people to shake hands with a sayyid while holding a sandal, of wedding their male students to female students in the Irshadi school, of saying that there are no descendants of the Prophet any more, and of stating that all sayyids are rawafig (one of the Shi'ite sect ) , fasqah ( sinners ) and zunah- ( adulterers ) • 18 In the presence of representatives of the Dutch government they had this to say about Surkati.: "Surl<.ati is a follower of the Mahdi movement [in Sudan] who tries to organize this movement in order to lead revolt against the Dutch government." 19

2) Ba 'Alawi's attacks against Irshadi people The depth of emotional feeling among Ba 'Alawi was apparent in physical attacks against the Irshadi people. One day in 1913 a group of Ba 'Alawi. attacked 121

sorne Irshadi people ~vho attended a meeting at the house of 'Isa b. Badr in Jakarta. Three Irshadi people were injured and the others avoided injury due to the arrival of the police in a short time. This bloody incident was followed by others in the several local Arab comrnunities in Cirebon, Pekalongan, Surabaya, Bogor and Bondowoso. 20 According to Sulayrnan Naji, the main contents of Ba 'Alawi's periodical, al-Iqbal, charged al-Irshad and its leaders with falsehood and condemned al-Irshad.- 21 Deliar Noer says that al-Iqbal "also accused al-Irshad people of being Bolshevists. It therefore suggested that the Dutch government take action against al-Irshad."- 22

The dispute between the Ba- ' Alawi- and the Irshad1- ~ people apparently pushed the Ba 'Alawt to support the Dutch colonial policy concerning nationalist political rnovements. Deliar Noer observed that there was, in the mid 1910's, a sayyid named 'Uthman b. Ya9ya al-'Alawt who wrote a pamphlet entitleda To Stop the Comrnon Man from Joining Sarekat Islam. This pamphlet was distributed by the Dutch government to all rnadrasahs and pondok-pesantrens in Indo nesia.23 Ba 'Alawr also denounced Irshadi people to the British government. Ba 'Alêwi sent their r epresentatives 'Ali b. Shihab and Muh.a mmad al-Junayd to convince the 122

British Consul General in Jakarta that one of the goals of the Irshadi movement was to support Germany in its struggle against the British. 24 In the presence of the British, Surkati was accused of being a helper of Indian poli ti cal refugee, 'Abd al-Salam al-Kashmiri, lvho \vas said to have risen in revolt against the British and was in Jakarta under house arrest by the Dutch government. 'Abd al-Salam ,.,as sa id by Ba 'Alawi to have known AI:mad Surkati we11. 25 Furthermore Ba 'Alawi accused al-Irshad of being a seditibus movement which was trying to agitate the Kathiri Sul tanate to reval t against the Qu' ayt} Sul tanate. 26 ( These Hadrami. . - Sultanates were under the rule of 27 the protectorate of the British in Aden). These Ba 'Alawi efforts were received by the British and as a consequence, the British issued in 1918 a prohibition against the enterance of Irshadi people into areas under British jurisdiction. 28 Furthermore, both the Qu 'aytt and Kathiri --·--sultans were advised to be careful in dealing with Irshadi people. Thus, a letter signed by Ghalib b. 'Iwad. (the sul!=an of Qu'ay!=) and 'Ali b. al-Nan~Ür al-Kathiri (the --·-sultan of al-Kathir) was sent to Hadramis.. in Indonesia. (The letter was brought by Al Ja'fari b. Salim b. Talib • al-'Alawi). The l etter stated that both --·--sultans had to .. guard the Hadramaut. . from a possible violent controversy 123 among Hadamis. . caused by Surkati and his friends in Java. The letter also mentioned that certain people would be given the task of ob,serving those who became follm>lers 29 of al-Irshad , movement. Al-Yafi't said that all the relatives o f Irsha-d~ ~ mem b ers who 1 ived in the Qu ' ayt~.~ Sultanate faced difficulties imposed by the ruling group under the direct leadership of ~amid al-M~gar, the Prime . . f h Q ' ... s 1 30 M~n~ster o t e u ayt~. u tanate • However this Irshadi discrimination ended soon after the British came to know about the problem of the dispute between Ba ' Alawi- and al-Irshad- in Java. 31 The abolition of the prohibition, which had applied to Irshadi people, was 32 announced in December 1920. The letters of the Irshadt movement adressed to the Consul General of the British 33 Empire in Jakarta as well as the British Foreign De- 34 partment, and the letter of the Irshadr branch of Sura- baya to the Qu'ay~i Sultanate were responsible for the - ~ 35 change in atti.tude of the British toward the Irshad~s. In general the Irshadi letters explained the purposes and activities of the Irshadt movement and rejected all the a ccusations launched by Ba 'Alawi 's periodical al-Iqbal. Al-Irshad made known that its movement was beyond the political field. Attempts to unite both organizations, J amiat 124

Khair and al-Irshad, always failed for one reason or an ether. At the beginning of 1 9 19~ Sayyid Isma'il 'Abd

Allah al-'Attas,• . a member of Volksraad (People's Coun- cil), was urged by his Dutch friends to establi sh the so-called al-Rabitah al-'Arabiyah (the Arab League). The first step in his effort was to convene the Mu'tamar 'Arabi 'Am (General Arab Congress) which would decide the program of the Arab League. In this respect he suc ceeded in establishing the Lajnah Tanffdhiyah (the Ex ecutive Committee) i n January 1919 with members f rom both Ba 'Alawi and al-Irshad. Certain members of this Lajnah Tanf idhfyah were chosen to carry out the special mission of visiting local Arab communi ties, convince the people of the i mportance of establishing the al-Rabitah al-'Arabiyah, and invite them to send their • r epresentatives to the Mu'tamar 'Arabi 'Am whi ch would be held on February 9, 1919. ~Yhen the group came t o Surabaya, the local Bi ' Alawi took a stand against the establishment of the Exe cutive Committee, due to t he fact that Surkati--a man who was charged by the s ayyids with be ing an agi t ator--became one of i ts member s . A statement r efusing to join the Mu'tamar was made by Jamiat Khair Surabaya. Inf l uenced by this s tatement, Jamiat Khair Jakart a made the same statement ( February 6, 125

