Mathla’ul Anwar: A Brief Description
oleh : Didin Rosyidin
Mathla’ul Anwar was founded in 1916 in Menes, about 30 km from the capital of the Pandeglang district of Banten, by a number of local religious scholars (kiyai), among them were prominently Kiyai Haji (K.H.) Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin, and K.H. Mas Abdurrahman[1](his brief biography will above all be revealed in the next section). All of these three religious men with different noble titles were descendants of the royal family of the Dutch exterminated Islamic kingdom of Banten[2]. K.H. Muhammad Soleh was the supreme leader of the pesantren of Kananga where hundreds of pupils coming from different parts of regions, including Lampung and Bogor, studied religious subjects. He was also celebrated as the faqih due to his superior expertise in matters of Islamic law[3]. Of the founders of Mathla’ul Anwar, he was recorded to be the most senior as well as charismatic figure. It was thus plausible that K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin firstly met him to introduce a new idea about the importance of the foundation of a modern based association before publicly announcing it. The second central initiator was K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin, a son of the former sub-district head of Menes. Since his early age, he had been active in a variety of political activities, including his participation in the creation of the first Sarekat Islam (Islamic league, or SI) in Bogor in 1909. He was who at the outset introduced the idea of a sort of a modern based format of an association to local leaders in Menes. His renowned wide experience in political movements at the national level gave other leaders no choice but to assign to organize all matters related the setting up a modern organization and at the same time held him as the first general chairman of Mathla’ul Anwar until his death in 1937.
The economic as well as political deprivation of Bantenese that brought about moral hazards amidst the society following the collapse of the Banten sultanate was to be one of the major motives that drove Bantenese kiyais to unite their line in the formation of the more effective tool in supervising their respected communities. Another frequently stated argument was that Bantenese kiyais were highly aware of the risky threat to the long already operated system of Islamic education, in Banten, in particular. Based on these facts, Mathla’ul Anwar, since its inception, focused on two main fields, the amplification of Islamic missionary activities (dakwah) and the creation of a graded based system of Islamic education institutions (madrasah) to make it a lucid distinction from the pesantren that still employed two popular methods of learning, bandongan and sorogan[4]. In the early structure of the central executive board of the organization, both fields were dealt with separately by the only created two divisions, each of them led by Kiyai Sulaiman of Cibinglu and K.H. Mas Abdurrahman respectively.
In the following years, the focus for the improvement of already applied system of Islamic education seemed to be more dominant since Mathla’ul Anwar succeeded in creating hundreds of madrasah in 1930s in a number of regions, particularly Pandeglang, Southern part of Lebak, Serang, Tangerang, Bogor, Karawang and Lampung. Graduates of the central madrasah in Menes played major roles in expanding the madrasah either through their own initiative by setting up a new madrasah or being recruited by local communities to run new or already founded madrasah. In 1936, there were more than 40 madrasah scattering in those areas associated with Mathla’ul Anwar[5].
From 1916 up to 1920, Mathla’ul Anwar operated three one-year classes ranging from A, B, and I. In 1920, it expanded its number of classes into seven one-year classes consisting of A, B, I, II, III, IV, V. In 1927, K.H. Entol Junaedi who just returned from his study in the Al-Azhar University, Cairo, proposed a further expansion of the number of the classes. His reform idea was thus materialized as Mathla’ul Anwar in the same year started to operate the nine one-year classes A, B, I till VII. These nine one-year classes continued until 1950 when a newly reformed system of schooling introduced by the newly independent Indonesian government replaced it. Although Mathla’ul Anwar since 1928 politically and socially affiliated with the Nahdlatul Ulama (the Resurgence of Religious Scholars, or NU), it did not adopt the educational system regulated in this traditionalists association. In the 1938 national congress held in Menes, Banten, the NU issued a new system of schooling ranging from Madrasah Awwaliyah (two years), Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (six years), Madrasah Tsanawiyah (three years), Madrasah Mualimin Wustha (two years), and Madrasah Mua’limin Ulya (three years). Students who wished to complete their study in those madrasah would spend thirteen years of study[6].
