The Muslim Intellectuals in the Nineteenth Century: the

3. The Muslim Intellectuals in the Nineteenth Century: the

Pesantren and the Reformist Movement in Indonesia

The nineteenth century in Indonesia was marked by the profound transformation period from traditional to colonial societies as consequence of the penetration of the Western politi- cal and economic system brought about by the Dutch Colonial government. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century Indonesia had fallen into the hand of The Royal Dutch King- dom in Netherlands after the VOC (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie - The Dutch East Indian Company), the former authority, fell into bankrupt. The deep expansion of the Dutch political power to the Indonesian areas had brought about the

21 This tradition are described in Soebardi, “Santri-Religious Ele- ment as Reflected in the Book of Tjentini”, BKI, 127, no. 3 (1971), pp. 346 –

Transformasi Masyarakat Indonesia... former Indonesian local kingdom, which mostly were Muslim

states, broken down and their position as the political center was decline. Similarly, the introduction of the Western capital- ist economy caused the traditional economy was shaken and shift to the colonial economic system, and all this changing in- flicted a loss upon the rural people.

Therefore, the coming of the Western power to Indonesia arose many opposition from the Indonesian people as indicated by the many wars, rebellions and protest movements against the Dutch colonial government had broken out in several areas in Indonesia during the nineteenth century. Much of the leaders of these oppositions were coming from the Muslim religious elite groups whether those who coming from the nobility or the rural religious leaders. The prominent figures such as Pangeran Dipanegara, Teuku Imam Bonjol, and Teuku Umar, who were appointed as a National Hero in the Indonesian Re- public, were the upper religious leaders in Indonesian local com- munities who led the opposition against the Dutch regime in the Java War (1825 1830), the Padri War (1821 1837) and the

Aceh War (1873 1904). 22 While, several Ulamas or Kyahis led the peasants rebellion and peasant movements against the simi- lar regimes, such as in the case of Peasant Rebellion in Banten in 1888s and several rural protest in rural areas. 23

What I want to argue here is that during the nineteenth cen- tury there was a shift of the political leadership for Indonesian society from the court to the rural societies, or from the royal aristocracy to the Muslim religious leaders which had a strong base in the rural Pesantren communities (center for Islamic tradi- tional education). In fact, Pesantren, as a center for religious educa- tion and Islamic learning for the Santri (a student of the Islamic

22 Riddel, loc.cit., pp. 173-188. 23 See Sartono Kartodirdjo, Peasants’ Revolt of Banten in 1888. Its condi-

tions, Course and Sequel: A Case Study of Social Movement in Indonesia . VKI. No. 50 (‘s-Graavenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966).

Djoko Suryo conventional religious education, or a pious Muslim) in the rural

areas, emerged largely in many areas in Indonesia, especially in Java, during the nineteenth century as responses to the political and social-economic changing of the Indonesian society as a result of the coming of the West. Under the zealot Muslim scholars, such as Ulama or Kyahi, who mostly had an national and international intellectual networks with the Mekka or the West Asia, Pesantren growth to be one of the important center for the reformation of the Islamic learning which more concern on AI Qur’an and Sunnah, in which the Shari ‘a ( the Islamic Law) to be one of the important subject, as affected by the puritanism Wahhabiyah movement in Arabia. 24 Therefore the Pesantren in this century not only had a central position as the traditional Islamic education headquarters and home base for the Sunna wal Jamaah community or the early “fundamentalist Muslim groups, in continuing the growing of the center of the Islamic civilization in Indonesian sixteenth and eigh- teenth centuries, but also become the prominent stronghold of the rural Indonesian people against the Western power. By the spirit of the puritanical Wahhabiyah reformers they declare to lead the Muslim people in Indonesia to practice the purely Islamic way of life by returning to the AI Qur’an and the Sunnah, and to take stand against the bid’a ( heresy) and the kafir (infidels). It is not surprising, therefore, why in the Aceh war, the Java War, and other uprisings in the nineteenth century had always been sup- ported by the ideology of Jihad fi sabillillah (War under the way of God), anti kafir and anti Western, because it was propagated by those fundamentalist reformist religious leaders. 25

Two prominent Muslim scholars in the nineteenth century 24 The description about Pesantren and their Kyahi can be found in

Zamaksyari Dhofir. Tradisi Pesantren: Studi tentang Pandangan Hidup Kyahi (Jakarta: LP3ES, 1982).

25 About the concept of Jihad fi sabilillah in the war can be read in Teuku Ibrahim Alfian , Perang di Jalan Allah: Perang Aceh, 1873 – 1912

(Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan, 1987).

Transformasi Masyarakat Indonesia... Java who had important contribution to the Islamic studies can

be pointed out here are Muhammad al Nawai al Jawi (1813 1897) and Shaleh Darat al Samarani (1817 1912 ?). Muhammad al Nawi al Jawi who was born in Banten in West Java, under- took pilgrimage to Arabia, return to Mecca to settle permanen- tly around 1885, and establishing himself as a teacher after un- dertaking further studies both in Mecca and in Egypt and Syria. Although Nawawi was never to return to Indonesia, his influ- ence was considerable in that part of the Muslim World by way of the instruction he provided to Indonesian scholars of Islam who then return to Southeast Asia and transmitted the results of their study in turn to their own students. In such a way, the brand of al Nawawi continued to plunge the study of Islam in Southeast Asia through his own students and his writing. AI Nawawi had written more than ninety nine works on several aspect of Islamic studies which became the reading materials in the reformist pesantren in Indonesia. 26 Like AI Nawawi, Kyahi

H. Shaleh Darat al-Samarani who was born in Semarang around 1817, in his young he undertook pilgrimage to Mecca, settle for several years in Mecca, and study on Islam in Mecca, Egypt and surrounding Arabia. Afterward, hecame back to Indone- sia, and set up the Pesantren in the Kampung Darat in the north coastal Semarang town. He had also written many works com- prises many aspect of Islamic studies and had been published in Singapore and India as well as in Cirebon in West Java some- times in the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. His works were also become a reading book for the reformist pesantren in Java and outer Java, even in other part of Muslim world. He was supposed to be the religious teacher for the Raden Ajeng Kartini, a prominent women movement in In- donesian in the end of the nineteenth century and the early of the twentieth century.

26 See Riddel, op.cit., pp. 193 – 198.

Djoko Suryo Apart from the reformist world in the nineteenth century,

there was also reformist religious literature in the Javanese court (kraton) world. The declining position of the Javanese court in political power it is not necessary to cut off their function in cultural life. There were many reformist religious literature works coming up in the courts of Kartasura, Surakarta, and Yogyakarta during the end of the eighteenth century until the nineteenth century. Some of them can be pointed out here, for example, are Ratu Pakubuwana, the wife of the Javanese Karta- sura ruler, with her works on Carita Sultan Iskandar, Carita nabi Yusuf, and the Kitab Usulbiyah, Raden Ngabehi Yasadipura 1 with his works on Serat Cabolek, Menak, Tajusalatin and Ambiya, Raden Ngabehi Yasadipura 11 with his work on Sasana Sunu, while, Ranggawarsita with one of his works on Wirid Hidayat Jati. 27 All of these prominent court writers seems tend to seek to achieve a reconciliation between shari’a and the Sufi, which in- dicated that they were affected by the Reformist thought which coming from outside world. Similarly, the works of ‘Abdl al- Samad al Palimbangi, Raja Ali Haji, AI Nawai, and Saleh Darat expressed their engagement with reformist thought as the con- sequence of the intellectual and social links between the Indo- nesia and the Middle East were further consolidated.