By: Didin Nurul Rosyidin Ph.D*
Mathla’ul Anwar is one of the largest Muslim associations in
Indonesia along with Nahdlatul Ulama or NU (mostly seen as the most
prominent representative of the “traditionalist” Muslim groups
established by several pesantren-leading religious teachers in 1926) and
Muhammadiyah (the largest group of the modernist or reformist Muslims
established in 1912). Mathla’ul Anwar was established in 1916 by several
Bantenese kiyais, an Indonesian term used to attribute religious
teachers, including K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Sholeh, K.H. Entol Muhammad
Yasin, K.H. Mas Abdurrahman, K.H. Abdul Mu’thi and others[1].
Since the beginning, Mat
hla’ul Anwar took serious works to improve
the standard of Islamic educational system through introducing a modern
graded system in which there were nine classes ranging from A, B, I, II,
III, IV, V, VI, and VII and each of these classes took one year.
Students would spend nine years of study before graduating from the
madrasah of Mathla’ul Anwar. One teacher would supervise one class and
give teachings based on the curriculum that had been designed for each
of those nine classes[2]. Mathla’ul Anwar operated this kind of
education system until 1950 when it replaced its nine-graded system with
a new reformed system of schooling introduced by the newly independent
government of Republic of Indonesia[3].
As a religious group, Mathla’ul Anwar established its own system of
religious thought that was in the early decades very much similar to
that of NU. In matters of theology, it associated itself with
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah (followers of the teachings of the prophet and a
part of the majority of Muslims, or well-known as a Sunni faction) of
the Ash’ariyah stream (one of the Sunni theological schools in Islam
besides Mu’tazilah, Qodariyah, Murjiah, and Jabariyah). However, unlike
most of Javanese kiyais who in a variety of grades and ways showed their
tolerance to syncretistic attitudes of people’s religiosity, Mathla’ul
Anwar’s kiyais strongly rejected all kinds of heretical traditions and
regarded them as the inherited products of Hinduism and Buddhism[4]. In
matters of Islamic law, it solely referred to the Syafi’ite school of
thought (one of the four major Islamic schools of law in addition to
Hanafite, Maliki, and Hanbalite) and did not tolerate to the idea of
talfiq, exercising different ideas of schools of Islamic law in certain
religious practices, and often condemned the religious ideas advocated
by reformist groups, mainly Muhammadiyah, as false doctrines,
particularly in matters related to an independent religious exercise,
ijtihad.[5]
In politics, Mathla’ul Anwar did not clearly formulate specific
political points of view since it took policies to associate with other
organizations in driving its political aspiration. For instance, form
1915 up to 1928, it joined Syarekat Islam (Islamic League or SI), the
only ever largest Muslim political group in the political history of
Indonesia and established in 1912,[6] and from 1928 up to 1952, joined
NU[7]. Mathla’ul Anwar’s withdrawal from SI was not because of its
purely political dissatisfaction with the latter rather due to its
disagreement with the growing dominance of the “modernist” religious
thought promoted by Muhammadiyah leaders within SI’s leadership circles.
From this historical perspective, I would like now to elaborate the
roles of K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar who took the leadership of Mathla’ul Anwar
in 1939 in introducing new religious ideas to Mathla’ul Anwar.
Profile and Educational Background
K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar was born in Menes in 1912. His educational
careers were entirely spent in Menes where he studied in the madrasah of
Mathla’ul Anwar from 1919 up to 1926. Like other students of this
madrasah who preferred to live in one of the existing pesantrens around
Menes areas in order to enhance their expertise in religious knowledge, a
young Uwes studied religious sciences in several pesantrens in Menes
under the guidance of several Mathla’ul Anwar’s teachers who organized
their own pesantren, such as K.H. Entol Muhammad Rais, K.H. Abdul Latif
and K.H. Mas Abdurrahman[8].
Political Careers in Mathla’ul Anwar and Elsewhere
After finishing his seven years of study in the madrasah of Mathla’ul
Anwar, he got a licence from the central board of Mathla’ul Anwar
allowing him to teach religious knowledge elsewhere or establish a new
madrasah. Mathla’ul Anwar applied a very selective method in awarding
this licence. Only would those who had a high qualification be given
this licence after successfully passing several tests conducted by the
director of educational affairs of Mathla’ul Anwar, K.H. Mas
Abdurrahman. Uwes’ intellectual potency assured the director to send him
to such a number of madrasahs of Mathla’ul Anwar outside areas of Menes
as those in Lampung and in Sukamandi. Uwes spent eight years of
teaching in both areas from 1930 up to 1938. Because Mathla’ul Anwar at
that time affiliated with NU, Uwes also taught in madrasahs of NU where
the madrasahs of Mathla’ul Anwar were located[9]. In 1938, he returned
to Menes where he taught in his alma mater.