In 1929, Mathla’ul Anwar established a self-regulating madrasah for girls. Mathla’ul Anwar rejected the idea to integrate different sexes in the same classroom. The madrasah building was located outside the complex area of that for boys. For the director of this madrasah, Mathla’ul Anwar appointed Hajjah (a title attributed to a female pilgrim) Siti Zainab, a daughter of K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin as well as a daughter-in-law of K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Sholeh. Other female figures, chiefly Nyi Kulsum and Nyi Aisyah, assisted her in operating the activities of the madrasah as teachers as well as administrators. Under their leadership, the madrasah grew rapidly as hundred of students, mostly coming from areas of Menes took part. However, the internal ruptures in 1939 as the immediate impacts of the controversial election of the general chairman of Mathla’ul Anwar obstructed the fast development of the madrasah. Hajjah Siti Zainab whose brother, K.H. Entol Junaedi, lost in the election totally withdrew from Mathla’ul Anwar as a political protest. Her withdrawal from the organization meant that she also resigned from her position in the madrasah. Her departure from the chairmanship of the madrasah exerted huge influences over not only the development of the madrasah but also the existence of the madrasah. Educational activities in the madrasah ceased and therefore Mathla’ul Anwar closed it down in 1944.
Mathla’ul Anwar’s political activities formally started in 1945 as it took part in the creation of Masyumi. However, its political involvement through its leading figures had actually begun long years before 1945 as they associated themselves with the SI in the early of 1915 before withdrawing their membership in 1928 due to the growing hegemony of the reformist groups in the central leadership of the SI. Some of the Mathla’ul Anwar’s leaders also took part in the communist inspired rebellion in 1926 because of which they, including K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, were arrested and jailed[7]. Their separation from the SI and the continued surveillance over their political activities by the Dutch government as the immediate consequence of the failed uprising convinced them to join a non-political inspired association, the NU, in 1928 as K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin for the first time attended the NU’s National Congress in Semarang, addition to their close affinities in religious outlooks as well as to personal relation between K.H. Mas Abdurrahman and K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari. Furthermore, the intimate friendship between both leaders had significantly contributed to convince members of the to select Menes as the host of their 1938 National Congress[8]. For more than twenty years, Mathla’ul Anwar kept its solid cultural and political links with NU before it decided to end its mutual relation in 1952 when NU opted to make its own political party independent from Masyumi[9], to which most of the Mathla’ul Anwar’s leaders preferred to politically vote for[10].
As discussed earlier, one of the fundamental reasons of Mathla’ul Anwar’s departure from the SI in 1928 was the growing influence of the reformists’ groups along with their religious ideas in the central leadership of the SI. Mathla’ul Anwar under the direction of K.H. Mas Abdurrahman on the other hand had established its own specific religious ideas that were very much similar to those exemplified in the NU, although with some slight emphasis in matters related to the appreciation of local rituals and Sufism. Mathla’ul Anwar at that time was renowned to be the staunch opponent of the reformist group. For instance, its militant followers in 1940s attacked the only center of Muhammadiyah in the village of Kaduhauk, Menes[11]. K.H. Mas Abdurrahman ever forbade his pupils to read the Bulughul Maram, a short compilation of the Prophet tradition that was largely used within the reformists’ study clubs[12]. To strengthen his religious outlook among his followers in particular and Bantenese in general, K.H. Mas Abdurrahman also had wrote a book titled Al-Jawaiz Fi Ahkam Al-Janaiz aimed at providing a comprehensive source of religious reference for Mathla’ul Anwar’s members.