1919). Consequently the effort of Sayyid Isma'il failed. It may be noted, in addition, that in 1921 another effort to form an agreement between Jamiat I(hair and al-Irshad was tried by ljusayn 'Abidin, an Arab of Singapore, with 37 the urging of the British in Singapore. He wrote a letter to al-Irshad offering to mediate the dispute be tween al-Irshad and Jamiat Khair if al-Irshad would accept the conditions mentioned in his letter. The con ditions included the following& the Irshadi schools should register both non-sayyid and sayyid children; the teacher should teach the idea of equality among pe ople; and al-Irshad should not write in its periodical about disputed matters between shaykhs (non-sayyids) and savyids; r ather it should try to make peace between both sides. The conditions were accepted by al-Irshad and theref ore ~usayn ''Abidin came to Java. However, ~usayn 'Abidi n failed becaus e Ba 'Alawi never attended the meet- 'rb ~ - 38 ings arranged by ~usayn fi dLn and al-Irshad. Having tired of the controversies with Jamiat Khair in the 1910's, in the 1920's Surkati and al-Irshad s eemed t o show a total disregard for the enmity of Ba 'Alalvi. In the al-Dhakhirah, Surkati did not comment on Ba 'Alalvi, though he denounced t he intercession and saint-lvor ship of Ba 'Ala,vi. In t his case Sur kati ap- 126 parently followed the advice of Husayn. 'Abidin of Singapore. However, realizing that they \vere Surkati' s topic in al-Dhakhirah, the sayyids, represented by 'Ali b. 'Abd Allah al-Tayyib, tried to hold a debate \vith Ahmad Surkati. 'Ali sent a letter to Ahmad Surkati • • mentioning that the discussion would be held on Sha'ban 21, 1343 (March 17, 1925) in Nasjid Arnpel (Ampel mosque), Surabaya, and that Surkati was required to prepare a paper. Ahmad. Surkati prepared a paper entitled al-Masa'il al-Thalath, that is al-ijtihad wa al-taglid, al-sunnah wa al-bid'ah, and ziyarat al-gubür wa al-tawassul. The discussion failed because 'Ali b. 'Abd Allah broke his promise of meeting AQ.mad Surkati at A:npel rnosque on March 17, 1925. The paper of AQ.mad Surkati was published by al-Irshad as a brochure distributed to Arab as well as

I n d onesLan. Mus 1Lms. " 39 In general, t he Indone sian Muslims, including the conservatives, supported AQ.mad Surkati's stand, be cause his fatwa in Suratul Jawab reflected the social t eaching of Islam and was in accordance with the desire of I ndone s ian Muslims . 40 Even t hose who wer e foll owers of Süfi orders did not support the Jamiat Khair be cause • the Sufis·-- s eemed to r ecognize the differ ence betwe en the t eaching of wasilah ( int ercessor ) a ccording to Ba 'Al awi 127

- 'l" 41 and that according to the ~ufLs. The only hope of Ba 'Alawf was support coming from the Dutch government. In 1932 Jamiat Khair wrote a letter requesting recognition of the title of sayyid by the Dutch government. This effort \vas, hmvever, noted by al-Irshad. A brochure called Titel Sayid Jadi Urusan, Pemerintah Carnpur Tangan (The Problern of the Title of Sayyid, the Interference of the Governrnent) ,.,as published by al-Irshad to expose the use of the title sayyid by Ba- t AlawL.~ 42 Two problerns appeared in this brochure• the problern of the title sayyid and the interference of the eovernment. Concerning the former, the brochure stated the rneaning of sayvid was not more than Tuan in Indonesian language or "Mister" in English. The brochure accused Ba 'Alawf of being detrirnental to the religious life of Indonesian Muslirns, especially those who were lacking in Islarnic knowledge. The brochure exposed the marriage between a sayyid, who only had ten florins to his narne, and twenty village ladies within two years. He divorced each after having been married for two or three rnonths only. The exarnple indicated how Muslirns suffered at the hands of Ba 'Alawi Arabs. However the brochure sarcastically praised the sayyids for their rnanaging to deceive people by their false behaviour. The shre,.vdness of Ba 'Alawf, as indi- 128 cated by the brochure, was displayed in its painting out that the honour of people does not depend on knowledge, fear of God (taqwa), or good behaviour, but only upon descent from the Prophet. Any Ba- '~lawi, . - therefore, no matter how poor his relations with others were, was re- 43 gard e d as h av~ng. an exalt e d pos~ . t ~on. .

On the second problem, the al-Irshad wrote a letter--a copy of this letter appears in the brochure:- to the Dutch colonial government trying to defeat the purpose of Ba- ' Alawi's- letter; al-Irshad- explained in its letter that the question concerning the title of sayyid was an internal Arab problem whi ch related to matters of religion. It proposed that the government should not interfere wi th this mat t er and allow the problem to be discussed by the Arab community itself. The letter of al-Irshad was signed by 'Ali b. sa'Id b. Mughtth, 'Abd Allah 'Agil, Sa'id b. 'Abd All ah Ba Sa lamah and 'Ali b. Salim Hubay~. 44 In fact, the Dutch colonial government di d not interfere with the que stion of the title sayyid. I nfluenced by this brochure in 1933, Ahm. ad Hasan . and his Persat uan Islam movement exposed once a gain i n his periodical Pembela Islam (the Defender of Islam) the impos sibilit y of ba 'nlawi's demand for e l evated posi tions. He seemed t o extend the fat wa of Ahmad Surkatf 129 in Suratul Jawab and he commented that Ba 'Alawr•s stand was b eyon d I s 1 am1c. teach. 1n gs. 45 AIJmad ljasan \vas the only non-Arab who interjected himself in the dispute bet\-leen the sayyid and non-sayyid Arabs. h'i th his invol ve ment, the echoes of the dispute between Ba 'Alawr and al-Irshad gradually died dm·m.

2. Reformists ver sus Conservatives and the Role of Surkatf

While in Jakarta al-Irshad faced the enmity of Ba 'Alawr, in Surabaya al-Irshad was involved in the dis pute between the Indonesian kaum muda (reformt. st Nuslims) and kaum tua ( conservative Muslims). Soon after the establishment of al-Irshad branch of Surabaya in 1917, al-Irshad together with sorne prominent r eformist leaders tried to propagate the idea of Islamic reform. Their efforts only created a conflict with the kaum tua, who constituted the majority of Huslims in Java . According to Haji Abubakar, three groups appeared in Surabaya a t the close of l 910s. These were a group of Muslims under the leadership of Kyai Mas Mansur; a group of Arabs who joined al-Irshad under the leadership of Ahmad Surkat1; and a group of Muslirns under t he leadership • of Kyai Wahha b Ha sbullah.46 The members of t he first and 130 second groups belonged to the reform movement. Their teachings called for a revival of Islam by emphasizing the Qur'an and Sunnah. Sorne religious practices were considered bid'ah (innovation) and khurafah (supersti tion). The members of the third group belonged to the so-called santri--"a group of people in Java who profess the most serious devotion to Islam, observing the rituals of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, etc."47 and became fol lm'lers of the Shafi'i school--and to the kyais or 'ulama, who were considered "the nucleus of rural Islamic social structure and the climax of kolot (conservative) culture."48 This santri group opposed the changes advocated by those reformists and defended the established religious system in Java. These Muslims believed that "truth does not change according to times and conditions--[rather] it is passed down from one 'alim to the other, to his pupils 49 and his followers." It seems that the desire of the kyais as leaders of the santri group was to see that the existing religious teaching remained unchanged. Thus the majority of them opposed the new wave of thought advocated by r e formists. In t he words of Mochtar Nai m:

••• the conservative-madhhab-oriented-ulama arose to fight the "danger" of r e for mist groups who wished to "modif y I slam in Indonesia and 131

to lead it astray from the religious tradition which for centuries had been followed." 50