In Menes, his career in Mathla’ul Anwar rapidly advanced as he was
elected as the general chairman at the third Congress of the
organization held in 1939 or only one year after his return to Menes. He
was the third general chairman since the foundation of the body only
after K.H. E. M. Yasin and K.H. Abdul Mu’thi. The process of his
election was very intense indeed. There were two factors contributing to
this intense situation. First, in this Congress, members of Mathla’ul
Anwar for the first time witnessed the rise of a new generation within
the organization as most of its founders were ageing and some of them
even already died, such as K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin in 1937 and K.H.
Tubagus Muhammad Sholeh in 1926. Second, there were more than one
candidates, each of them had a special worth, including K.H. Entol
Djunaedi, K. Asrori, K. Chabri Abdurrahman, and K. Uwes Abu Bakar[10].
K.H. Djunaedi was a son of K.H. E. M. Yasin, and graduated from the
Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Returning from Cairo in 1927, he
introduced a new idea of the upgrading of the madrasah of Mathla’ul
Anwar from seven to nine grades. He himself then supervised pupils at
the highest level of class. K. Asrori was among the most brilliant
pupils of K.H. Mas Abdurrahman and people believed that he was the most
fitting successor of the latter. His credit also came from his status as
a graduate of the Pesantren Darul Ulum Jombang where many NU’s
prominent figures came from. K. Chabri was the eldest son of K.H. Mas
Abdurrahman. His credit was solely from his important genealogical link.
Compared to these three figures, K. Uwes was unknown among members of
Mathla’ul Anwar. His wide travellings of teachings in areas outside
Menes was one of the major factors of his unfamiliar reputation. His
sole credential was only that he was a former pupil of K.H. Mas
Abdurrahman. Not many of them at that time paid much attention to his
experiences as results of his wide teaching journeys. People even
described him as a “dumb” because of his infrequent speaking in the
front of public audience[11]. Only was K.H. Mas Abdurrahman who viewed
Uwes’ great experiences as a valuable capital in chairing an
organization having successfully expanded its influence in vast areas,
like Karawang, Tangerang, Lebak, Pandeglang, Bogor, and Lampung[12].
In the session of the election of the new general chairman, most of
participants of the Congress were reported to incline to K.H. Djunaedi.
However, their first choice was unexpectedly disrupted by K.H. Mas
Abdurrahman’s opposition and, thus, the Congress faced a deadlock. K.H.
Mas Abdurrahman then preformed a prayer (istikharah) asking a divine
answer for the most appropriate figure for the new leader. During, or
perhaps after, performing the prayer, K.H. Mas Abdurrahman surprisingly
proposed Uwes as the new leader. The charismatic stature of K.H. Mas
Abdurrahman played a major role in easily achieving consensus among
participants and, therefore, Uwes became a new general chairman[13].
This process of selecting leadership brought about rife frustration
among members of Mathla’ul Anwar, particularly K.H. Djunaedi and his
loyal supporters, although they did not explicitly showed their
discontent. However, several months later their opposition soon surfaced
as K.H. Djunaedi and his sister, Nyi Hajjah Zaenab, the chairwoman of
the madrasah of Mathla’ul Anwar for girl, established their own
madrasah, named Maslakhul Anwar[14]. This political tension was the
first incident faced by Mathla’ul Anwar.
Uwes Abu Bakar led Mathla’ul Anwar until his death in 1973 during
which he was elected seven times. Compared to other general chairmen who
had and have led the organization since the beginning up to now, K.H.
Uwes held the longest time of leadership. K.H. E. M. Yasin led this
group twenty one years (1916-1937), K.H. Abdul Mu’thi two years
(1937-1939), K.H. Muslim Abdurrahman nine months (1973-1974), K.H.
Nafsirin Hadi eleven years (1974-1985), K.H. Entol Burhani six years
(1985-1991), and Drs. H. Irsyad Djuwaeli, the current leader, has led
the organization from 1991 up to now.
In addition to his activities in Mathla’ul Anwar, K. Uwes was also active in NU holding the chairmanship of the executive board of the Pandeglang NU branch from 1939 before being forced to resign in 1952 because of the different political views on the separation of the NU from Masyumi, the largest Muslim political party after Independence and established in 1945[15].
In addition to his activities in Mathla’ul Anwar, K. Uwes was also active in NU holding the chairmanship of the executive board of the Pandeglang NU branch from 1939 before being forced to resign in 1952 because of the different political views on the separation of the NU from Masyumi, the largest Muslim political party after Independence and established in 1945[15].