[1] Other names of the founders of Mathla’ul Anwar were kiai Tegal, K.H. Abdul Mu’thi, Kiyai Soleman Cibinglu, K.H. Daud, kiyai Rusydi, kiyai. Entol Danawi, K.H. Mustaghfiri, kiyai Saiman, K.H. Muhammad Rais, and K.H. Entol Ismail, Pengurus Besar (PB) Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah Mathla’ul Anwar, Jakarta: PB Mathla’ul Anwar, 1996, p. 10. See also Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar dalam Perspektif Sejarah Gerakan Islam di Indonesia, a paper presented at the Seminar on the History of Mathla’ul Anwar, May 1991, p. 16.
[2] The old Banten nobility consisted of four categories. First, descendants of the sultans; these were called as Tubagus. The second was descendants of those who had been given the title Raden by the Sultans due to his loyal services. The third was Mas attributed to those who allegedly had genealogical connection with two legendary figures, Ki Jong and Ki Jon, who, according to the tradition, were among the first converts to Islam in Banten. Finally the title of Entol, which was and is common in Menes, was ascribed to descendants of Raden Gugur Paganjur, who, according to the tradition, was a prince of the Hinduism based Majapahit kingdom who fled to Banten and had a grandson, Raden Andong, who converted to Islam before the first ruler of Banten, Maulana Hasanudin, and helped the proliferation of Islam in South parts of Banten. In Banten society, those who held both noble status and religious reputation would attain high respect from the populace and therefore became very influential. The choice of most of the noble descendants to live in remote areas, including Menes, following the collapse of the Islamic sultanate of Banten were usually described as a protest against the annexation of the infidel ruler of the Dutch force. Thus, this political choice gave them more influential power before the villagers. Michael Charles Williams, Communism, Religion and Revolt in Banten, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies Monographs in International Studies Southeast Asia Series Number 86, 1990, pp. 50-52.
[3] Interview with K.H. A. Wahid Sahari, a grandson of K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, 7 August 2003.
[4] Sorogan was a personal method of study in which a student personally studied a certain subject usually a specific classical Islamic book under a direct guidance of a teacher. Meanwhile, bandongan or halaqoh or weton was a grouping method of study in which “a group of students ranging from five to five hundreds people passively listened to a teacher who read and translated and frequently explained particular Arabic texts”. In both methods of study, there was no a distinctive classification based on ages and intellectual capacities. All pupils from a variety of ages could take part based their own consideration. Zamakhsyari Dhofier, The Pesantren Tradition: The Role of the Kiyai in the Maintenance of Traditional Islam in Java, Arizona: Monograph Series Press Program for Southeast Asian Studies Arizona State University, 1999, p. 11.
[5] PB. Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah …, p. 16.
[6] Mahmud Yunus, Sejarah Pendidikan Islam di Indonesia, Jakarta: Penerbit Mutiara, 1979, pp. 241-242.
[7] Michael Charles Williams, Communism …, p. 241. See also Else Ensering, “Banten in Times of Revolution,” Paris: Archipel 50, 1995 and E. Gobée, Sumitro and Ranneft, “The Bantam Report,” in Harry J. Benda and Ruth T. McVey (eds.), The Communist Uprisings of 1926 – 1927 in Indonesia: Key Documents, Ithaca: Cornell University, 1960.
[8] Anonymous, Menapak Jejak Mengenal Watak: Sekilas Biografi 26 Tokoh Nahdlatul Ulama, Jakarta: Yayasan Saifuddin Zuhri, 1994, pp. 76-78.
[9] For more details about this event, see Abdul Azis Thaba, Islam dan Negara Dalam Politik Orde Baru, Jakarta: Gemma Insani Press, 1996.
[10] K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar was a member of parliament from Masyumi and K.H. Muslim Abdurrahman was also elected in the 1955 general election as a member of parliament of the Pandeglang district from Masyumi.
[11] Tim Perumus, Mathla’ul Anwar …, p. 25.