A reformist who might be considered the first one ta bring about a dispute between kaum tua and kaum muda in Java \·las Pakih Hasjim, knmvn as ulama Padang ( 'ulama, of Padang in t-1inangkabau), As a pupi 1 of Ha ji Abdul Karim Amrullah, the character of his internal mission seemed to resemble that of Haji Abdul Karim. Abdul Karim's tablighs were "characterized by criticism and attacks on all practices with which he did not agree; even minor questions were not spared," 51 It has been mentioned that the offensive tabligh launched by Pakih Hasjim who was joined by al-Irshad in Surabaya shook the world of con servative Muslims. In arder to support their tabligh, al-Irshad branch of Surabaya published its periodicals 52 al-Salam and al-Irshad in 1920 to 1921. The dispute became a hostility in al-Islam congress held in 1922 in Cirebon (West Java), where reformists and conserva tives denounced each other as kafir and mushrik, "The congress failed to unite the hearts of the traditionalists ••• and reformists," 53

Realizing that this violent controversy should be stopped, Surkati, saon after hts coming back to al-Irshad from his own tracte business (192 1-1923), pub- 132 lished his periodical called al-Dhakhirah, By this periodical Ahmad. Surkatl: intended to solve the dispute between conservatives and reformists. He said1

The differences, hatred and animosity that we have passed through were enough and so were the dispute and controversy. Let us replace difference with similarity and establish friendship and kindness instead of hatred and animosity, and let us enter into harmony and friendliness instead of contin uing controversy and dispute. Let us become broth ers who love each other under the flag of God's Unity and God's Prophet Muhammad. And let us have one will, that is "help you one another unto rightousness and pious dut y." ( Qur ,-an .ê,ill'ah- 5a2. )54

Surkati's call for unity was based on the second point of Irshadi principles saying that "al-Irshad should follow the way of salaf in solution to all disputed rnatters."55 In other words, if there is a disputed rna tters of r eligion al-Irshad should only refer to the Qur'an and Sunnah. This principle was based on the sürah 4:59 a "If ye have a dispute concerning any matter, r e fer it to Allah and the me ssenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day." 56 Due to the fact that Muslims were involved in a dispute concerning different judgements on c ertain religious practice s, Surka ti encouraged Muslims 133 to ask hirn questions about those rnatters and said that he would give his answers in the forrn of fatwas in his 57 periodical al-Dhakhirah. The fatwas of Surkati on such questions were always based on the Qur'an and the ~adrth. Ho\vever, as far as the questions were concerned, none arose concerning iitihad and taglrd. Thus the first step in the dispute between reforrnists and conservatives in Java focused on religious practices which were considered by Surkati as bid'ah. To sorne extent the fatwas of Surkati in al-Dhakhirah had an inf luence on both the Indonesian Muslirns and the sayyid Arabs. Their influence on Indonesian Muslirns was very positive. History witnessed the friendship between conservatives and reforrnists at al-Islam congress of De- cernber 26, 1924, in Surabaya, which was attended by rnern bers of Sarekat Islam, Muhammadiyah, al-Irshad and the as yet unorganized conservative Muslims. At this congress the reforrnists and conservatives succeeded in reaching sorne degree of agreement. Deliar Noer comrnents as followsa

The Congress agr eed that the basis of all religious teaching is the Qur'an and ~adrth, and that the four imams, i.e. founders of rnadhahib, had corne to their r e spective judgements (hukum agama) after a careful and complete study and investigation of the texts in the Qur'an and ~adrth; that in arder 134

to purify and to give explanations about the various disciplines of Islam, and for the study of religious books, it is very important to carry investigations into the Qur'an and ~adfth; that the interpretation of the Qur'an should not be done arbitrarily, but that it needs the necessary equipment, i.e. various kinds of knmvledge. 58

Furthermore, the congress also succeeded in defining the 59 cond ltlons. . f or b ecomlng . muJta . h. l d • It must be noted that after discussing the teachings of al-Irshad and Muhammadiyah, the congress concluded that neither of them was a follower of the Wahhabi-- movement. 60 Ahmad. Surkatl: and his al-Dhakhirah, which was published during 1923 and 1924, must have urged the growing friedship between conservatives and reformists. Another of Surka ti' s efforts was to bring the two groups together appears in his al-Mas~'il al-Thalath

(written in 1925), that is, his fatw~ on ijtih~d and taglid. He seemed to be aware that the basic difference between reformists and conservatives was in the approach to Islamic t eachings. The r eformists focused on salaf and referred all religious beliefs and practices to the Qur'an and Sunnah. In this they followed Nuhammad. 'Abduh who said 1 "t-1atters of belief and practice are to be de- 135 termined by reference to these two sources (the Qur'an and Sunnah), in other words, the beliefs and practices of the early Huslims are once more to be adopted, without additions or omissions.'' 61 The reformists proposed their "cardinal reformist tenetc Final authority in all that concerned rel i gious doctrine lay neither in the schools nor in the religious hierarchy, but in the Qur'an and the Sunna (Huhammad's sayings and practice)."62 Surkati's intention of discussing the iitihad was to free the minds of Huslims from traditional references, the kyais and aqwal al-'ulama 1 (the sayings of 'ulama') which appeared in the conservative's books of reference. In other words, Surka tl. intended to free the minds of Muslims from the chain of belief concerning authority without question or objection, so that the 'ulama' and their books of reference would not be the fina l authority. However, Sur kati did not condemn the 'ulama' or their books of reference . He wanted the 'ulama' to link their opinions--generally taken f rom such and such a book or the wri ting of 'ulama' so and so--with the Qur'an and Hadith.. Surka ti affirmed that his r equest \va s i n agreement wi th the Imams of t he grea t madhhabs (AbÜ ~anifah, Nalik b. Ana s, Shafi'I. and Ibn I;fanba l). In t his respect Surka tl. quoted sorne saying of these Imams, including Shafi ' I. , who s a id, among other 136

things a " 1;fuenever you find ir.. my books something contrary to the Sunnah of the Prophet, take the Sunnah and leave my \vords." 63 This seemed to impress the conservative

1 "'ulama • Kyai Hasjim Asj.'ari (a prominent leader of con servative Muslims) in his Mawa"'iz (religious exhortation) • wrotea

If Imam Shafi'i, Imam AbÜ ljanifah, Imam Malik, Imam A~mad, Imam Ibn ~ajar were still alive, they would certainly reject this activity ,[con troversy and dispute] of yours. 64

Another outlook of Surkati which might make a good impression on conservatives was that Surkati only condemned the muqallids who basically have the ability and chance to understand Islamic teaching but do not devote their ability to the study of the Qur'an and ljadith, nor 65 do they understand them. A discussion between conservative 'ulama~, including Kyai Hasjim Asj'ari and Kyai \vahhab Hasbullah (the president and secretary of Nahdlatul Ulama respectively), and prominent reformists, including Kyai Haji Mas Mansur and sorne Irshadi leaders, was held in Surabaya in 1929 under the sponsorship of A~mad Surkati. The purpose of this meeting was to strengthen the relationship between conservatives and reformists. It is said that after the establishment of the Nahdlatul Ulama 137 there was a conservative statement saying that "all opinions which were not in agreement with the common traditional religtous books or all opinions \vhich were only based on the Qur'an and Sunnah should be considered as leading someone astray." 66 This statement became the immediate cause of holding this meeting. The discussion focused on ijtihad and taqlid. According to Majlts Da'\vah the meeting concluded that taqlid buta (blind acceptance) was considered ~aram (forbidden), and that every religious book might be read and criticized with the hope that somebody could consider whi ch of the opinions were true 6 7 and '\vhich ones were wron8• To sorne extent '\vhat Surkati had done in the 1920s supported the car:>paign for the founding of an Islamic federation, the M.I.A.I. (Madilis Islam A'laa Indonesia or Supreme Council of Nuslims of Indonesia), which \va s set up in Surabaya on September 21, 1937.68 For example, Kyai Haji Hasjim Asj'ari issued in 1935 "a circular calling on all the participating 'ulama' to set aside dif ferences, abandon the feeling of t a ~ a ~~ub (fana ticism) in one's own v iew, f orego all scorn and derision towards one another and uphold unity." 69 Kyai Hasjirn Asj'ari saida

