Kiai Abdulhalim was born in Majalengka, West Java. There is no record of the date and year of his birth. He is the son of Muhammad Iskandar and Siti Mutmainah, a family descended from a Banten cleric who moved to Majalengka to fulfill his duties as Penghulu Kawedanan Jatiwangi. This Kiai, whose small name is Ahmad Syatori, has not enjoyed his father’s affection for so long. The father had to return to Rahmatullah precisely when he was still a child; therefore, practically, he lived only under the care of his mother.
Jatiwangi’s social life, which at that time was already ethnically and religiously plural, led Syatori to form close friendships with Chinese children so that he could speak Chinese every day. He is also friends with adherents of non-Islamic religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Muslim children themselves. He also had close contact with and learned to read Latin and Dutch from van Houven, a Protestant zending who lived in Cideres (central Protestantism in Majalengka). From his close association with his diverse friends, Syatori gained knowledge and experience, which he later inducted as a pluralistic and multicultural group of thought and awareness.
Similar to the experience of Kiai Ikhsan Jampes (Kediri), for example, who loves wayang kulit; Since his youth, Syatori was very fond of watching shadow puppet shows, which were popular at that time and were often held in Jatiwangi and its surroundings. Some of the puppet characters that performed, said several elders in Majalengka, were deeply embedded in Syatori’s mind, such as Semar as a representative of the defenders of the ordinary people and the oppressed wong cilik, the genius Krisno, and the assertive Merkudara. These figures are always illustrated in and adorn his lectures, da’wah, and open conversations later on when he became a Kiai and changed his name to Abdul Halim. As a wayang kulit fan, Syatori also seems to enjoy gambling, which usually accompanies wayang performances; he is known to be very master of sitir and domino gambling and always wins in every gambling he participates in. However, for some reason, he left the habit of small-time gambling, for good, when he was a teenager.
From an early age (around 11 years old), Syatori began to learn the Koran by moving from one pesantren to another. There are five Islamic boarding schools that he explored for approximately 10 years to gain knowledge, namely Kiai Anwar’s boarding school in Ranji Wetan Village and Kiai Abdullah Sindangjaya’s pesantren (both in Majalengka), Kiai Sudja’ Bobos boarding school in Cirebon, Kiai Ahmad Sobari’s boarding school in Ciwedus Kuningan, and Kiai Agus boarding school in Kenayangan Pakalongan. But, unfortunately, there is no record of his knowledge and books in the five Islamic boarding schools scattered across the four regencies.
Not satisfied with the results of the study, two years after being married to Siti Murbiah, daughter of Kiai Muhammad Iyas, a Hoofd Penghulu Landraad (now Head of the Ministry of Religion) Majalengka, Syatori at the age of 22 left the archipelago to study at the Masjidil Haram, Mecca. Like the crater of Condrodimuka, a place where the famous scholars of the Archipelago Archipelago forged their knowledge and built their intellectual spirit. The Grand Mosque, since the 17th century until the mid-20th century, has been the centre of the transformation of Islamic scholarship from Sufism which maintains the doctrines of philosophical mysticism and encourages Sufis to be passive, not interested in thinking about the world towards neo-Sufism, which combines depth and Sufism piety with obedience to Shari’a activism.
At the Grand Mosque, Syatori studied directly with Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al Palimbani (from Palembang) and Sheikh Ahmad Khayyat. And with his senior friends, among the closest ones (mukhalith) were Wahab Hasbullah (Jombang) and Mas Mansur (Surabaya), Syatori studied and studied references to books by previous scholars, which at that time became mandatory reading for students of the Grand Mosque, such as the works of Sheikh Nawawi Al Banani (Banten), Sheikh Abdus Shomad Al Palimbani (Palembang), Sheikh Arsyad Al Banjari (Martapura), Sheikh Yusuf Al Makassar (Makassar), in addition to the works of Muhammad Abduh, Jamaluddin Al-Afghani, Al Ghozali, and Ibn Al Arabi.
What is interesting is when Syatori left the Grand Mosque. Although I do not know what prompted him, he did not return to Majalengka immediately but stopped for a few years in Shantiniketan, West Bangali, India. In that city, Syatori met Rabindranath Tagore, a writer, playwright, artist, musician, philosopher, and an education practitioner with the open nature model and formed close relationships, and even learned a lot from him. (Before Shantiniketan, Tagore and his father had made long trips throughout India, studying history and astronomy until finally arriving at Shantiniketan in 1901, living in an Ashram and starting an open-air school, with shady trees, beautiful gardens, and a library to establish the character of civil independence oriented to the freedom of the universe).
