By : Kiyahi Maimoen Zubair
Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani is an ulama’ who originated from Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia whose name is known throughout the world for his work in the knowledge of sanad. He transmitted numerous sanad in different forms such as baharis sanad, thabat and the pattern-chained narrations (hadith musalsal). There are no other ulama’ who has a mastery in the field like him. It is due to this that he was known as the musnid of the world and the reviver (mujaddid) of the knowledge of sanad in the 14th Hijri century.
While tracing the geneology of Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani, the results that I received were unclear and conflicting. According to some sources, other than coming from the lineage of the people of Padang, Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani is also of the lineage of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through Sultan Agung Mataram of the Sultanate of Hamengkubuwono.
Since young, Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani studied in Makkah, especially at the Shaulatiyah Madrasah. He then continued his studies at the Darul Uloom Madrasah until he was elected as one of the teachers of the school. Darul Uloom was an Islamic school which was established by the Malay scholars from the Two Holy Sanctuaries (Haramayn) which offers education from primary to higher levels.
After the passing of Shaykh Manshur in 1950, the role of the principal of the Darul Uloom Madrasah was then taken over by Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani. Whilst the leadership of the school was held by Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani, many developments were achieved from the quality of knowledge of the students to the infrastructure of the building itself. Before the leadership was held by Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani, the buildings that were used by the school were still rented. However, after Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani became the principal of the school, the madrasah has its own premises.
In terms of it’s advancement in education after Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani became the principal of the school, many of it’s alumni progressed well in the field of scholarship and also political leadership. For example, Shaykh Yasin Palembang was the first figure to be the ambassador in Makkah.
During his leadership as the principal of Darul Uloom Madrasah, Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani expanded the implementation of Islamic Education by not only offering education for males, but also give priority to the education of females. To fulfill his intentions, Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani established the Kuttabu al-Banat Madrasah which was the first Islamic school for women in Saudi Arabia.
The progress that was achieved by Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani in developing Darul Uloom Madrasah was not without the contributions of the collegues such as Shaykh Abdul Hamid Jakarta, Shaykh Taha, Shaykh Tahir Rasyidi, Shaykh Muhajir al-Batawi and Shaykh Said al-Yamani. Shaykh Said al-Yamani was his primary partner in promoting Islamic teachings at the Two Holy Sanctuaries.
Notes :
-Kiyahi Maimoen Zubair is Student of Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani and Principal, Madrasah Ghozaliyah Syafi’iyyah Sarang
-Quoted from the book of Shaikh Yasin al-Fadany the Musnid Dunya of the Archipelago by Amirul Ulum translated by Muhammad Khairool Haque