[12] Interview with K.H. Ma’ani Rusydi, 19 July 2002.
oleh : Didin Rosyidin
Mathla’ul Anwar was founded in 1916 in Menes, about 30 km from the capital of the Pandeglang district of Banten, by a number of local religious scholars (kiyai), among them were prominently Kiyai Haji (K.H.) Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin, and K.H. Mas Abdurrahman[1](his brief biography will above all be revealed in the next section). All of these three religious men with different noble titles were descendants of the royal family of the Dutch exterminated Islamic kingdom of Banten[2]. K.H. Muhammad Soleh was the supreme leader of the pesantren of Kananga where hundreds of pupils coming from different parts of regions, including Lampung and Bogor, studied religious subjects. He was also celebrated as the faqih due to his superior expertise in matters of Islamic law[3]. Of the founders of Mathla’ul Anwar, he was recorded to be the most senior as well as charismatic figure. It was thus plausible that K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin firstly met him to introduce a new idea about the importance of the foundation of a modern based association before publicly announcing it. The second central initiator was K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin, a son of the former sub-district head of Menes. Since his early age, he had been active in a variety of political activities, including his participation in the creation of the first Sarekat Islam (Islamic league, or SI) in Bogor in 1909. He was who at the outset introduced the idea of a sort of a modern based format of an association to local leaders in Menes. His renowned wide experience in political movements at the national level gave other leaders no choice but to assign to organize all matters related the setting up a modern organization and at the same time held him as the first general chairman of Mathla’ul Anwar until his death in 1937.
The economic as well as political deprivation of Bantenese that brought about moral hazards amidst the society following the collapse of the Banten sultanate was to be one of the major motives that drove Bantenese kiyais to unite their line in the formation of the more effective tool in supervising their respected communities. Another frequently stated argument was that Bantenese kiyais were highly aware of the risky threat to the long already operated system of Islamic education, in Banten, in particular. Based on these facts, Mathla’ul Anwar, since its inception, focused on two main fields, the amplification of Islamic missionary activities (dakwah) and the creation of a graded based system of Islamic education institutions (madrasah) to make it a lucid distinction from the pesantren that still employed two popular methods of learning, bandongan and sorogan[4]. In the early structure of the central executive board of the organization, both fields were dealt with separately by the only created two divisions, each of them led by Kiyai Sulaiman of Cibinglu and K.H. Mas Abdurrahman respectively.
In the following years, the focus for the improvement of already applied system of Islamic education seemed to be more dominant since Mathla’ul Anwar succeeded in creating hundreds of madrasah in 1930s in a number of regions, particularly Pandeglang, Southern part of Lebak, Serang, Tangerang, Bogor, Karawang and Lampung. Graduates of the central madrasah in Menes played major roles in expanding the madrasah either through their own initiative by setting up a new madrasah or being recruited by local communities to run new or already founded madrasah. In 1936, there were more than 40 madrasah scattering in those areas associated with Mathla’ul Anwar[5].
From 1916 up to 1920, Mathla’ul Anwar operated three one-year classes ranging from A, B, and I. In 1920, it expanded its number of classes into seven one-year classes consisting of A, B, I, II, III, IV, V. In 1927, K.H. Entol Junaedi who just returned from his study in the Al-Azhar University, Cairo, proposed a further expansion of the number of the classes. His reform idea was thus materialized as Mathla’ul Anwar in the same year started to operate the nine one-year classes A, B, I till VII. These nine one-year classes continued until 1950 when a newly reformed system of schooling introduced by the newly independent Indonesian government replaced it. Although Mathla’ul Anwar since 1928 politically and socially affiliated with the Nahdlatul Ulama (the Resurgence of Religious Scholars, or NU), it did not adopt the educational system regulated in this traditionalists association. In the 1938 national congress held in Menes, Banten, the NU issued a new system of schooling ranging from Madrasah Awwaliyah (two years), Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (six years), Madrasah Tsanawiyah (three years), Madrasah Mualimin Wustha (two years), and Madrasah Mua’limin Ulya (three years). Students who wished to complete their study in those madrasah would spend thirteen years of study[6].
