Kyai A kyai ( ) is an expert in Islam, usually used among the ethnic Javanese people. Origins The word is of Javanese origin. Sometimes it is spelled kiai. Traditionally, students of Islam in Indonesia would study in a boarding school known as a ...

Haji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Hasyim Asy'ari (14 February 1871 or 10 April 1875 – 25 July 1947) was an Indonesian

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

National Hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...

and founder of

Nahdlatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitable body funding sch ...

Biography

Hasyim Asy'ari was born Muhammad Hasyim in Gedang,

Jombang Regency Jombang Regency ( id, Kabupaten Jombang; jv, ꦏꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦗꦺꦴꦩ꧀ꦧꦁ) is a regency of East Java, Indonesia, situated to the southwest of Surabaya. The capital of the regency is the town of Jombang. The regency has an area o ...

on 10 April 1875. His parents were Asy'ari and Halimah. His grandfather, Kiai Usman was the founder of Pesantren Gedang and his great grandfather was the founder of Pesantren Tambakberas. He was the third son of ten siblings. Hasyim Asy'ari's ancestry can be traced to Sultan Hadiwijaya of

Pajang The Kingdom of Pajang or Sultanate of Pajang (كسلطانن ڤاجڠ ;1586–1568) was a short-lived Muslim state in Java. It was established by Hadiwijaya or Jaka Tingkir, Lord of Boyolali, after a civil war and was a successor to Sultanate ...

, and further, to Brawijaya VI (

Girindrawardhana Prabhu Natha Girindrawardhana Dyah Ranawijaya (born Ranawijaya) was the ruler of the Majapahit Empire between 1474 and 1498. He is referred in a Jiyu inscription as , which means ruler of Majapahit, Janggala and Kediri, and as Pa Bu Ta La in ...

), the last king of Majapahit. At the age of twenty, he married Khadijah, daughter of Pesantren Siwalan Panji leader. One year later, they went to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

. After seven months, his wife was dead and also his son, Abdullah two months later. In 1899, he founded Pesantren Tebuireng, which later became the largest pesantren in Java in the early 20th century having four thousands students in 1947. The pesantren also became the center for the reform of traditional Islamic teaching. On 31 January 1926, he and several traditional Islamic leaders founded

(Awakening of Ulamas). During the Japanese occupation era, he was arrested, several months later he was released and became Head of Religious Affairs. He died suddenly on 25 July 1947 due to hypertension, after hearing news that Dutch troops were winning a battle in Malang.

Personal life

He married seven times and all of his wives were daughters of ulama. Four of his wives were Khadijah, Nafisah, Nafiqah and Masrurah. One of his sons,

Wahid Hasyim Abdul Wahid Hasyim (June 1, 1914 – April 19, 1953) was the first Minister of Religious Affairs in the government of President Sukarno of Indonesia, a post he held in 1945, and from 1949 to 1952. He was the son of Nahdlatul Ulama founder Has ...

was one of the formulators of the

Jakarta Charter The Jakarta Charter ( id, Piagam Jakarta) was a document drawn up by members of the Indonesian Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK) on 22 June 1945 in Jakarta that later formed the basis of the preamble to the Co ...

and later became Minister of Religious Affairs, while his grandson

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, fr ...

became

President of Indonesia The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and i ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asyari, Hasyim 1875 births 1947 deaths Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Indonesian Sunni Muslims Nahdlatul Ulama National Heroes of Indonesia People from Jombang Regency Wahid family