In politics, he was a member of the Japanese-established advisory
council of Pandeglang from 1942 till 1945 and, at the same time, was
also one of the vice-general chairmen of the advisory council of
Banten[16]. After Independence, he joined Masyumi and he became a member
of parliament of Pandeglang and West Java from 1945 till 1955. In the
1955 general election, he was elected as a member of parliament of
Masyumi from 1956 till 1959. The abolishment of parliament and the
introduction of the Guided Democracy by President Sukarno in 1959 ended
K. Uwes’ membership in parliament. The banning of Masyumi in 1960 forced
him to retreat from politics[17]. However, in 1964 when the
anti-Communist forces led by the military set up their own association,
Sekretariat Bersama Golongan Karya (Joint Secretariat of Functional
Groups, or Sekber Golkar), K.H. Uwes joined it and occupied one of the
vice general chairmen of this association[18].
In
1967, he was involved in attempts to rehabilitate Masyumi through the
creation of the Badan Koordinasi Amal Muslimin Indonesia (Coordinate
Association of Indonesian Muslim Works, or BKAMI) in which he held one
seat of the vice-general chairmen. This effort, yet, failed to be
materialized due to the refusal of the New Order government. Later on,
the BKAMI then created a new Muslim party, Partai Muslimin Indonesia
(Indonesian Muslims Party, Parmusi)[19]. Enduring internal ruptures
within this new party, partly because of the government’s intervention
on internal affairs of the party, caused a split in its leadership. K.H.
Uwes was involved in these conflicts as he along with minority leaders
led by Jaelani Naro created a new executive board challenging the
existing executive board led by the dominant Muhammadiyah leader,
Djarnawi Hadikusuma[20]. These lasting clashes produced severe failures
of the party in the 1971 general election. K.H. Uwes who was among the
party’s list of candidates for parliament unsuccessfully won sufficient
votes. Disappointed by the poor result of this general election pushed
him to leave politics at whole in 1972[21]
Mathla’ul Anwar under K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar’s Chairmanship
The first task faced by K.H. Uwes in his early leadership of
Mathla’ul Anwar was to consolidate the organization following the
controversial result of the third Congress. Strongly supported by K.H.
Mas Abdurrahman until his death in 1944, Uwes succeeded in organizing a
Congress in 1943 in which he was without any contender elected as the
general chairman. The battle for revolution in which the madrasah
buildings both in Menes and other areas were badly devastated
contributed to reunite the already divided leaders of the group. In
1949, returning from the battlefields, K.H. Djunaedi and his sister, Hj.
Zainab, rejoined Mathla’ul Anwar as they fused their own madrasah to
the association[22].
In 1950, Mathla’ul Anwar obtained a legal recognition of its madrasah
from the government. By this official status, alumni of the madrasah of
Mathla’ul Anwar were equal with those of public schools. However, this
official promotion also forced the organization to adopt a new system of
schooling introduced by the government in which schools were divided
into three stages: elementary with six years of schooling, secondary
with three years, and high school with also three years. Mathla’ul Anwar
then split its nine-graded system of schooling into two stages:
elementary and secondary. The organization seemed to well appreciate
these changes of schooling as long as they did not give any significant
impacts on fundamental elements of its educational system. The fact was
not always as that as expected.
The government in fact also obliged all schools to include secular
matters, including English lessons, in their curriculum. Although
Mathla’ul Anwar had included such secular subjects as Indonesian
language, geography and history, into its curriculum since the period of
the Japanese occupation, it still showed its reluctance to implement
the government’s instructions, particularly related to the inclusion of
English lessons. As the government set the inclusion of all secular
matters as one of the requirements of gaining financial aids and
maintaining the legal status of school, Mathla’ul Anwar finally adopted
secular matters into its education curriculum, although with the
continuing resistance, particularly from senior religious teachers
(kiai) who still believed that the introduction of secular matters,
particularly English lesson, meant the continuance of the colonial
system of education producing infidels[23].
In the early 1950s, Mathla’ul Anwar for the second time encountered
internal ruptures. However, unlike the 1939 conflicts that were purely
internal affairs in nature, the 1950s was predominantly driven by
political tensions in Masyumi. Few years after its creation in 1945,
Masyumi faced internal splits. In 1947, the SI wing seceded from the
party due to its different views on the new cabinet structure of the
government led by a Communist Prime Minister, Amir Syarifudin[24]. In
1950, internal disputes again arose in Masyumi as leaders of NU were
unhappy with the new structure of leadership of the party resulted from
the 1949 party Congress in which kiyais lost their decisive position in
the party’s leadership. NU’s lost of the post of the ministry of
religious affairs in 1952 because of Masyumi’s decision to promote Faqih
Hasyim of Muhammadiyah as a new minister exacerbated the already
fractured situation. NU felt humiliated by this last decision and, in
its 1952 Congress, decided to withdraw from Masyumi and established its
own party, NU[25]. NU’s political withdrawal divided members of
Mathla’ul Anwar into three general groups ranging from those supporting
NU, Masyumi’s supporters, and those inclining to make Mathla’ul Anwar
independent. As the number of the second group supporters grew
insignificantly and finally joined the third group, the conflicts were
then between the first and the third along with the second groups, or
between the pro and anti NU.
