Dynamics of the Khilafah's Political Influence and Islam in the Indonesian Archipelago

Era of Khilafah

• 557-656 M The stopover during Caliphate’s expedition to China

 o Uthman bin Affan (557-656 CE) sent his delegates in 651 CE to meet Emperor Yong Hui from Tang Dynasty. The delegates were to introduce Islam to China. Since then, Islam spread all over China. The  expedition passed through the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, where they also interacted with Srivijaya Kingdom

 o 660-749 CE The island of Sumatra became the stopover of the Caliphate’s delegates. The  Khilafah initiated the relationship through the economics and trade with Srivijaya Kingdom.

 • 660-775 CE The economic relations between Srivijaya Kingdom and the delegates of Khilafah started to observe Javanese culture

 • 720 CE The Kingdom of Jambi Srivijaya embraced Islam
o King Sri Indravarman embraced Islam from the interaction of the Kingdom of Jambi Srivijaya, which was later became called Sribuza Islam. In the 12th century,  Islamic preaching had spread to most parts of Sumatra island such as Aceh, while Minangkabau also became the land of Islamic propagation. Samudera Pasai became the first Islamic sultanate in the archipelago.

 • 839 the Sultanate of Perlak was established on the 1st Muharram 625 AH during the era of Abbasid

o Sultanate of Perlac marked the beginning of Islamic rule in the archipelago, followed by other Islamic sultanates such as :

o 1142 CE Sultanate of Samudera Pasai
o 1184 CE Sultanate of Tamiah
o 1261 CE Sultanate of Perlak joined with Samudera Pasai
o 1257 CE Sultanate of Ternate
o 1400 CE Sultanate of Malacca
o 1496 CE Sultanate of Aceh
o 1475 CE Sultanate of Demak
o 1511 CE Sultanate of Darussalam
o 1527 CE Sultanate of Banten
o 1552 CE Sultanate of Cirebon
o 1588 CE Sultanate of Mataram
o 1723 CE Sultanate of Siak

• 1297 CE the Introduction of Dirham currency indicated the application of Islamic economic system.

• 1404 CE A delegation of clerics were sent by the Caliph.
o Sultan Muhammad I (also known as Sultan Muhammad Jalabi) sent  a delegate of clerics to the island of Java:

o Maulana Malik Ibrahim, an expert of  governance from Turkey; Maulana Ishaq from Samarqand; Maulana Ahmad Jumadil Kubra from Egypt; Maulana Muhammad al Maghrabi from Morocco; Maulana Malik Israil from Turkey; Maulana Aliyuddin from Palestine and Syeikh Subakir from Persia were sent to go to the island of Java. Previously, they stopped at Samudera Pasai. Sultan Zainal Abidin Bahiyan Shah who ruled from 1349 – 1406 CE accompanied Maulana Malik Ibrahim and Maulana Ishaq to Java.

 o Then three Islamic preachers were sent to the Land of Java to replace the ones who passed away. Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah the Son of Sheikh Ibrahim from Samarkand (also known as Sunan Ampel); Sayyid Ja’far Shadiq from Palestine (also known as Sunan Kudus) and Sharif Hidayatullah from Palestine (also known as Sunan Gunung Jati).

o Since then, there were many preachers or  clerics of Javanese descent  who replaced the preachers who passed away or were re-assigned to other areas. Sayyid Ali Sheikh Rahmatullah the son of Samarkand (also known as Sunan Ampel); Sayyid Sadiq from Pelestine (also known as Sunan Kudus) and Syarif Hidayatullah (also known as Sunan Gunung Jati)  from Palestine [GK1]

 Since 1463 CE Raden Paku (also known as Sunan Giri), the son of Maulana Ishaq  with Dewi Sekardadu, daughter of Prabu Menak Sembuyu, King of Blambangan; Raden Said (also known as Sunan Kalidjaga) the son of Mayor Wilatikta  from Tuban;  Raden Makdum Ibrahim (also known as Sunan Bonang) and Raden Qasim Dua (also known as Sunan Drajad) the son of Sunan Ampel with Dewi Condrowati, the daughter of Prabu Kertabumi, King of Majapahit. The Majapahit Kingdom had been much influenced by Islam, as many among the royal elite as many of the Sunan held the title Rahadian, which meant peerage of the governor.

