By : Amirul Ulum
The name al-Fadani refers to his connection through family ties to the people of Padang, a city located in western Sumatera in Indonesia. Padang was known as an area in the island of Sumatera, a base for the spread of Islamic religious knowledge.
When the Dutch colonialist spread their power throughout the whole of Indonesia including Padang, many scholars fled to Hijaz. In the begininng, they intended to reside in Hijaz for a brief period only. However, as they examined the social and political conditions of Indonesia that was unstable due to the intrusive and exploitative rule of the Dutch, they resolved to reside in Hijaz permanently. Residing in Hijaz does not mean that they lacked courage to fight against the colonialists. Instead, through the network of Indonesian scholars residing in Hijaz, the struggle against the Dutch colonialists was indirectly through their involvements in religious study circles established in Hijaz. This is especially important as the colonialist from Europe does not only have the mission of exploiting the wealth and natural resources of Indonesia but also to cripple the faith of Muslims that has been planted firmly in order to convert them into the Christian religion of the colonialists.
Through educating future Islamic religious figures who will eventually return to Indonesia to fight for the justice of their religion and country, the scholars have caused the Dutch to be distrustful and wary about their activities. This motivated the Dutch to send one of their agents, Snouk Hurgronje to enter Hijaz in the guise of being a Muslim to monitor their movements. However, he was not able to do anything except to report his observations to the rulers of Dutch East Indies, including the transmission of knowledge from scholars to their students in Kampung al-Jawi in Hijaz that was populated by the Indonesians.
To be more exact, residing in Hijaz was a way to ease the trasmission of knowledge as the religious activities in Indonesia were always monitored by the Dutch. A significant number of religious activities were disrupted by the Dutch through the forced disclosure of religious schools (pesantren) as they were regarded as a platform for the rebellions against the Dutch rulers.
The disparate situation in Hijaz is regarded as being blessed by Allah. Scholars from all over the world were given the opportunity to study and teach religious knowledge undisturbed. This allows scholars and students from Indonesia to have the liberty to study and learn religious knowledge, preparing throngs of scholars who were hoped to be able to continue the struggle against the Dutch to free their lands.
It is due to the blessedness of the land and inhabitants of Hijaz that the late Meccan scholar, Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki mentioned, “Verily Allah has decreed that Mecca and Medina will not be barren from people of knowledge, preeminence and religous experts till the end of the world.”
Amongst the scholars who prefers residing in Hijaz than to return to Indonesia, which was ruled by the colonialist at that time, was Shaykh Muhammad Isa al-Fadani and Shaykh Mahmud al-Fadani. Both scholars originated from Padang and collaborated to prepare leaders who will continue in the struggle of the scholars who spread the teachings of Islam in Indonesia.
Shaykh Muhammad Isa al-Fadani was blessed with a son named Muhammad Yasin or more commonly known as Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani. His mastery in the various disciplines of Islamic sciences was not only known and acknowledged in Hijaz and Indonesia. His fame spread to other parts of the Islamic world such as Egypt, Syria, Yemen, India and dozens of other countries throughout the world.
Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani was born in Mecca on Tuesday 27 Sya’ban 1337H (1916). His birth planted the seeds of happiness within the hearts of his parents. Both his parents hoped that their son would be a great scholar who will continue to raise the banner of Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, which is to struggle for the cause of the religion of Allah.
Notes :
Quoted from the book of Shaikh Yasin al-Fadany the Musnid Dunya of the Archipelago by Amirul Ulum translated by Muhammad Khairool Haque
