Khilafah Committee

By: Septian AW
Undergraduate Student (S1),University of Indonesia History Course

The struggle for the re-establishment of Khilafah is part of the Indonesian history. Not long after the collapse of Uthmani Khilafah, many people were involved in the struggle for re-establishing Khilafah in Indonesia. Historical sources prove that muslim scholars, leaders and other muslims participated in and struggled for its re-establishment.

Although their struggle was short and then encompassed by the nationalist struggles, their fighting spirit is important to understand. The historical facts should be disclosed. Indonesian people have the right to find the traces of their struggle. By understanding the history, we can take a lot of valuable lessons. By knowing the past, we can better understand the present in order to design a better future.

The elimination of Uthmani Khilafah by Kemal Mustafa was followed by calls by al-Azhar clerics to attend the Congress in Cairo which would elect a new khilafah, which received tremendous enthusiasm among Muslims in Indonesia. On 4-5October 1924, leaders of Sarekat Islam (SI), Muhammadiyah and Al-Ershad held a meeting in Madrasah of Tarbiatoel Aitam in Surabaya, East Java. Besides being attended by the local and national leaders of the three organizations, the meeting was also attended by many great scholars, both Arabs and Javanese. In the meeting, the issue of the re-establishment of Khilafah and the calls of the Al-Azhar clerics were brought up for a long discussion.

In the history of Indonesia, this meeting was a special one to discuss the Khilafah, and the first held in Indonesia. It was agreed in the meeting that the existence of the Khilafah is mandatory, and it is important to send an Indonesian delegation to the Congress in Cairo. Another result of the meeting was the consensus among the Islamic scholars and leaders of the Islamic movements to establish Khilafah Committees as a forum for those who struggle for Khilafah.

The Khilafah Committee was in charge of setting mandates that would be brought by the Indonesian delegation to the congress. The mandate included a concept of Khilafah that was proposed to be enforced. Therefore, it turns out that their struggles at that time had managed to formulate a new concept of Khilafah.

During24-27December 1924,the committee headed by Wondo Soedirjo and Deputy KH Abdul Wahab held its Extraordinary Congress of Islam. The Congress, attended by thousands of Muslims including scholars and leaders of this movement, agreed to such a mandate. Unanimously, the participants of the congress came to an agreement that they must be involved in the struggle for the Khilafah.

In addition, the Congress also approved to establish a Committee of the Khilafah in Indonesia. Therefore, some branches of the Khilafah Committee in several cities in Indonesia were established. If we tracedback the local history of Khilafah committee, perhaps we found traces of their struggles in the city where we live now.

The branches of Khilafah Committee which were established included Yogyakarta Khilafah Committee,  Pekalongan Khilafah Committee, Cirebon Khilafah Committee, Pasuruan Khilafah Committee, Bogor Khilafah Committee, Banjarmasin Khilafah Committee and Cianjur Khilafah Committee. This is the proof that the struggle for the Khilafahgained huge appreciation from various places in Indonesia.

As reported by a newspaper at that time, on 30November 1924, in Cianjur,there was a huge meeting, attended by around 3,000 people to discuss the issue of Khilafah. It was something unusual even in today’s context that a small town like Cianjur convened such a big meeting to discuss the issue of Khilafah that gathered around 3,000 participants.

Then, how would the struggle for Khilafah be somewhere else? I think it is very interesting to trace back its history. Interested? (Mediaumat.com, 24/12)