0 you who f anatically adhere to a certain rnadhhab 138

or opinion! Leave your fanaticism and partisém ship in furu-' [the doctrine of the branches, i.e., applied fiqh, applied ethics] questions ••• Your fanaticism about furG' problerns and your incite ment to adhere to only one rnadhhab and one opin ion is not liked by Allah and is not agreed to by the Apostle of Allah. This is true especially if your motivation is only fanaticism, rivalry and Jea. 1 ousy. 70

Owing to the fact that oondok-pesantrens did not train their students, including the candidates of kyais, with the knowledge needed to link the legal opinions a vailable in the traditional books wit:1 the Qur'an and the Sunnah, deliberation on certain religious questions in the congresses of Nahdlatul Ulama in the 1930s "did not actually have the character of discussion and critical study but rather pointed to the old books and turned them over and over, looking for what (the qaul 'ulama' [sayings of certain 'ulama'J) Shafi~i ('ulama' so and so) said aoout' t h e pro bl em und er d.~scuss~on. . Il 71 However, according to Federspiel, "reform, while apparent among the modernists, also occurred among many traditionalists as well, so that a number of practices rejected by the Muhammadiyah were rejected by many of the traditionalists as well when they applied the criteria for examination used in the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence itself." 72 139

In order to join the growing unity of Nuslims in Indonesia during the l930s, the graduates of Irshadi

ç ---- shools sponsored by- Abd al-Rahman. Baswidan founded an Indo-Arab (half-caste) movement called P.A.I. (Persatuan Arab Indonesia,or Indonesian Arab Unity). According to 'Abd al-Raç.man the aim of this organization was "to educate the Indo-Arabs i n order that they would be aware that they are included in the Indonesian society in gen eral and Indonesian Nuslim society in particular." 73 Thus becoming members of P.A.I. was "to enlist their loyalty to Indonesia, on the principle that Indonesia was their native country and that the organization could thus best promote Arab interest by promoting those of the country as a whole." 74 This small minority organization, which was said to have thirty sections with members recruited from all Indo-Arabs gr ew into one of the nationalist movements prior to the independence of Indonesia. This sig- nified the cooperation with the native nationalist Nuslim movement by joining the M.I.A.I. in 1937. This organization a lso had a youth division ca lled Las jkar P.A.I. (Troopers of P. A.I.) for educating young peopl e f or later 75 membership in the organization. Van der Kroe f has also this to say about P.A.I.a

Though the P.A. I . was at first primarily concerned 140 with social welfare and religious matters it entered the political arena in 1937. Its program envisaged the autonomy of Indonesia within the frame,vork of the Netherland Realm, public and legal equality between Arabs and Indonesians, and improvement of the position of all inhabi tants of Indonesia. This progressive stand was looked upon with favour by most Indonesian nation alist groups and in 1939 and LJ40 the P.A.I. stood shoulder to shoulder along with other Indonesian natibnalist groups in the parliamentary action for greater self-government. 76 141

FOOTNOTES

1Naji, rarrkh, P• 71. 2Ibid. 3Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 58. 4 Ibid., P• 61. 5rbid. 6see second chapter of this thesis pp. 57-58. 7Ibid. ~ajr, Tarikh, P· 36. 9rbid., p. 35. 10Ibid., p. 36. llibid.' pp. 34,, 35. 12Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, P• 14. 13He cites surat- al-!jujurat,- 13a "0 mankind: Lo: We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct," see Surkatl., "Suratul Javmb," in Najlis Da •.,;.mh, Rhvayat, II, P• 11. 14Ibid., p. 13. 15rbid., pp. 13-14. 16N- ,,. aJJ., Tarikh, p. 62. 17Ibid. 18Ibid., pp. 78-79.

19Ibid., P• 57. 142

20 rbid., PP• 76-77; al-Yafi'i, Tarikh, PP• 235-236~ 21N-aJL,.~ T-arLkh,~ P• 57 • 22Noer, Nuslim Movement, p. 67; see also Naji, Taril

30A 1-y-afL. '~L, T-a rLKhJ·~ PP• 288-9. 31 Ibid., P• 320. 32Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 67.

33 - ,_ - ~ See al-Yafi i, TarLkh, pp. 300-302. 143

34The copy of this letter appears in ibid., PP• 307-319. 35The copy of this letter appears in ibid., PP• 289-299. 36rhe statement of the Jamiat Khair of Surabaya, dated 26 January 1919, Surabaya, in Naji, Tarikh, p. 97; the statement of Jamiat Khair of Jakarta, dated 7 Febru ary 1919, Jakarta, in ibid,, p. 98. 34Abidin's letter to al-Irshad mentioned that a British official urged him to mediate the dispute be tween al-Irshad and Ba 'dlawt; see his letter, dated 5 February 1921, Singapore, in al-Yafi'I, Tarikh, PP• 281- 282. 38Ibid., p. 283, 39See Surkati,- al-Masa-, il, pp. 6-7 • 40However, as far as history of Islam in Indo nesia 'vas concerned, none of the conservative Muslims was involved in the dispute between sayyids and non-sayyids, and none of the sayyids was involved in the dispute be tween kaum tua and kaum muda in Java. 41 As has been mentioned in the chapter II of this thesis, according to Ba 'Alawt, every sayyid is wasilah or intercessor between other sayyids and God, but accord ing to ~üffs wasilah is a shaykh or guru. 42Titel Sayid Djadi Urusan, Pemerintah Tjampur Tangan (Bataviaa Perserikatan al-Irsjad, 1932). 43Ibid., pp. 5-6. 44 Ibid., PP• 17-23. 144

45For f\tr~her in on Ahmad Hasan's attack against Ba 'AlAjl. h. ~~~~~~, PP• 63-68. 46 . Abubakar, Sedjarah Hidup, p. 471. 47Mochtar Naim, "The Nahdlatul Ulama Party (1952- 1955)1 An Inquiry into the Origin of Its Electoral Suc cess" (unpublished M.A. Thesis, McGill University, 1960), . P• 169. 48clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (New York: The Free Press, 1960), pp. 180-181. 49Naim, "Nahdlatul Ulama~" p. 152. 50 Ibid., P• 2. 51Noer, Nuslim Movement, p. 37. 52see chapter II of this thesis, pp. 83-84~ Naji, Tarikh, PP• 133-134. 53Noer, Muslim Movement, p. 227. 54surkati, al-Dhakhirah, p. 4. 55see chapter II of this thesis, p. 67; Naji, Tarikh, p. 68. 56surkati, al-Masa 1 il, p. 11. 57Majlis Da 'wah, Riwavat, p. 8. 58Noer, Ivluslim Movement, pp. 227-228, n. 44. 59The conditions of mu jtahid were as follmvs: having "knmvledge o f !§.~~ (text) of the Qur 'an and I:jadith, 1 knowledge about ijma' (consensus) of 'ulama , knowledge of Arabie, knowledge of Mu~addithun (~adith narrators) and t heir history, knowledge of the reasons for the revelation of Qur'anic verses and existence of ~adith statements," s ee ibid., p. 288, n . 45. 145