The pro-NU argued that it was a moral obligation for members of
Mathla’ul Anwar to maintain the inherited affiliation with NU whatever
the status of NU was. Their argument referred to the fact that since
1928 when Mathla’ul Anwar was in the hand of the founders, it joined NU.
Furthermore, in 1938, it hosted the 13th National Congress of NU. They
also viewed that the reason of the founders of Mathla’ul Anwar to no
longer joined SI and then joined NU in 1928 was because of little
respect to kiyai showed by modernist groups that dominated SI at that
time[26]. Now, the same situation took place in Masyumi. Meanwhile,
supporters of the anti-NU group argued that NU was no longer a purely
religious and social organization as before. Political affiliation was
viable to change every time. An explicit political affiliation to a
certain political party whatever the party was would be dangerous to the
sustainability of education institutions operated by Mathla’ul
Anwar[27].
In the 1952 Congress, the second group won the battle as Mathla’ul
Anwar in the final session issued a statement declaring its independence
not only from political parties but also from any religious and social
organizations[28]. By issuing this declaration, Mathla’ul Anwar thus cut
off its affiliation with NU as well as Masyumi. However, this
declaration of independence did not prevent its members to personally
affiliate with any political parties as long as those parties championed
Islamic ideas. Instead of solving the dilemma, this declaration brought
about fierce resistances from the supporters of the first group. The
inflammatory speech of K.H. Wahab Hasbullah, the general chairman of NU,
when visiting Menes in 1952 gave fuel on fire[29]. The pro-NU group
unilaterally declared its separation from Mathla’ul Anwar and
established its own madrasahs, such as Anwarul Hidayah, Mathla’ul Li
Nahdlatil Ulama, or Malnu, Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah, and Nurul Amal. K.H.
Uwes who was at that time the general chairman of the executive board of
NU of Pandeglang branch was forced to resign and replaced by K.H.
Hamdani, one of the prominent leaders of the pro-NU group[30].
This split caused the fall of a number of Mathla’ul Anwar branches in
Menes areas and faced new rivalries in operating madrasah and
recruiting new pupils. However, suffering at the local level did not
hamper Mathla’ul Anwar’s expansion program at the national level. Its
early success in establishing a number of branches in areas of West Java
and Lampung placed it among nationally widespread Muslim organizations
along with NU, Muhammadiyah, Persis, Al-Irsyad, and Al-Washliyah. Due to
this national standing, Mathla’ul Anwar received a financial grant from
the government in running its educational institutions[31]. Many local
madrasah foundations thus joined the already recognized national
organizations, including Mathla’ul Anwar. Therefore from 1952 up to
1960, Mathla’ul Anwar received a number of proposals of joining
presented by local madrasahs, such as Anwariyah of Bandung, Al-Iman of
Magelang, Ma’had Islam of Semarang, Nahdhtul Wathan of NTB, Nurul Islam
of Donggala, Ichsaniyah of Tegal, and several madrasah in Aceh under the
leadership of Muhammad Isa. In 1960, Mathla’ul Anwar soon became the
third largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, only after NU and
Muhammadiyah[32]. However, compared to those two mass-based Muslim
organizations, Mathla’ul Anwar did not rely on a vast number of
individual members rather on a number of education institutions,
although in its 1953 Congress it created a special regulation on
procedures of individual recruitment[33].
The declaration of political non-affiliation that was regularly
issued by Mathla’ul Anwar in its Congresses (1953 and 1956) seemed to be
unconvincingly enough to stop the rise of allegation of its closeness
with Masyumi. The decline of Masyumi’s political power in the last 1950s
due to the involvement of its leaders in separatist movements exerted
great influence over Mathla’ul Anwar. The fact that many of its members
were active in Masyumi and showed their support to the separatist Darul
Islam (DI) movements in West Java in 1950s and 1960s bolstered its
political enemies consisting of secular nationalists, communists, and
NU’s supporters to further give pressures on Mathla’ul Anwar. Because of
this unfavourable situation, K.H. Uwes asked the government to issue a
legal statement explaining Mathla’ul Anwar’s full independence status in
1959[34]. Both the banning of Masyumi in 1960 and the crushing of the
DI rebellion in 1960s in which some of leaders of Mathla’ul Anwar were
among the arrests in fact exerted severe influences over Mathla’ul
Anwar. Supporters of both PKI and NU had more legitimacy to further the
organization, regardless its official independence standing. In 1962,
K.H. Uwes held an emergency meeting with some leaders of Mathla’ul Anwar
to find the best solution in facing these political attacks. The
meeting decided to change the symbols of the organization[35].