Establishing Pondok Santi Asromo
Leaving Shantiniketan, Syatori also, before returning to Majalengka, stopped for some time in Calcutta (there is no record of meeting with whom in this city). This city at that time was already crowded with supporters of the Swadeshi movement, a political-cultural-economic movement that was pioneered and developed. Mahatma Gandhi (popularly called Gandhism) and declared in Gujarat in 1883. In Calcutta itself, on October 2-4, 1907, there was a massive Swadeshi community protest against the nobility and British colonialism, resulting in violent clashes with the national police, resulting in many casualties. Syatori likely learned and absorbed a lot of Swadeshi (Gandhism) experiences, passion and teachings during his time in Calcutta.
In 1912, Syatori returned to Majalengka, welcomed not only by his family but also by his old circle of friends, and it was there that he announced the change of his name to Abdulhalim. Not long after that, with the help of some prominent figures and old friends, Abdulhalim began to pioneer religious and social movements. By marrying neo-Sufism teachings obtained from Mecca and embracing the yellow books, the ideology of civic independence education in the open, the Swadeshian of Gandhi, coupled with the socialization of youth who like to watch wayang kulit, Abdulhalim laid the foundation for his movement.
Also, in 1912, Abdulhalim started an “educational institution” by using (as initial capital) the house and prayer room that his father-in-law had built on a plot of land (approximately 300 meters west of Majalengka square). In addition to the Koran (religious learning), the students from Majalengka and its surroundings also learn and practice agriculture and trade (Abdulhalim himself is diligent in trading outside of teaching time).
When the santri and his followers from the farmers and traders grew in number, reaching hundreds of people, Abdulhalim formed an association (jam’iyah) called Hayatul Qulub. This association first brought together young people, followed by farmers and traders in Majalengka and its surroundings. From there, Abdulhalim began to be involved in socio-economic and political movements, including the riot (conflict with Chinese traders) in Cideres in 1914, which prompted the Dutch colonialists to suspect, intervene, and even repress militarily whatever the young Kiai did. And finally, after that, Hayatul Qulub was disbanded.
His activities in the mass movement of farmers and traders seemed to have attracted the attention of HOS Tjokroaminoto to attract Abdulhalim to join the Syarikat Islam (SI), which he founded and is based in Solo. Not long after that, Abdulhalim became SI’s leading activist in Majalengka. With the SI vehicle, Abdulhalim in 1916 was involved and even became one of the leaders of the strike movement for the workers of the Dutch sugar factories in Majalengka and Cirebon. After that, at the suggestion of HOS Tjokroaminoto and the support of the local ulema, in 1917 Abdulhalim founded the Persyarikatan Ulama (PU), which later became the Persyarikatan Rakyat Islam (PUI), which still exists today, as a strategy for separating fields of activity; education, religion, social, and economy are channelled through PU, while political activities are channelled through SI. The range of activities continues to be expanded in Majalengka and its surroundings and further away to East Java. Abdulhalim was listed as a participant in Tasywirul Afkar (1925), a kind of regular discussion forum on religious, economic, political, and cultural issues that was initiated and developed by Wahab Chasbullah in Surabaya and (temporarily) led by Mas Mansur, two figures who are closely acquainted with Abdulhalim during the Koran at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In a meeting of 11 pesantren Kiai in 1926, ahead of the declaration of the establishment of NU, to ensure a religious organization that defends local traditions, Abdulhalim’s name was listed as one of them is assumed that he meant Abdulhalim Majalengka.
After that, the Santi Asromo Islamic Boarding School also declined yearly; The number of students continued to decrease, and the supporters, especially the farmers and traders, have lost their role models. No generation of either lineage or senior students continues; Kiai Abdulhalim’s sons chose to engage in socio-economic and political activities outside Majalengka. In time, the ideals and ideas of building civic independence wrapped in resistant ideology and neo-Sufism theology were also lost. When I (coincidentally) visited Pasir Ayu in 1988, I didn’t see any of the students there; there were only old, decaying empty booths, several permanent buildings next to them with signboards: Madrasah Ibtidaiyah, Tsanawiyah, and Aliyah with a small number of students. The orientation has changed; from building theological independence to a piece of paper in the form of a diploma. Now, is there anyone willing to continue Kiai Abdulhalim’s ideal, of course, in a different place?