60Ibid., p. 228. 61 Adams, Islam and Modernism, p. 174. 62Hisham Sharabi, Arab Intellectuals and the West: The Formative Years, 1875-1914 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1970), p. 37. 63see chapter II of this thesis, p. 94; Surkati, al-Masa'il, p. 17. 64Kyai Hasjim Asj'ari, "al-Mawa'iz" trs. by Hamka, • Pandji Masjarakat, Vol. I (Agustus 1959), p. 6, quoted by Noer, Nuslim Movement, p. 241. 65see chapter II of this thesis, p. 95. 66Majlis Da'wah, Riwayat, p. 19. 67Ibid., pp. 19-20. 68 Abubakar, Sedjarah Hidup, p. 311; for further information see PP• 311-319; also Noer, Huslim Movement, pp. 242-246. 69Noer, Nuslim Movement, p. 241. 70 Asj'ari, " al-Mawa'iz,"• P• 5, quoted by Noer, Muslim Hovement, p. 241. 71Naim, "Nahdlatul Ulama," p. 152. 72 Federspiel, "Muhammadijah", p. 65. 73A. R. Baswidan, "P. A. I. , " in Congress P. A. I. ke IV~ Solo, 1941, p. 11. 740ffice Strategie Services, Political Parties and Movements in the Netherlands East Indies, R.and A No. 2512 Washington, 1945, p. 59. 146

75 See Bas,.;idan,--- "P , A. I. , " PP• 11 -12 ; Of fi ce Strategie Services, Political Parties, pp. 59-60, 76van der Kroef, Indonesia, pp. 257-258, CONCLUSION

Prior to the nineteenth century the Arab colonies had only been set up at a few important coastal cities in South East Asia. These settlements came as a general result of commercial activity. In the nineteenth century, the Arab populace who moved to Java from Hadramaut began to increase. This increasing number of Hadrami Arabs was a result of (1) the economie diffi culties in the Hadramaut: (2) the easier means of transport from the Middle East to Indonesia: and (3) the economie policy of the Dutch government reflecting the economie position of the Oriental minority, including the Arabs and t he Chinese, as the bearers of intermediary commerce. The Ha. dr. ami Arabs always tried to combine their economie operations with money lending. Therefore the role of certain ija1rami scholars in developing Islamic teachings in Indonesia i s very obscure . Their trading methods and money-lending activities made their name unpopular in many place s in Java . The development of Islam from heterodoxy into orthodoxy was the result of the native Indonesian pilgrims, especially those pilgrims who spent a number of years in Makkah. Through the influx of

147 148

these pilgrims, the pondok-pesantrens or traditional religious seminaries which were under the leadership of kyais or 'ulama' gradually became more orthodox. However it appeared to the reformist Muslims that the kyais failed to purify Islam from its traditional syncretism. Additionally, the kyais held an inherent attitude of taql!d (blind acceptance) toward the teachings of a particular madhhab. This madhhab teachings appear to have been regarded as sacred traditions.

The important fact about ~aqrami Arabs is that they were divided into two groups, the sayyid and the non-sayyid. It seems that in the nineteenth century the sayyids \vere able to maintain t heir eleva ted positions which had been the social custom in the Hadr élmaut for centuries. In the presence of the uneducated Indonesian Muslims, the sayyids succeeded in indoctrinating them so that they would be lieve tha t the honour of people mainly depended on de scent f r oP.l. the Prophet. i''!eamvhile, at t he close of the nineteenth century the development of Islam in t he Hiddle East had an impact on the Ara b community in Indonesia. First, t his i mpact apnears in the foundation of Jamiat Khair in 1901 and was recognized by t he Dutch gove rnment in 1905. The pur

pose of this Arab organization was to create a close 149 relationship between Indonesian Arabs and the Middle East and to prepare schools for educating Arabs. Second, this impact appears in the non-sayyids' endeavour to change the existing social order in the Arab community, since the elevated position of the sayyids was contradictory to the Islamic teachings in their view. The founding of Jamiat Khair resulted in invitations to foreign teachers from the Middle East, including Ahmad Surkati. The name Surkati became very well known in the Arab community due to the fact that he played a considerable role in the growing tension between sayyids and non-sayyids. In 1912 he gave a fatwa (legal opinion) which challenged the un questioni ng acceptance of tbe belief that every sayyid is born in his place in the social order and maintains his exalted position; that a non-sayyid may not marry his daughter; that non-sayyids should kiss his hand; and the like. This fat\va increased the growing tension be t,.;een sayyid and non-sayyid Arabs which led to the organ izational split between sayyids and non-sayyids. Jamiat Khair became an organization of the sayyids, while the non-sayyids under the sponsorship of A~mad Surkati founded an organization of their own, al-Irshad, in 1913, ,.;hich ,.;as organized by the Dutch government in 1914 • Consequently the development of the se two 150

organizations was characterized by the dispute benveen savvids and non-savyids. The sayyids based their viewpoint on the fatwa- of ' Umar Salim- al- ' A~~as,- a prominent sayyid of Singapore, entitled "The Narriage between a

Sharffah and a non-Sharif and Esteemed Position of Ahl al-Bayt [the descendants of 'Ali and Fat:imah]." The non-sayyids •· viewpoint \vas based on Surkati' s fat'iva called Suratul Jawab (The Duplicate Answer) \vhich was written in 1915. The success of Suratul Jmvab, along with Surkati' s success in developing the Irshadi school, made Surkati the spiritual father of the non-sayyid

Arabs and a liaison between the Irshadi movement and native Indonesian reform organizations. The dispute between sayyids and non-sayyids resulted in a marked decline of Jamiat Khair. Attempts to unite both organ izations, Jamiat Khair and al-Irshad, allvays failed for one reason or another.

Joined by all foreign teachers 'ivho left Jamiat

Khair for al-Irshad, Surkati succeeded i~ creating an awareness of the importance of education arnong the non- sayyids, 'ivhich enable al-Irshad to work more effectively in constructing its future development and progress.

The first major concern of A~mad Surkati was the formation of a sig11 ificant number of follm·1ers \vho became 151

the hard-core of t h e movement and helped him to carry out his mission and continue it after his death. At the beg i nning Surkati devoted his attention to the im provement of Irsh idi schools in Jakarta and then fol lowed by the establishment of Irshidi school branches in Java. The perseverance of Irshidi members in car- r ying out educationa l activity succeeded in achieving a place of respectability within the Indonesian Huslim comrnunity. Many graduates of Irshidi schools, either

Arabs or native Indonesian, played an important role in the subsequent developme nt of Islamic tho ught in

Indonesia.

