Muhammadiyah
The Muhammadiyah was established on 18 November 1912 in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia, by K. H. Ahmad Dahlan (1868–1923), as a socioreligious organization aimed at adapting Islamic teachings to modern life. It is considered the largest educational and social movement in Southeast Asia. It is said to be inspired by the Egyptian reform movement of Muhammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905), which professed a rational approach to Islamization. Its activities are multifaceted, encompassing religious education, social welfare (running of orphanages and hospitals), and promotion of economic development.
From the Muhammadiyah perspective, Islamic ideology advocates the abolition of TBC: Tachyul (myths), Bidʿah (religious innovations), and Churafat (superstitions). According to the Muhammadiyah's teachings, TBC, also the acronym for tuberculosis, needs to be eradicated like the deadly disease. Relics of local pre-Islamic religious practices and the weakening of "pure" Islamic values are perceived as obstacles to progress.
The Muhammadiyah, like the Christian missionaries before it, considered education as the way to progress. It set up modern schools to teach Dutch, English, and the sciences. The organization runs over a thousand schools from kindergarten to university level, across Indonesia.
The organization was criticized by radical Indonesian nationalists for accepting government funding for its schools, and for alleged cooperation with the Dutch colonial rulers. As well, as a "modernist" organization, the Muhammadiyah is persistently challenged by the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a "traditional" socioreligious organization in Indonesia. The Muhammadiyah publishes many educational books and other publications.
It has set up hospitals, clinics, maternity centers, and nursing schools in major cities, towns, and rural areas. It has autonomous wings for youth, for school and university students, and for women. The latter, the ʿAisyiyah, is the largest Muslim women's organization in the world. The Muhammadiyah also runs poorhouses, labor unions, cooperatives, and factories. It is praised for efficiency, leadership, and good management. Many of its organizers and members are volunteers as well as donors.
The Muhammadiyah claims 30 million followers, including sympathizers, mainly from middle-class and urban backgrounds. It has branches and followers in other Southeast Asian countries, making it one of the few transnational movements in the region. The Muhammadiyah has been compared by many to the Protestant movement. Its former head, Dr. M. Amien Rais, president of the Muhammadiyah-supported National Mandate Party (Partai Amanat Nasional), was chosen in October 1999 to be speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (Majlis Permusyawaratan Rakyat), the highest state political institution in Indonesia.
Further Reading
Alfian. (1989) Muhammadiyah: The Political Behavior of a Muslim Modernist Organization under Dutch Colonialism. Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Gadjah Mada University Press.
Jainuri, Ahmad. (1997) "The Formation of the Muhammadiyah's Ideology 1912–1942." Ph.D. diss., McGill University.
Noer, Deliar. (1973) The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900–1942. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
Peacock, James L. (1978) Purifying the Faith: The Muhammadijah Movement in Indonesian Islam. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
Shihab, M. Alwi. (1995) "The Muhammadiyah Movement and Its Controversy with Christian Missionaries in Indonesia." Ph.D. diss., Temple University.
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