In
1964, as the anti-communist movement led by the army officials
strengthened, Mathla’ul Anwar that had been suffering under the
pressures of the PKI joined the establishment of the Sekber Golkar along
with other anti-communist groups, such as HMI, Muhammadiyah, Persis,
Al-Irsyad, and PII. Members of Mathla’ul Anwar in a variety of areas
played major roles in outlawing the PKI and Sukarno in 1966[36]. It also
played a role in promoting the establishment of the New Order regime.
However, its support to Suharto’s regime was based on a high hope on the
creation of a more democratic situation in Indonesia in which Islamic
ends could be materialized in political as well as socio-cultural lives.
The secular tendency of the New Order government in 1970s led the
post-Uwes leaders of Mathla’ul Anwar to take opposing attitudes[37].
Plurality of Religious Thought
K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar wrote several treatises and books, including
Al-Waqud, Targhibul Atfal, Surat Imam Malik kepada Harus Al-Rasyid dan
Wazirnya, Tuntunan Bergaul dan Bermasyarakat, and Ishlahul Ummmah Fi
Bayani Ahli Sunnah Waljamaah. Although some of them used Arabic words as
the title, all of those books were in Indonesian language. From those
books, only was Islahul Ummah that survives and has been widely read and
referred by members of Mathla’ul Anwar. In this paper, I would like to
focus on Ishlahul Ummah that was firstly published in 1969 by the
central board of Mathla’ul Anwar in order to record religious ideas of
K.H. Uwes.
The publication of the Ishlahul Ummah was aimed at responding to the
political failures of Muslim politics during two decades after
Independence and the widespread of distrust among Muslim groups in
Indonesia who each of them claimed to be the true follower of
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah[38]. In his book, K.H. Uwes, therefore, largely
elaborated the meaning of Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah and the main characters
of the true follower of it. Unlike his teacher, K.H. Mas Abdurrahman,
K.H. Uwes showed his high admiration towards some Muslim thinkers who
were considered to be controversial in Indonesian Muslim community, such
as Ibn Taimiya and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab. He also discussed some
highly sensitive religious issues such as talfiq and taqlid as well as
promoted the idea of tolerance against different or even conflicting
religious opinions arisen by different Muslim thinkers and groups.
The new fashion of religious thought developed by K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar
was resulted from several factors. First, as he maintained his
political affiliation with Masyumi, he was considerably disillusioned
from his traditional fellows of NU. Furthermore, in the time of the 1955
general election, many of his former fellows in both Mathla’ul Anwar
and NU by referring to religious doctrines often attacked Masyumi and
its supporters as no longer true followers of Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah.
Second, his active role in Masyumi led him to intensively interact with
many religious figures coming from different groups, including
Muhammadiyah, Al-Irsyad, and Persis, such as M. Nasir, Abu Bakar Aceh
who gave the preface to his book, Ishlahul Ummah, Firdaus, Mukhtar
Ghozali, and Saleh Suady[39]. Particularly the last name was later
active in Mathla’ul Anwar and appointed as a member and then the general
chairman of the Fatwa Council of Mathla’ul Anwar in 1961[40]. The
unification of variety of local madrasahs in the last 1950s and early
1960s, many of them had similar religious outlook to that propagated by
Muhammadiyah and Persis, intensified the widespread of new religious
ideas among members of Mathla’ul Anwar. No less important factor that
contributed to the changes of religious fashion of K.H. Uwes was his
personal character who was described by his followers as a curious
person who would give high appreciation towards any new ideas including
religious thought.
The author divided his book into several topics: the definition of
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah, its history, its points of view on theology,
politics, Islamic law, and proper attitudes towards different opinions
on religious issues. In the last part of his book, the author also
briefly described biographies of several prominent Muslim thinkers,
including Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Syafi’I, Imam Hanbali, Imam
Bukhori, Imam Muslim, Ibn Taimiyah, and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab.
