The early history of the Nahdlatul Ulama

Labels: Nahdlatul Ulama

Establishment

As mentioned above, one of the prominent figures who took the initiative to establish the Nahdlatul Ulama was K.H. Abdul Wahab Hasbullah. Abdul Wahab was born at Jombang, east java, in 1888 and received his elementary Islamic teaching from his own father, Kyai Hasbullah, who ran the pesantren of Tambak beras at Jombang. He then continued his study from one pesantren to another in East Java, such as the Majosari of Nganjuk, the pesantren of Cempaka, the Pesantren of Tawangsari of Sepanjang, the pesantren of Branggahan of Kediri, and other. He even reached a small island, madura, east of Java, where he studied in the pesantren of Kademangan, Bangkalan, for three years.



On the advice of his teacher, K.H. Khalil, the leader of the Pesantren of Kademangan, Abdul Wahab continued to study in the pesantren of Tebuireng under the guidance of K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari for four years. Actually, Abdul Wahab and K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari were closely related, both having the same great grandfather. Because of his intellect and his family ties to his teacher, he was appointed to become the lurah pondok (director of the pesantren).

At the age of twenty-seven, Abdul Wahab left Java for Mecca, where he studied Islam in the holy city for four years. In Mecca, he studied Islam under the guidance of six of the leading 'ulama', Kyai Mahfudh at-Tarmisy, Kyai Mukhtaram, Syeikh Ahmad Khatib, Kyai Bakir, Kya Asy'ari, and Syeikh Abdul Hamid. These six "ulama" were Indonesia who had acheived positiöns as teachers in the Masjidil al-Haram in Mecca at that time.

By the end of world war II, Abdul Wahab returned from Mecca to Indonesia and stayed in Surabaya, with Kyai H. Mas Mansur, a modernist leader, Abdul Wahab collaborated to establish and supervise a madrasa (islamic school) called NAHDLATUL WATAN (Renaissance of Fatherland). Abdul Wahab and Mas Mansur also established a discussion group called Taswirul Afkar (Beckoning to Reflection) which attracted many Muslim youths to study Islam. Apart from its positive result, the discussion group could not avoid touching the furu' questions. Mas Mansur then left Abdul Wahab when the former joined the Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta. His long study, experience and activities enabled young kyai with skillful leadership capabilities. He finally stepped forword to be an architect of the foundation of the Nahdlatul Ulama.

http://www.santrimudimesra.blogspot.com/2009/04/early-history-of-nahdlatul-ulama.html