DIFFERING RESPONSES TO AN AHMADI TRANSLATION AND EXEGESIS THE HOLY QUR'ÂN IN EGYPT AND INDONESIA

MOCH NUR ICHWAN, - (2001) DIFFERING RESPONSES TO AN AHMADI TRANSLATION AND EXEGESIS THE HOLY QUR'ÂN IN EGYPT AND INDONESIA. ARCHIPEL, 62.

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Abstract

There were two main external channels of Islamic reform in Indonesia between the 1920s and the 1960s. The first was the Egyptian link transmitted by those who had studied in the Hijaz and Cairo, and by the circulation of al- Manâr, an Egyptian journal chaired by Muhammad Rashîd Rida (1865-1936) under the inspiration of his late master Muhammad cAbduh (1849-1905). 0) Al-Manâr was reasonably well circulated in Indonesia, being allegedly smugg led in through the port of Tuban in East- Java where there was no customs supervision. Otherwise personal copies obtained by students returning from al- Azhar and Mecca, or by the "hajis" returning from the pilgrimage, were to be found (see Bluhm-Warn 1997 : 297; Ali 1964 : 9). (2) Although its readership was confined largely to those who knew Arabic, cAbduh's ideas of Islamic reform were translated into Malay and featured in Southeast Asian periodicals like al-Imam (Singapore, 1906-08) and al-Munir (Padang, 1911-19). The second, and later, link of Islamic reform was the Indian (Indo- Pakistani) link introduced into Indonesia, then the Netherlands Indies, by missionaries from the Lahore-based Ahmadiyyah movement, and by the ci rculation of the works of other non-Ahmadi reformers, such as S ay y id Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), Ameer Ali (1849-1928), and Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938). The Lahori Ahmadiyyah, which attracted a number of Indonesian intellectuals, promulgated the ideas of Muhammad Ali (1874- 1951) and Khwajah Kamal-ud-Din (d. 1935) (see below) by spreading their works in English, Dutch, Indonesian and Javanese versions. This paper is concerned with the proposed translation of Muhammad Ali's English exeges isof the Qur'ân by the leader of Sarekat Islam Hadji Oesman Said Tjokroaminoto (1882-1935). In the mid- 1920s, both the Egyptian and Indian strands of Islamic reformism were represented in Indonesia's religious organizations. The Egyptian link was embodied by such organizations as al-Irsyad, Persatuan Islam (PERSIS), and Muhammadiyah. 0) The Indian form came to be taken up in the 1920s by the leadership of Sarekat Islam, Jong Islamieten Bond (JIB), and Studenten Islam Studieclub (SIS). Although both strands shared the same ideals for Islamic reform in principle, they were soon divided over the doctrinal soundness of Ahmadi scholarship. Hence when Tjokroaminoto's project to translate an Ahmadi exegesis became known, it was opposed strongly by the Egyptian-oriented reformist organizations led by Muhammadiyah, despite its leaders having previously given Tjokroaminoto a green light to proceed (see below). The initial uncertainty is also reflected in a request for a legal opinion (fatwa) sent to Rashîd Rida by his former student Shaykh Muhammad Basyuni Imran (1893-1981), the Maharaja Imam of the Sultanate of Sambas, West Borneo. The present article thus focuses on the response of the Sunnite (non- Ahmadi) reformers to Muhammad Ali's book with Rashîd Rida' s fatwâ as an entry point. Some important questions shall be dealt with here, namely : Why did the translation of the Qur'ân remain a sensitive issue for Muslims, even until comparatively recent times ? How did Rashîd Rida view the prob lem, especially in his fatwâ on Muhammad Ali's translation (and comment aryw)h ich he formulated in response to a question from Indonesia? What were the debates on translation of the Qur'ân in Egypt and Indonesia?

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