In matters of the definition and the history of the rise of
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah, K.H. Uwes firstly referred to the prophet
tradition in which the prophet explained the term and the meaning of
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah. Based on the normative texts, he believed that
Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah had truly been existent since the very early
times of Islamic history and not the result of the creation of the next
generation of ulama as many scholars suggested. But, he also recognized
the historical fact saying that Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah materialized as s
distinctive thought and group when Abu Hasan Al-Asy’ari declared his
theological thought as the true doctrine of this group of thought. The
author clearly showed his theological inclination to the Ash’arite
thought and based on it rejected other theological thoughts, such as
Khawarij, Syiah (except Istna ‘Ashariyah and Zaidiyah), Mu’tazilah,
Qodariyah, Murjiah, and Jabariyah[41].
In politics, he elaborated the concept of Ulil Amri that according to
him meant a group of people who had a special authority to make rules
and constitutions dealing with life of people. There were other terms
that had a similar meaning of the word Ulil Amri such as Ahlul Jamaah
and Ahlul Hilli Wal Aqdi. In the modern times, the forms of Ulil Amri
were parliament or people’s assembly in which people’s representatives
elaborated rules and constitutions. He rejected the notion saying that
Ulil Amri meant a head of state since Ulil Amri signified a plural
meaning. However, since the Ulil Amri elected the head of the state, it
was a religious obligation for all subjects to show their obedience to
the head of the state. Therefore, any rebellious action against the
legally recognized government was forbidden and considered to be the
bughot action to which the government had a full right to take military
actions against the progenitors of the bughot action[42]. His high
concern over the issue of the bughot action seemed to show his clear
opinions on the legality of a number of Muslims led rebellions,
particularly such as the PRRI in Sumatra and the DI/TII in West Java,
Aceh and South Sulawesi. In these uprisings, many of Masyumi’s and
Mathla’ul Anwar’s leaders were actively involved and because of which
Mathla’ul Anwar in the 1960s became one of the main targets of political
attacks launched by both Sukarno’s and Suharto’s loyalists.
K.H. Uwes divided Islamic law into two parts: (ibadah) divinely based
rituals that were immune from changes and muamalah that was the result
of human interpretation and was vulnerable to changes. He viewed that
all products of ijtihad of ulama should be included into the latter
part. The diversity of those products of thought was natural as every
human had his own method of interpretation as well as his conclusion. At
the same time, as a mankind, those ulama were also not immune from
making errors. Critical attitudes were highly required in order to
adhere or reject certain religious opinions of ulama. The author also
dismissed the idea that only four schools of Islamic law (mazhab) were
legitimate, although he recognized that among a number of ever existing
mazhab in the history of Muslim civilization, four mazhab ranging from
Hanafite, Maliki, Syafiite and Hanbalite were the most prominent[43]. In
relation to the question of taqlid, adhering to a certain mazhab, K.H.
Uwes considered it as the best way for common Muslims who did not have
enough qualification for immediately understanding the complexities of
Islamic doctrines. But, he also underlined the possibility to directly
refer to main sources of Islamic doctrines for those who had a high
quality of religious understanding. The author also arose another
question of exercising talfiq, combining a variety of mazhab opinions on
a particular religious practice. According to him talfiq would not give
any effects to the status of legality of one’s religious practice and
therefore could not be absolutely forbidden as many traditionalist
scholars, including K.H. Mas Abdurrahman, declared.[44]
The author fully devoted the last parts of the book to briefly
describe biographies of some prominent Muslim thinkers as mentioned
above. The major aim of outlining their profiles, writings, and valuable
contributions to Muslim society was to provide clear information about
those figures, including their controversies along with historical
background. Through this effort, the author expected people to
proportionally appreciate them and treat them justly. In his final
remark, the author then condemned those, whether they were religious
teachers or only common followers, who often accused one or more of
those figures without any sufficient knowledge. For example, many
Indonesian Muslims accused Syekh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab, Ibnu
Taimiyah, Al-Afghani, and Abduh as infidels (kafir). This baseless
accusation was one of the major factors leading to splitting conflicts
among Muslim groups in Indonesia. Furthermore, K.H. Uwes elaborated
another factor that led Muslims to such a wrong judgement. He concluded
that the politics of colonialism that exercised the strategy of divide
and conquer played major role in enlarging this false notion within
Indonesian Muslim communities. Thus, he suggested that the time had
arrived for all Indonesian Muslims to liberate themselves from the
colonial framework of politics and live in tolerant and pluralistic
circumstances[45]
Impacts of K.H. Uwes’ Religious Renewal
Since the focus of the study is Mathla’ul Anwar, I would like to
focus on the impacts of this religious renewal towards members of
Mathla’ul Anwar. To view the impacts of this religious renewal, it is
important to highlight the succeeding developments of religious thought
within Mathla’ul Anwar after the publication of the book. There were at
least three general features of religious thought growing in Mathla’ul
Anwar in 1970s. Two sons of K.H. Mas Abdurrahman, K.H. Muslim and K.H.