Due to t h e f a ct t hat Surkati and sorne of the foreign teachers were a cquainted witt the works o f t h e Middle East reformer s Huharnmad. 'Abduh and Rash id Rida,. al-~rshid grounded itself i n Islami c ref ormism. The d ev e lopme nt of the I r shadi movement f a r e d v ery well partly be c a u s e i t coin cided with the sprea ding o f Islamic r eformism amon8 native Indone sian Nuslims. Soon after the f oundation o f the Irshadi movement, con t a ct ,.vi th othe r mode rn Muslim mov ements, espe cia lly Muharnmadiyah, became very close. Th ese two rnovements, a l-Irshid and

Muharnmadiyah, formed t h e preliminary stages in the de- v elo pme nt o f the r eforrn mov ement i n Indonesia. In a r der 152 to establish the develooment of Islarnic reformisrn in Indonesia, Surkatf wrote his fatwa_s on religious beliefs and practices; these becarne the central dispute between kaum tua (conservative or traditionalist Muslims) and kaum muda (reformist Muslims). These fatwas appear in his periodical al-Dhakhfrah (1923- 1924) and in his book al-Masi'il al-Thalith (1925).

The teachings of A~mad Surkati become the basis of Irshidi ideas of reform in particular, and of Islamic reform movement in Indonesia in general. In gener a l Surkati's t eachings focus on referring a ll r eligious matters to tl.1e Qur' an and the Sunnah, In this respect he pointed out that the Salaf and all the Imams of the

1 great madhhabs (AbG ~anifah , M~lik b. Anas, Shafi i and ~anbali) also referred all religious matters, es pecially disputed ones , to the Qur'an a nd Sunnah, and required people to do so. Surkati condemned the taglfd 1 umy~ni (blind acceptance) applied by Muslims in Indonesia, 0ecause of his belief that it fostered the notion that Sharf 1 ah was produced by t he jurists,

1 -, l<.yais or ulama , and not b y God and His Prophe t. The fact that Surkati did not condemn the conservatives' books of reference, but rather asked the kyais to link those bool~s with the Qur'an a11d Sunnah, con- 153

tributed to the growing friendshio between conse rvative and reformist Huslirns in Indonesia. This resulted in the foundation of t h e Islamic federation, the N.I.A.I.

(Madjlis Islam A'laa Indonesia, or the Supreme Council of Nuslims of Indonesia), in 1937. GLOSSARY adat - custom and customary. ahl al-kashf - enlightened people. '~lim, pl. 'ulam~' - a Muslim who is considered knmvledgeable in religious learning. The Indonesian equivalence is kyai. a ' mal,- pl. of ' amal - deeds a'm~l al-salihah - good deeds • • Ampel the name of a mosque in Surabaya (East Java). - the Medinan followers of the Ans~r• prophet Muhammad. who granted him refuge after the Regira.

' aqidah,- p 1 . ' aqa-,.d_ ~ - creed or statement of Islamic faith. b. - abbreviation of ibn, or son

[of], thus 1 Al).mad h. Mul).ammad, i.e. Al).mad the son of Mul).ammad; Al).mad b. Mul).ammad b. MÜs~, i.e. Ahmad. the son of Nuhammad. and the grandson of MÜs~. B~ a genealogical term used in Hadramaut, especially among the sayyids and shaykhs of Hadramaut, to form individual and collective proper names, e.g. B~ 'Alawi, B~ Fadl.. B~ 'Alawi l}acJ.ramr Arabs who claim to be t he descendants of 'Alt.

154 155

balaghah - rhetoric. ba fil - untruth. bid 1 ah - innovation. Cultuur Stelsel - forced cultivation system. Enforced by the Dutch in Java in 1832 by which the farmers were obliged to reserve part of their land for producing certain crops in the interest of the government. It was abolished in 1887. din - religion. dukun - healer. The dukun's chief employment is the treatment of illness with herbs and native medicines. duny a - world. fasqah, pl. of fasiq - sinners. The word fasig in Muslim law is a term applied to a persan who behaves con trary to practice established by t he Shari- t ah. fanva, pl. fatawa - legal opinion. fiqh - Islamic jurisprudence furÜ 1 - the doctrine of the branches, i.e. applied fiqh, applied ethics (consisting in the s ystem atic elaboration of canonical law in Islam). guru - teacher or shaykh (in mystical sense). 156

Hadramr. . - an Arab of Hadra.maut. ha ji - a title given to those who have made the pilgrimage to the holy places of Arabia. - one \vho has made pi lgrimage to the holy places of Arabia. heterodox - it refers to a mixture of Islam \vi th pagan animism, Buddhims, Hinduism existing in Indonesia along with mysticism brought by ~Üf1s coming from Gujarat, India. 'ilm al-]Jaql:qah - the science of reality. imam originally a leader. The title is also used of the founders of the four orthodox schools of Islamic lmv, and of certain masque officials • • • -1 ~Jma - it is frequently defined as the consensus of the mujtahids. ijtih~d - a term used in Nuslim jurisprudence to designate t he process of a r riving at new judgements in a rule of law in a particular case by drawing conclusions from ba sic sources of Islam, the Qur'~n and Had J:: th • • 'ibadah - the ordinances of divine worship in Islam. istishfa' - to i ntercede on behalf of the dead. ittiba' - lit. "following ." Surkati main- t a i n s that a Muslim might consult several judger1ents of recognized 157

scholars and then ;1e adopts the judgements of an authority he pre fers. Jawabirah - descendants of Jabir b. 'Abd. Allah, one of the An~ar. jimat (Arab. 'azimah) - amulet. jubbah - loose-flm..ring robes. kafir lit. "rejector"; used in Muslirn theology and law to define the unbeliever. kataman - a festival to celebrate the fact that a child has read all the thirty chapters of the Qur'an. kaum muda - reformist Indonesian Muslims. kaum tua - conservative or traditionalist Indonesian Musli:ns. khurafah - superstition. kyai - see 'alim. rnadhhab - a jurisprudential school arnong Sunnt Nuslims. There are four major madhhabs in the Sunnf Muslim World, that is, ~anafi, Haliki, Shafi 't and HanbalL. madrasah - educational institution. mal}mÜdah - praiseworthy. majlis tarjih - council for prominent religious • scholars. ma'rifah - gnosis. mardud - refutable. mu'amalat - acts directed towards other men a 11d life in the world. 158 muhadathah. - conversation • Nuhajirin - those Heccans who emigrated to Madinah in the early period. mujtahid - one ,.;ho exercises.Jitihad. mur id - disciple. mushrik - polytheist. mutala"ah. - Arabie reading and writing • muttabi 1 - one who exercises _i. ttiba'. nadhr - votive of ~ering . nahw . - Ara bie gr am rear. niyyat al-salah - the intention of prayer • • orang Arab - non-Hadr. . ami Ara bs in Java . ~agrami Arabs are ca lled orang Hadramaut. peranakan Arab offspring of Arab and nat ive Indonesian pa r ents. pondok-pesantren religious traditional seminary i n Java. qira'at al-manaqib - the reading of t he biography of ce rta in saints i nt en ding to gain t h eir blessings. al-qiyam or al-qiyam - the act of standing up out of fi qi~~at mawlid reverence for the Prophet when, al-nabi during the Prophet's birthday ceremony, t he birth of the Prophet is mentioned du ring t he r eading of his biography. qiyas anal ogy s a laf - the "Elders." According to Surkati s a laf is tha t of genera tion ,.;hich consisted of Muhajirin and Ans.a r and t h ose who f ollowed the way t hey studied. 159

