Page 119 - INDONESIA ISLAMIC CULTURE
P. 119

from Isfahan, and Amir al-Dawlasah      the vicinity of a mosque, a dayah was                 (West Sumatra), for example, Tuanku    dialogue” in Java, which presupposed       The Sultanate of Malacca
                                   from India. Hence, Samudera Pasai       established as an educational institution             Burhanuddin opened educational         separateness, and often tension,           during the process of
                                   was recognized as the leading center    separate from a mosque, and later,                    institutions at the coastal town of Ulakan   between religious authorities and kings.   Islamization. The Strait
                                   of Islamic education, and many people   dayahs would specialize on a certain                  after he had completed his studies in   Mataram’s policy, especially after        of Malacca has been
                                   came to visit and study Islam, such as   field of traditional Islamic knowledge.              Aceh under Abd al-Rauf al-Singkili. This   Sultan Agung who wanted to turn the    a route of bustling
                                   Nur al-Din Ibrahim Mawlana Izra’il, who   In this way, Dayah Tafsir for Quranic               educational institution became known as   Mataram palace into a mono-palace,      commercial traffic
                                   later became known as Sunan Gunung      interpretation and Dayah Fiqh for Islamic             a surau, a Minangkabau term meaning    the single power center in Java, was       since the 7 /8  century
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           th
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              th
                                   Jati,-one of the “nine saints” responsible   law, and so on came into being.                  “place of worship”. In the Malay world,   not accompanied by the destruction of   connecting the Middle
                                   for the Islamization of Java and for                                                          suraus had developed into centers for   Islamic educational centers. Pesantrens   East, India, the Malay-
                                   the founding of the Islamic empires of   It is important to explain as noted by               the implementation of Islamic education,   increasingly grew into the sources     Indonesian archipelago,
                                   Cirebon and Banten.                     Azyumardi Azra, that teachers in Aceh                 like meunasah in Aceh.                 of the Islamic way of life of the local    and China.
                                                                           mostly consisted of Middle Eastern                                                           rural communities. Islamic scholars, or
                                   In Samudera Pasai, Islamic education    scholars. This accords with the Bustan                The Surau of Ulakan occupied an                                                   Source: Atlas Sejarah
                                   seems to have been limited to the       as-Salatin that recorded the presence                 important place in the process of the   kyais in Javanese, emerged as cultural    Indonesia Masa Islam
                                   royal palace, or at least it had not yet   of scholars in Aceh who taught various             Islamization of the Minangkabau.       brokers, in Clifford Geertz’s term, to     (Historical Atlas of
                                   been institutionalized into an institution   fields of Islamic knowledge: Quran               Because of Burhanuddin’s charisma as   transmit the universal teachings of Islam   Indonesia’s Islamic
                                   designed for that purpose. Only in      interpretation, Islamic jurisprudence,                the founder of the mosque, and because   to the communities in the countryside.   Period), 2011.
                                   Aceh, and especially since the reign of   Sufism, and so on. These scholars came              he was a follower of the Shattariyah Sufi   Therefore, over time, pesantrens in Java
                                   Sultan Iskandar Muda, Islamic education   to Aceh because it had already been                 order, Minangkabau tradition recognizes   not only functioned as the centers of
                                   was offered in special institutions     integrated into the Islamic world (dar                Ulakan as the origin of the Islamization in   Islamic education they also appeared
                                   called meunasah, rangkang, or dayah.    al-Islam) at an international level. Later,           the region. Indeed, the Surau of Ulakan   to have constructed legitimate reality in
                                   Meunasahs were originally places of     Islamic education was entirely conducted              played an important role as the center of   Islamic terms. Their separation from the
                                   worship, but subsequently they served   by local religious scholars who were                  Islamic education and like Burhanuddin;   palace appears to have given the kyais
                                   as venues for the education of Acehnese   commonly called teungku, an honorific               those who had finished their studied at   the freedom in their boarding schools
                                   children where they learnt to recite the   title in respect of their higher level of          this Surau subsequently established    to play other roles than merely that of
                                   Quran. After having been educated in a   Islamic knowledge.                                   similar institutions in their home towns,   “religious masters” or “pedagogues of
                                   meunasah, students would continue their                                                       for instance Surau Tuanku Nan Tuo in   Islamic knowledge”. They had a very
                                                                                  th
                                   religious education at a higher level in a   In the 17  century, Islamic educational          Cangking and Surau Pemansiangan.       significant role in the process of social
                                   rangkang, which was usually set up near   institutions in Aceh were at the basis                                                     and cultural formation in rural Java.
                                   a mosque. The highest level of education   of the further growth of similar Islamic           In Java, pesantren did not fall under   Hence, pesantrens became important
                                   was available at a dayah, an Islamic    educational institutions in other areas               royal control, especially not after    agents of Islamization in interior Java,
                                   educational institution for those who   in the archipelago. These institutions                Mataram had come to power in the       which in turn gave them their rural
                                   wanted to explore religious knowledge.   were set up by scholars after they had               17  century. This was certainly a      character. This makes it understandable
                                                                                                                                   th
                                   Unlike a rangkang that was located in   visited Aceh. Thus, in Minangkabau,                   consequence of the “tradition of       that during the Dutch colonial period


          110  Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives                                                                                                                    Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives  111
   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124