Kholid, led the first notion. Both advocated the idea that the main
sources of Islam were Qur’an and Sunnah, while Ijtihad was solely the
method of analysing and interpreting both religious sources. Any
religious legal rule should be based on a clear statement from both
Qur’an and Hadits. K.H. Muslim, for instance, ever said, that “a dog was
not religiously forbidden (haram) because both Qur’an and Hadits did
not explicitly mention that matter”[46].
This
group furthermore rejected the notion of obliging adherence to a
certain mazhab. In politics, this group took oppositional stance against
Pancasila considering it as a non-Islamic ideology. The second group
more emphasized the importance of adhering mazhab particularly the four
prominent madhab, well known as Madzahibul Arbaah that they considered
as the true interpretation of Islamic law. One of the leading figures of
this group was K.H. Uyeh Balukia who had composed a number of religious
writings, such as Aqidah Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah adalah Kriteria Yang
Relevan Dalam Arah Pembangunan Sekarang, Fiqih Syafi’I Berdalil, Mutiara
Ghaniyah Syekh Abdul Qodir Jaelani, Tarjamah Azkiya Syekh Satho
Addimyati etc. In politics, this group took an accommodative stance
against the state. For instance, K.H. Uyeh viewed the state-promoted
ideology of Pancasila as the result of the Ijma (consensus) of
Indonesian people that all Muslims had a religious obligation to adhere
it. Objection to Pancasila meant violating the ijma decision that was
religiously forbidden[47].
The last group was moderate both in religious thought and political
notion. They recognized the mazhab but declared that there was no
obligation to adhere to a certain mazhab. Every one who had an ability
to directly understand the sources of Islam could exercise their own
Ijtihad. K.H. Abdul Hadi of Tangerang was among the leaders of this
group[48]. Surprisingly, although there were differences in religious
thought, members of Mathla’ul Anwar did not attack each other. It is not
surprising that in the general meeting of members of Mathla’ul Anwar, I
come across a variety of applications of religious practices.
Conclusion
From this study, there are at least three general conclusions. First
of all, religious thought within Mathla’ul Anwar has developed
dynamically. Therefore, this will be misleading to take a monolithic
description of religious thought of one religious group as practiced by
many scholars. Second, intensive interactions with new religious
circumstances had brought K.H. Uwes and Mathla’ul Anwar to absorb new
religious ideas that were not inherited from the founders. Finally,
political and social factors played a great role in developing new
religious ideas within Mathla’ul Anwar.
*Pimpinan Pondok Pesantren Al-Mutawally Bojong, Cilimus, Kuningan,
menulis Disertasi Tentang MA (Dari Kampung ke Kota) di Universitas
Leiden, Belanda
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- Abu Bakar, K.H. Uwes, Ishlahul Ummah dalam menerangkan arti Ahli Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, Jakarta: PB Mathla’ul Anwar, 2004, reprinted.
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- Thaba, Abdul Azis, Islam dan Negara Dalam Politik Orde Baru, Jakarta: Gemma Insani Press, 1996
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- Ward, Ken, The Foundation of the Partai Muslimin Indonesia, Ittaca: Temple University Press, 1970.
[2] Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah Mathla’ul Anwar, Jakarta: Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, 1996, p. 11.
[3] Interview with K.H. Mahnun, 18 July 2002.
[4] K.H. Mas Abdurrahman, Al-Jawaiz fi Ahkam al-Janaiz, n.p., n.d., pp. 45-46
[5] Interviews with K.H. Ma’ani Rusydi, 19 July 2002,
and Nahid Firdaus Abdurrahman, a grandson of K.H. Mas Abdurrahman, 5
August 2003. See also Tim Penyusun, Sejarah Mathla’ul Anwar dalam
Perspektif Sejarah Gerakan Islam di Indonesia, a paper presented at the
Seminar on the history of Mathla’ul Anwar, May 1999, p. 25.
[6] Mimbar, 20 February 1920.
[7] Anonymous, Menapak Jejak Mengenal Watak: Sekilas
Biografi 26 Tokoh Nahdlatul Ulama, Jakarta: Yayasan Saefudin Zuhri,
1994, pp. 74 – 77. See also Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, pp. 21-28.
[8] E. Oji Mahmunji, Riwayat Hidup Singkat K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar Al-Marhum, n.p., n.d., p. 1.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, p. 45.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid., pp. 45-48.
[14] Ibid., p. 59.
