Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abdul Hamid (1868–1929) was a Malay

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 ...

. He was nicknamed Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong because he visited Limbong, Kemaman,

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...

to teach

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and start trading. From 1922 until 1928, he was a resistance leader against laws and changes introduced by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Early life

Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abdul Hamid was born in Telemong,

. He was respected and loved by Malay society. Prior to the British arrival, Terengganu had Islam-based rules and administrations. The society freely opened up their land for farming and collecting crops.

British occupation

When the British came, new laws about the ways to open up land were introduced. One of them involves paying a

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

to the government before using it. This new law made it difficult for everyone, especially poor

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s. To make things worse, the permission letters and passes from the government for opening up lands were also introduced. Despite the laws being introduced by the British, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong fought to protect the livelihood and means of survival of farmers, claiming that land belongs to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, and eventually to those who work on it. In 1922, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong represented one of the 43 farmers being put to trial in a court for doing farming without permission. In numerous hearings that followed, no results had been given. In 1925, about 300 to 500 farmers cleared Tengku Haji Nik's land without permission from the government.

Insurgency

In 1928, following a series of restrictions and crackdowns by the British, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong assembled about 1,000 people in Kampung Buluh, to launch their resistance to get the British out of their state. They attacked the police station in Kuala Berang, and captured it, raising a red flag in its place. After the attack, they moved on to

Kuala Terengganu Kuala Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay language, Terengganu Malay: ''Kole Tranung''), colloquially referred to as KT, is the administrative, economic and royal List of capitals in Malaysia, city of the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. Kuala Tereng ...

, to persuade the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

to endorse their actions. Meanwhile, another group of resistance fighters was formed at Kampung Pelam, Telemong. The British representative sent police from the state's capital to Kuala Berang to get aid from the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

. As the resistance forces approached Padang Kachong, Kuala Telemong, the police defended against the resistance. Most of the resistance fighters died in the battle, and the resistance retreated.

Aftermath and final years

All of the leaders involved in the insurgency of Terengganu citizenry had been found and put on trial. The majority of them were sentenced to life in prison. Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong, who was among the guilty, but was not sentenced like most of his leaders. Instead, he was exiled from Terengganu to

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, where he continued to teach

, until his death in 1929.

Places named after him

Several places were named after him, including: * Jalan Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu * Abdul Rahman Limbong Mosque in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu * Kolej Siswa Abdul Rahman Limbong, a residential college at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu * Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Abdul Rahman Limbong, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

References

External links

Penentangan di Terengganu
{{Authority control 1868 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Malaysian rebels Malaysian people of Malay descent People from Terengganu People from British Malaya