Abdullah Ahmad (1878 - 1933) was an Islamic cleric (

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

) and

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

hailed from

Padang Panjang Padang Panjang (sometimes written as Padangpanjang, and spelt as Padang Pandjang in the Dutch East Indies era, , Jawi: ), is a city located at in the highlands of West Sumatra, around 80 Km inland from the provincial capital Padang. It sits on ...

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

. He is a founder of Islamic mass organization based in West Sumatra,

Sumatera Thawalib Sumatera Thawalib was one of the earliest Islamic mass organizations in Indonesia, based in West Sumatra. Sumatera Thawalib represented the modernist school of Islam in Indonesia, an Islamic reform with heavy emphasis on the Qur'an, hadith, a mod ...

.Sumatera Thawalib, Sekolah Modern Islam Pertama di Indonesia.
''JPNN''. Retrieved November 29, 2017. He also founded the Islamic magazine '' Al-Munir'', the first Islamic mass media in the Indonesian archipelago. Together with Abdul Karim Amrullah, he became one of the first Indonesians who received the honorable degree from

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

.Abdullah Ahmad Orang Indonesia Pertama Mendapat Doktor Honoris Causa Universitas Al Azhar Mesir Berdarah Minang.
''Kabarantau''. Retrieved November 29, 2017.

Biography

Abdullah was born to Haji Ahmad, a renowned Minangkabau ulama and merchant, and a mother from

Bengkulu Bengkulu (), historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of ...

. Abdullah completed his basic education in the public school, however, he also acquired religious education from his family. In 1895, Abdullah went to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

and religious study and returned in 1889.Abdullah Ahmad dan Modernisasi Islam di Minangkabau.
''Sindo News''. Retrieved November 29, 2017. After return from Mecca, he immediately began teaching in Padang Panjang in order to purge the perceived religious non-orthodoxy such as ''

bidah In Islam and sharia (Islamic law), ( , ) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, as an Arabic word, the term can be defined more broadly, as "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy". It is the subject of many hadith ...

'' (religious innovation) and ''

tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

'' (

Sufi order A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

). As he was interested in propagating his idea through publication, later he became the agent of newly-founded Islamic magazines such as ''Al-Imam'' in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and ''Al-Ittihad'' in

. In 1906, he moved to

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

for becoming a lecturer, replacing his uncle after his death. In Padang, he held Tabligh Akbar (mass religious meeting), which eventually led to the founding of Jamaah Adabiyah, a religious circle which conducted ''Pengajian'' (religious mentoring). Pengajian was held twice every week, moving around different houses. Seeing the insufficiency of systematic religious education upon all the youths in Padang, Abdullah decided to open a religious school in 1909. He was also an active author. Later he established ''Al-Munir'' magazine which modeled after ''Al-Imam'' in 1911 and became a journalist based in Padang in 1914. He also maintained tight network throughout the religious schools in Padang, Jakarta and able to extract support from the youth organization Jong Sumatranen Bond. Utilizing this network, he helped to establish Sumetera Thawalib, one of the first modernist mass organizations in West Sumatra. His depth in the religious knowledge was recognized among the Middle Eastern scholars, and he attended the Cairo Caliphate Congress in 1926 where people discussed the aftermath of the abolition of the

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

. During the time, he received the honorable degree from Al-Azhar University.

References

Bibliography

* {{Islam in Indonesia 1878 births 1933 deaths 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Indonesian Muslims Minangkabau people People from West Sumatra