[15] E. Oji Mahmunji, Riwayat …, p. 1
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] E. Syibli Syarjaya and Jihaduddin, Dirasah
Islamiyah I: Sejarah dan Khittah Mathla’ul Anwar, Menes: Perguruan
Mathla’ul Anwar Pusat Menes, 2003, pp. 29-30. See also Pengurus Besar
Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah …, p. 44.
[19] For a complete explanation on the creation of
Parmusi and the involvement of Muslim associations see Ken Ward, The
Foundation of the Partai Muslimin Indonesia, 1970, Abdul Azis Thaba,
Islam dan Negara Dalam Politik Orde Baru, Jakarta: Gemma Insani Press,
1996 and Mintaredja, H.M.S., Renungan Pembaharuan Pemikiran Masyarakat
Islam dan Politik Indonesia, Jakarta: Permata, 1972.
[20] Ibid.
[21] E. Oji Mahmunji, Riwayat …, p. 1and Syibli Syarjaya and Jihaduddin, Dirosah Islamiyah I …, p. 34.
[22] Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, p. 65.
[23] Interviews with K.H. Muhsin, 20 July 2002, K.H.
Mahnun, 18 July 2002, and K.H. Rafiudin, 20 July 2002, all of them are
former students who witnessed the first adoption of secular subjects to
madrasah of Mathla’ul Anwar along with their following controversies.
[24] According Thaba, the main factor of SI’s
withdrawal was purely political since its leaders looked for a position
in the structure of the cabinet of Amir Syarifudin who sought support
from the Islamic element in order to strengthen the legitimacy of his
cabinet since he failed to persuade Masyumi leaders. Abdul Azis Thaba,
Islam dan Negara …, p. 160. About SI’s secession from Masyumi see also
George McTurnan Kahin, Nasionalisme dan Revolusi di Indonesia, Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementrian Pengajaran Malaysia, 1980,
pp. 258 – 262.
[25] Ibid., pp. 163 – 165
[26] Interview with K.H. Ma’ani Rusydi, 19 July 2002.
[27] Interview with H. Rafiudin, 20 July 2002.
[28] Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan
Khittah …, p. 24 and Syibli Syarjaya and Jihaduddin, Dirosah Islamiyah I
…, p. 16. See also Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, p. 70. in 1959, the
non-affiliation status of the organization finally gained a legal
recognition from the government. By this government decision, Mathla’ul
Anwar was regarded as an independent social and religious organization
similar to that of Muhammadiyah and other socio-religious associations.
See footnote number 34.
[29] Interview with K.H. Abdul Hadi Mukhtar who witnessed the event, 14 September 2002.
[30] Interview with K.H. Ma’ani Ruysdi, who was among
young NU leaders demanding the resigning of K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar from
his post as the general chairman of the executive board of NU of
Pandeglang branch, 19 July 2002.
[31] Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah …, p. 34.
[32] Ibid., p. 35.
[33] Ibid., p. 27.
[34] Ibid., pp. 33-34.
[35] Interviews with K.H. Abdul Hadi Mukhtar, 14 Septeber 2002 and K.H. Tubagus Emi Suhaemi, 6 August 2003.
[36] Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, pp. 90-91,
Interviews with K.H. Mahnun, a former leader of the Kesatuan Aksi Pemuda
dan Pelajar Indonesia (Indonesian Student and Youth United Action,
KAPPI) of Mathla’ul Anwar Madrasah in Menes, 18 July 2002, and with O.
Boman Rukmantara, 17 July 2002.
[37] Interview with Saleh As’ad, 18 July 2002.
[38] K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar, “Prakata Pendahuluan” in
K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar, Ishlahul Ummah dalam menerangkan arti Ahli Sunnah
Wal Jama’ah, Jakarta: PB Mathla’ul Anwar, 2004, reprinted.
[39] Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar …, pp. 76-77.
[40] Ibid., p. 80.
[41] K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar, Ishlahul Ummah …, pp. 18-19.
[42] Ibid., p. 38.
[43] Ibid., pp. 126-128.[44] Ibid., p. 154.
[45] Ibid., p. 217.
[46] Interview with O. Boman Rukmantara, 17 July 2002.
[47] K.H. Uyeh Balukiya, Laporan dan Pengarahan Ketua
Majelis Fatwa Mathla’ul Anwar K.H.U. Balukiya Syakir SY Pada Muktamar
Mathla’ul Anwar Tanggal 10 Juli 1985 di Menes Banten Jawa Barat in
Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, Keputusan Muktamar ke XIII dan HUT ke 69
Mathla’ul Anwar, Jakarta: Pengurus Besar Mathla’ul Anwar, 1985, p. 51.
[48] Interview with Huriyudin, 14 August 2002.
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