In 1929, Mathla’ul Anwar established a self-regulating madrasah for girls. Mathla’ul Anwar rejected the idea to integrate different sexes in the same classroom. The madrasah building was located outside the complex area of that for boys. For the director of this madrasah, Mathla’ul Anwar appointed Hajjah (a title attributed to a female pilgrim) Siti Zainab, a daughter of K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin as well as a daughter-in-law of K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Sholeh. Other female figures, chiefly Nyi Kulsum and Nyi Aisyah, assisted her in operating the activities of the madrasah as teachers as well as administrators. Under their leadership, the madrasah grew rapidly as hundred of students, mostly coming from areas of Menes took part. However, the internal ruptures in 1939 as the immediate impacts of the controversial election of the general chairman of Mathla’ul Anwar obstructed the fast development of the madrasah. Hajjah Siti Zainab whose brother, K.H. Entol Junaedi, lost in the election totally withdrew from Mathla’ul Anwar as a political protest. Her withdrawal from the organization meant that she also resigned from her position in the madrasah. Her departure from the chairmanship of the madrasah exerted huge influences over not only the development of the madrasah but also the existence of the madrasah. Educational activities in the madrasah ceased and therefore Mathla’ul Anwar closed it down in 1944.
Mathla’ul Anwar’s political activities formally started in 1945 as it took part in the creation of Masyumi. However, its political involvement through its leading figures had actually begun long years before 1945 as they associated themselves with the SI in the early of 1915 before withdrawing their membership in 1928 due to the growing hegemony of the reformist groups in the central leadership of the SI. Some of the Mathla’ul Anwar’s leaders also took part in the communist inspired rebellion in 1926 because of which they, including K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, were arrested and jailed[7]. Their separation from the SI and the continued surveillance over their political activities by the Dutch government as the immediate consequence of the failed uprising convinced them to join a non-political inspired association, the NU, in 1928 as K.H. Entol Muhammad Yasin for the first time attended the NU’s National Congress in Semarang, addition to their close affinities in religious outlooks as well as to personal relation between K.H. Mas Abdurrahman and K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari. Furthermore, the intimate friendship between both leaders had significantly contributed to convince members of the to select Menes as the host of their 1938 National Congress[8]. For more than twenty years, Mathla’ul Anwar kept its solid cultural and political links with NU before it decided to end its mutual relation in 1952 when NU opted to make its own political party independent from Masyumi[9], to which most of the Mathla’ul Anwar’s leaders preferred to politically vote for[10].
As discussed earlier, one of the fundamental reasons of Mathla’ul Anwar’s departure from the SI in 1928 was the growing influence of the reformists’ groups along with their religious ideas in the central leadership of the SI. Mathla’ul Anwar under the direction of K.H. Mas Abdurrahman on the other hand had established its own specific religious ideas that were very much similar to those exemplified in the NU, although with some slight emphasis in matters related to the appreciation of local rituals and Sufism. Mathla’ul Anwar at that time was renowned to be the staunch opponent of the reformist group. For instance, its militant followers in 1940s attacked the only center of Muhammadiyah in the village of Kaduhauk, Menes[11]. K.H. Mas Abdurrahman ever forbade his pupils to read the Bulughul Maram, a short compilation of the Prophet tradition that was largely used within the reformists’ study clubs[12]. To strengthen his religious outlook among his followers in particular and Bantenese in general, K.H. Mas Abdurrahman also had wrote a book titled Al-Jawaiz Fi Ahkam Al-Janaiz aimed at providing a comprehensive source of religious reference for Mathla’ul Anwar’s members.