san tri - student, pupil of a pondok-pesantren in Java; also a devoted Huslim. sa rf syntax of Arabie. • sayyid - a title claimed by da'- ' Alaw1;,.. the term sayyid also refers to the Ba 'Alawi itself. schakelschool - Dutch language elementary school. sekolah - school. sekolah umum - secular school. Shari'ah - I s lamie lmv. sharif - male descendants of Fatimah.. sharifah - female descendants of Fatimah.. shaykh - honorary title given to notable Muslim scholars. In ~Gfism, a shaykh i s a teacher \vho has the right to give 'ilm al-~aqiqah with which a murtd (disciple) might attain ma'rifah. soal-jalvab - issues and ans\vers. Sunnah - usually understood as Mul).artlmad' s Surmah which includes his utterances, his deeds and his unspoken approval in order to give details for the general verses in the Qur'an. Sunnah also means meritorious. sürah - the name given to the chapters of the Qur'àn. ta'assi - see ittiba'. ta'assub. . - fanaticism. tabligh - spreading relïgious message. tafsir - cornmentary of the Qur'an. taqbil - kissing the hands. taqlid - adopting the already established 160

fatwa and practices as final and as having an authoritative character. taqlid buta - blind acceptance.

' - T" taqlid umyan~ - see taqlid buta. taqwa - fear of God in the sense of reverance. tasawwuf - Islamic mysticism tawassul - intercession tawl;:lid - a theological term used to express the unity of the Godhead. Tech nicall v "the science of Tmvhid" is - -·- synonym for "the science of Kalam" (scholastic t heology). tuan - Mister. 'ulama' - see 'alim. usalli. - lit. "I declare my intention to pray." The term w~alli refers to the voicing of the intention to pray as a prelude to the prayer itself. usÜl al-fiqh - the science of the methodology of • Muslim jurisprudence. wali - saint, used of certain Islamic religious notables. wasilah - intercessor. wasitah. - see wasilah. weton - systematic study of pondok-pesantren; the kyais only read (weton) religious books and do not ask the students whether they understand or not. wudG. - ritual ablution • yayasan - foundation. ziyarat al-qubÜr - visiting tombs. APPENDIX I

Irshadt Constitution of 1914

Article 1

The narree of this organization is Jam 'tyat al-I~?lah wa al-Irshad al-tArabtyah, and its central office is in Jakarta.

Article 2

The aim of this organization is to collect funds and to spend them in the following waysa 1. To improve the religious and socio-economical con ditions of Muslims in general and Arabs in partic ular by means of the establishment of schools, orphanages, nursing homes and hospitals. 2. To spread the idea of Islamic reform among Nuslims through writings and publications, meetings, lectures, study sessions and missions; and to help other or ganizations Hhich have a common interest with al-Irshad on the condition that they do not contra dict Islamic law or the local government.

Article 3

This organization is permitted to exist [by the Dutch government] for nine years and nine months. It started with the promulgation of a decree of authorization fro~ the Governor General; from that time on, it has had the right to start its own administration. The central office may open a branch with ten members in any town

161 162 in Netherlands Indies or any other place; the adminis tration of this branch '\vill be accompanied by its own members.

Article 4 Every person among the Nuslim community may apply for membership with a written application to the central office, its representatives, or the manager of the branch in whose region he lives, mentioning his name, profession and domicile. The central office, its representatives, or the director of the branch has the right to accept or r e ject the application. The afore mentioned councils have the right to nominated honorary members among those who donate to the organization a substantial sums of 1noney or tllose who perforw very beneficia! \vork. Every member of this organization may be present at the general meeting. The central office has the right to suspend any mer.~ber lvho atte'lpts [actions] contrary to the benefit of the organization.

Article 5 The general executive of t he organization is unde r the authority of the central of fice; its membcrs sha ll not nur.tber less than eleven people (i.e. chairman, vice chair man, first secretar y , seco ~d secretary, treasure, two inspectors and one supervisor), and not more than eleven people ; they will be e l ected at a general meeting , for a period of three years, and t hey can be re-elected. The office has the right to appoint two assistants · and to appoint committee s and boards if necessary. 163

The officers of each branch will number not less than four, who are the chairman, the secretary, the treasurer f!l,nd the inspecter, and not more than eleven members. Their election is entrusted to the members of that branch. These officers are elected for one year and can be re-elected.

The central office is responsible for the execution of the administrative duties of the organization, and for the raising of its standards and the achievement of its goals.

Every office represents the organization which it ad ministers in the courts of law and other courts, and it has the right to represent whoever it desires.

The central office must hold a general meeting every year and must invite the members of branch offices to consider the \vorks, budget and property of the organi zation, and its work program for the next year. The central office has no right to stop the activity of the branches unless they violate the principal regulations and persist in doing so. Should a dispute arise between the branch and the central office, a general meeting of the office of the branch and the central office will decide between them and its decision will be accepted and executed.

Any officer leaving his duty may be suspended before the end of his appointed period by a general meeting held solely for this purpose. Nobody from the family of Ba 'Alawl: will be accepted as an executive member or their representatives. 164

Article 6 Any letter issued by the organization shall be signed by the chairman and the authorized ~vri ter.

Article 7 Ot!1er affairs Hi th which the organization is concerned 'tvill be r ecorded in its by-laws which will be ratified or abolished through the meeting of the members of this organization. Thereafter they must be obeyed as long as they are not in disagreement with the laws of the local authority.

Article 8 This constitution is not changeable or replaceable except by the agreement of t'\vo-third of the mernbers of this organization \vho are present at the congress, and by t he approval of the Governor General.

Article 9 The central office and the of fices of the branches are to purchase real esta t e and they have rights to sell or r ent t hem. The centra l of fice has no right to act in respect to the property of the branches. In the case of a branch of the organization being closed, its prope rty would then belong to the central of fice. If, however, the branch is in debt, it should pay t he debt itself. The central office is not responsible for the debt of a branch. 165

Article 10 The incorae of the organization is obtained from the membership dues, aids, alms, awq~f, and testaments. The central office is to increase the incarne of the organization in legal and r espectable ways. For every one \vho dona tes money, gives his testament or waqf to the organization, neither he nor his inheritors have any right to rescind in any case.

Article 11 The organization can not be dissolved before the com pletion of the permitted period in conformity with the contents of article 3, unless ninety percent of its members agree to dissolve it. Ihen they must take care to pay any debts; the remainding assets will be dis tributed by the members of the o f fice to projects for Islamic welfare in accord2.nce 'tvi th the decision of the general meeting. The dissolution of a branch office will be through suspension by the central office as mentioned in arti cle 3, or Hitll t he a greement of three-fourth of the members of the branch.

