Islamic thought and political role of K.H.R. Asnawi to develop Sarekat Islam and Nahdlatul Ulama in Kudus (1916-1959)

SUMMARY

By using historical method, this research discusses the Islamic thought and political role of K.H.R. Asnawi to develop Sarekat Islam and Nahdlatul Ulama in Kudus (1916-1959) in the intellectual history framework. Theoretical approach used in this research is social hermeneutics, namely interpretation to personal side and his social action. This research expresses any kind of Islamic thought, how the political role of K.H.R. Asnawi to develop SI and NU in Kudus, and also why that Islamic thought and political role of K.H.R. Asnawi are identical and become model of Islamic religiousness in Kudus.

K.H.R. Asnawi was born and grew in merchant environment as well as in jelly pesantren’s tradition. Since young age, he studied from various ulamas and pesantrens, such as pesantren Tulungagung, and pesantren Mangunsari, Mayong. He have learnt and taught in Mecca for 22 years (1894-1916). In Mecca he learnt to the various ulamas from Java and Arab, such as K.H. Saleh Darat, Syaikh Mahfudz At-Tirmisi, and Sayyid Umar Shata. Known as a smart student, he was lifted as teacher in Mecca. His students became prominent ulamas in Nusantara such as, K.H. A. Wahab Chasbullah, K.H. Bisri Syansuri from Jombang, K.H. Saleh from Tayu, K.H. Mufid from Kudus, K.H. A. Mukhit from Sidoarjo, and K.H. Dahlan from Pekalongan.

Islamic thought of K.H.R. Asnawi decanted in so many books and his poems, covering aqidah, fiqh, and tasawuf, based on the conception of ahlussunnah wal jama’ah. In aqidah, he formulated the nature of Allah and rasul amounting to 50 sifat according to Imam Al-Asy’ari and Imam Al-Maturidi’s formulation. In the fiqh, he is known as ulama who holding firmness to syari’a, especially shalat. His book in this field is stenghthened the pattern his fiqih followed madzhab of Imam Syafi’i. In tasawuf, he allied between syari’a and haqeqa. He followed orthodox sufism which was formulated by Imam Junaid Al-Baghdadi and Imam Al-Ghazali

Political role of K.H.R. Asnawi started with his role to establish SI Mecca in 1912. After going home from Mecca, he became advisor of SI Kudus in 1916. In 1918, he involved in Anti-Chinese conflict as activator which made him imprisoned for three years by the Dutch Colonial government. Before the birth of NU at 31 January 1926, he and K.H. Bisri Syansuri became delegation of Committee of Hijaz for commissioning the protest of Wahabi’s actions in Mecca. As the continuation of Committee of Hijaz and motivated by the same spirit, K.H.R. Asnawi together with friends established NU.

As one of the most authoritative figure of ahlussunnah wal jama’ah, K.H.R. Asnawi actively missionized to various area in Kudus, Demak, Jepara, Blora, and its surroundings. In order to institutionalize his mission, K.H.R. Asnawi found Madrasah Qudsiyyah at 1916 and Raudlatut Thalibin boarding school at 1927. The charismatic figure supported with his coherent attitude and strong commitment to Islam, had placed K.H.R. Asnawi as the model of religousness process of santri in Kudus.