[1] Other names of the founders of Mathla’ul Anwar were kiai Tegal, K.H. Abdul Mu’thi, Kiyai Soleman Cibinglu, K.H. Daud, kiyai Rusydi, kiyai. Entol Danawi, K.H. Mustaghfiri, kiyai Saiman, K.H. Muhammad Rais, and K.H. Entol Ismail, Pengurus Besar (PB) Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah Mathla’ul Anwar, Jakarta: PB Mathla’ul Anwar, 1996, p. 10. See also Tim Penyusun, Mathla’ul Anwar dalam Perspektif Sejarah Gerakan Islam di Indonesia, a paper presented at the Seminar on the History of Mathla’ul Anwar, May 1991, p. 16.
[2] The old Banten nobility consisted of four categories. First, descendants of the sultans; these were called as Tubagus. The second was descendants of those who had been given the title Raden by the Sultans due to his loyal services. The third was Mas attributed to those who allegedly had genealogical connection with two legendary figures, Ki Jong and Ki Jon, who, according to the tradition, were among the first converts to Islam in Banten. Finally the title of Entol, which was and is common in Menes, was ascribed to descendants of Raden Gugur Paganjur, who, according to the tradition, was a prince of the Hinduism based Majapahit kingdom who fled to Banten and had a grandson, Raden Andong, who converted to Islam before the first ruler of Banten, Maulana Hasanudin, and helped the proliferation of Islam in South parts of Banten. In Banten society, those who held both noble status and religious reputation would attain high respect from the populace and therefore became very influential. The choice of most of the noble descendants to live in remote areas, including Menes, following the collapse of the Islamic sultanate of Banten were usually described as a protest against the annexation of the infidel ruler of the Dutch force. Thus, this political choice gave them more influential power before the villagers. Michael Charles Williams, Communism, Religion and Revolt in Banten, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies Monographs in International Studies Southeast Asia Series Number 86, 1990, pp. 50-52.
[3] Interview with K.H. A. Wahid Sahari, a grandson of K.H. Tubagus Muhammad Soleh, 7 August 2003.
[4] Sorogan was a personal method of study in which a student personally studied a certain subject usually a specific classical Islamic book under a direct guidance of a teacher. Meanwhile, bandongan or halaqoh or weton was a grouping method of study in which “a group of students ranging from five to five hundreds people passively listened to a teacher who read and translated and frequently explained particular Arabic texts”. In both methods of study, there was no a distinctive classification based on ages and intellectual capacities. All pupils from a variety of ages could take part based their own consideration. Zamakhsyari Dhofier, The Pesantren Tradition: The Role of the Kiyai in the Maintenance of Traditional Islam in Java, Arizona: Monograph Series Press Program for Southeast Asian Studies Arizona State University, 1999, p. 11.
[5] PB. Mathla’ul Anwar, Sejarah dan Khittah …, p. 16.
[6] Mahmud Yunus, Sejarah Pendidikan Islam di Indonesia, Jakarta: Penerbit Mutiara, 1979, pp. 241-242.
[7] Michael Charles Williams, Communism …, p. 241. See also Else Ensering, “Banten in Times of Revolution,” Paris: Archipel 50, 1995 and E. Gobée, Sumitro and Ranneft, “The Bantam Report,” in Harry J. Benda and Ruth T. McVey (eds.), The Communist Uprisings of 1926 – 1927 in Indonesia: Key Documents, Ithaca: Cornell University, 1960.
[8] Anonymous, Menapak Jejak Mengenal Watak: Sekilas Biografi 26 Tokoh Nahdlatul Ulama, Jakarta: Yayasan Saifuddin Zuhri, 1994, pp. 76-78.
[9] For more details about this event, see Abdul Azis Thaba, Islam dan Negara Dalam Politik Orde Baru, Jakarta: Gemma Insani Press, 1996.
[10] K.H. Uwes Abu Bakar was a member of parliament from Masyumi and K.H. Muslim Abdurrahman was also elected in the 1955 general election as a member of parliament of the Pandeglang district from Masyumi.
[11] Tim Perumus, Mathla’ul Anwar …, p. 25.
[12] Interview with K.H. Ma’ani Rusydi, 19 July 2002.