Era of European Colonialism

• 1498 – 1537 CE Khilafah gave assistance to protect Aceh from Portuguese attacks
• 1596 CE The first disembarkation of the fleet of Netherlands.
• 1607 – 1636 CE Massive assistance from the fleet of Ottoman Turkish.
o The increased military assistance was due to the surveillance of the Ottoman Turkish fleet which had detected the presence of the Portuguese in Malacca since 1511.

o When a war broke out between Aceh and the Portuguese in Malacca, Aceh was aided by the fleet of  Ottoman Turkish, and jointly freed Malacca from the Portuguese.

o Sultan Iskandar Muda sent three small fleets and managed to arrive in Istanbul after a two-year voyage through the Cape of Good Hope. Aceh then had 12 military experts and receieved a decree about the friendship and relationship between Ottoman and Aceh. The 12 military experts were called the Heroes of Aceh. The experts helped Sultan Iskandar Muda to build a fortress and a palace in Sultanate of Banda Aceh. Aceh became a great power which was in conflict with the Portuguese. The military assistance from Ottoman was in the form of ships with cannons able to deal with the attacks that disrupt the sovereignty of Islamic Kingdoms in the archipelago.

• 1618 VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally “United East Indian Company” ) was established in Batavia.
o VOC conducted trade with Sultanates in the archipelago. They assumed special privileges to have an army, wage war, make conquests, rule the regions, spend money and levy taxes. This imposing priveleges was met with much resistance from the sultanates as well as the people.

• 1799 VOC was dissolved and was taken over by the Dutch government
o The takeover of VOC by the Dutch Government became the starting point to gradually eliminate the Islamic Shariah that had been applied for centuries, by imposition of forced cultivation system on farmers and thus was replaced byDutch Colonialism.

• 1825 – 1905 The Popular Resistance against Dutch occupation
o Due to the dominance of the Dutch colonialists that wanted to replace the Islamic laws with  secular laws,  the people along with the Sultan fought against the Dutch colonialists.

o Diponegoro War broke out in 1825 – 1830. It was followed by Padri War led by Tuanku Imam Bonjol that broke out in 1820 – 1837. Then, Makassar War in 1824. Aceh War in 1873 and Banjar War in 1885-1905.

o However,  several defeats weakened the Muslims, thereby the Dutch with their secular law began to dominate and force the people. Coupled with the political influence and the politics of divide and conquer, the strategy further weakened  the unity of the archipelago.

• 1924 the Collapse of Ottoman Turkish  Caliphate

o 1924 The collapse of the Khilafah by Mustafa Kemal also abolished  the  Islamic law in Turkey. Indonesian clerics made attempt s to restore the Khilafahby uniting in the struggle with their muslim brothers in Egypt, Arabian Peninsula and the clerics in the Dutch East Indies.

• 1926  Congress  of  Alam Islami Far’ul Hindias Sharqiyyah in Bogor and the Islamic World Congress in Cairo
• 1927 Congress of Khilafah  II in Makkah which failed to discuss the Khilafah.

Era of Old Order

• 1946 NU (Nahdlatul Ulama) introduced Resolution of Jihad

o The seven words in the Jakarta Charter were later eliminated [the seven words read : dengan penerapan Syariah Islam bagi pemeluk-pemeluknya (by application of the Islamic Sharia to its adherents)], 16th congress of NU was held in Purwokerto from 26 to 29 March 1946 and introduced the Resolution Jihad that requires every Muslim to fight for the independence of Indonesia, which was based in Yogyakarta. In his speech, KH. Hasyim inflamed  the spirit of Jihad. He said “… There will be no glory of Islam and the rise of Islamic law in the countries which are colonized “

• The Party of Masjumi won the general election. The discourse of Islamic law  re-emerged through parliament. The Islamic movements were considered as rebels. The Constituent Assembly was considered no longer influential. Then, President Sukarno issued a Presidential Decree in 1959 to form the MPRS (Provisional Peope Consultative Assembly) and DPA (Supreme Advisory Council) and to return to the 1945 Constitution.
• 1959 Decree of President Sukarno

Era of New Order

• 1965 The Era of New Order
o During the era of the New Order, Islam was buried by a variety of negative stigma. The Single Principle adopted by President Soeharto put the Islamic struggle as against the government and hence considered subversive. The disagreement with the rulers was considered a violation of the law. The Islamic  activists were imprisoned. Political Islam was forced to become the underground movement, which frequently criticized the government.

• 1984 The Meeting of Muslim Scholars I in Bogor

• 1990 The first Congress of ICMI (Indonesian Muslim Scholars Association)

Era of Reform Order

• 1998 The beginning of Reform Era

• 2000 Khilafah Conference I

• 2007 Khilafah Conference II
o The conference, attended by 100,000 participants from all over Indonesia, called for the re-establishment of Islamic Khilafahwhich once ruled the world many centuries ago.
• National Ulama Conference in 2009
o 7000 of Indonesian Ulama and Islamic preachers re-echoed the calls of Shariah and Khilafah. This momentum is the starting point for the clerics to struggle with the ummah to enforce Sharia and Khilafah.
• 2011 Rajab Conference

• 2013 Khilafah Conference

o Similar conferences were held in 31 big cities all over the country from Aceh to Papua. The call to enforce Sharia and Khilafah won the heart of the people. The long downturn of the ummah has opened their eyes and people really long for the application of Sharia and the re-establishment of  Khilafah.

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