Source • Anggaran Dasar al-Irsjad Tahun 1914. Surabaya& D.P.P. Al-Irsjad, n.d. APPENDIX II

A. The Curriculum of the Irshadl: A'vwall:yah School

Number of hours per weel<. during three years of study

No. Subject Yearsc 1st 2nd 3rd 1. Al-Qur'an 4 4 4 2. Arabie Conversation 5 5 5 3. Arabie Reading and \,vri ting 8 6 4 4. Drawing 2 2 2 s. Arithmetic 2 3 4 6. Songs 3 2 1 7. Sports 2 2 8. His tory of Islam 2 9. Ethics and Islamics 2 4 10. Indonesian Language 2 4

T o t a 1 s 24 28 32 ------Books used in the Am·mliyah school• 1. Juz 'Amrna (the 30th part of the Qur'an). 2. Al-Khayyat.• Tarl:kh al-Islam • 3. Mabadi' Qira'at al-Rashidah. 4. Mester Twe edy. Hisab. S. Al-Durar al-Bahiyah.

166 167

B. The Curriculum of the Irshadl. Ibtida"l.yah School Number of hours per week during four years of study

No. Subject Yearsa 1st 2nd 3rd L~ th

1. Al-Qur"an 4 3 3 2. Islamic Jurisprudence and Theology 2 3 3 3 3. Arabie Grammar, Reading and Dictation 13 13 12 11 4. History of Islam 2 2 2 2 S. Indonesian Language 4 4 4 4 6. Geography 1 2 2 2 7. Arithmetic 4 4 4 4 8. Physics 2 9. Biology and Hygiene 2 2 10. Drm1ing 2 2 2 1 11. Sports 2 2 2 2

T o t a 1 s 34 36 36 36

Books used in the Ibtida"l.yah school: 1. Al-Qur"an. 2. Al-Khayyat.. Durus al-Fiqh • 3. Qira'at al-Rashl.dah. Vols. I-IV. 4. Al-Insha' al-'Arabl.. Vols. I-III. S. Durüs al-NaJ:;wiyah. Vols. I-III. 6. Al-Khayyat. Tarikh a l-Islam. 7. Matahari Terbit. Vols. I-IV. 8. ivlest e r Tweed y. llisab. Vols. II-IV. 9. Al-Durar al-Bahivah. Vol. II. 10. S re ~ijan , Dr. Ilmu Ke sehatan. 168

C. The Curriculum of the Irsh~d i Taihiziyah School Number of hours per \veek during nvo years of study No. Subject Yearsa 1st 2nd

1. Islamics 6 6 z. Arabie Language 9 9 3. Indonesian Language 3 3 4. English Language 2 2 s. Hist ory o f Islam 4 4 6. Hist ory o f the lv'orld and of Indonesia. 3 3 7. Geogr aphy 2 2 8 . Biology 2 2 9 . Phys ics 2 2 10. Drmving 1 1 11. Algebra and Geometry 4 4 12. Sport s 2 2

T o t a 1 s 40 40

Books used in the Ta jhiz iyah s chool:

1. 'Abduh , Hul).a mmad. Al- Man~r . Juz 1 Amma. 2. Fat!} a l -.Qa rib. 3. Subul a l-S a l~m. - . J 4 . Nuz h a t a 1 -Qar~ • Vol. I. s. Al-Nazar~·--t. Vol. I. 6. Al-Khayy~t . T~rikh al-I sl~m. Vol, IV . • 7. NÜr al-Yaqin. s. Q aw~ 1 i d al-Lughah. Vol. IV. 9. Safinat al -N uh~h . 10. Al-Durar a l -Bahiyah . Vol. I I I . e 11. Idris, Afandi. Al- J a br. Vol. I. 169

12. Al-Zawaya wa al-Muthallathat. 13. ~afi~. Jughrafiyah ~adithah. 14. Mabadi' al-Tabi 'ah. Vol. I-II. • 15. Pamphlets.

D. The Curriculum of the Irshadi Mu'allimin School Number of hours per week during four years of study

No. Subject Yearsz 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1. Islamics 8 9 12 12 2. Arabie Language 9 10 10 10 3. History of Islam 2 3 4 4 4. Psychology and Sociology 2 2 s. Pedagogy 4 4 6. Philosophy 2 2 7. Economies 2 2 8. Algebra and Geometry 4 4 9. Physics and Chemistry 2 2 10. Biology and Hygiene 2 2 2 2 11. Geography 2 2 12. His tory 2 2 13. Indonesian Language 2 2 2 2 14. English Language 2 2 2 2 15. Rhetoric 2 2 16. Sports 2 2 ------T o t a 1 s 39 42 42 42 ------Note1 The lessons are given in the morni ng and in the afternoon. 170

Books used in the Mu'allirnin schoola

1. 'Abduh, Mu~ammad. Tafsir al-Manar. 2. -·.Mustalah al-Hadith.. 3 •• Subul al-Salam. 4. Nayl al-Aw~ar. 5. Al-Nuhadhdhab. 6. Risalat al-Tawhid.·- 7. Al-Naysab~rr. Al-Amthal. Vols. I~II.

8 • Shar~ al-Mu ' allaqat.- 9. Al ... Ghalayayn.L Jami' al-Durüs al-' Arabiyah. 10. Ibn Malik. Alfiyah.

11. -..Bahr al-Adab. Vol. III. 12. Al-Nazarat.·- Vols. II-III. 13. Nuhaj al-Balaghah. 14. Hady al-RasÜl. 15. Al-Khugarf. Tarikh al-Islam. 16. Idris, Afandi. Aljabar/Ilmu Ukur. 17. I:Iafi~. Al-Jughrafl:yah al-'!'abf'iyah wa al-Igti~adl:yah 'va al-Siyasfyah. 18. Al-Iskandary, Umar. Tarikh Eropah Baru. 19. Ab~ Ilyas. 'Ilm al-Iabi'ah. 20. Al-Jarirn. 'Ilm al-Nafs. 21. Al-~addad, Naqula. Ilmu Kemasjarakatan. 22. Ibrahim, Kamil. Ilmu Ekonomi. 23. Chairudin, Ahmad Abduh. Q~Ül al-Tarbfyah wa al-Ta'll:m. 171

E. The Curriculum of the Irshadi Takhassus. ·-· School Number of hours per \veek during t~.vo years of study No. Subject Yearsa 1st 2nd 1. Arabie Literature and History 2 2 2. Logic and Eloquence of the Qur'an 2 2 3. History of Islam 2 2 4. Classical and Nodern History 2 2 s. Sources of Islamic Jurisprudence 2 2 6. Commentary of the Qur'an and Philos ophy 2 2

T o t a 1 s 12 12 ------Notea The lessons are given in the evening. Books used in the Takhassus. . . schoola 1. 'Abduh, Muf:ammad. Tafsir al-Hanar. 2. Tafsir al-Jalalayn. 3. Al-Khudari. • y~ül al-Figh. 4. Al-Sha~ibL Al-r-tuwafaga t. S. Ibn Qayyim. I ' lam- al-Muqi- 1 ~n.'f" 6. I'jaz al-Qur 'an. 7. Nubarrid. Al-Kamil. 8. Al-'Igd al-Farid. 9. Al-AmalL 10. Cha iruddin, Ahmad Abduh. Al-Mantig. 11. Tarikh Ibn al-Athir. 12. Tarikh Ibn Hisham. 13. Hadar:- -· a t al-'Arab. Source: Mahmud Junus. Sedjarah Pendidikan Islam di Indo nesia. Djakarta a Pustaka Mahmudiah, 1960, pp. 268-73. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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