MUHAMMADIYYA (MUHAMMADIYAH)

The second largest of Indonesia's Muslim social associations, the Muhammadiyah was founded in 1912 in Yogyakarta, Java, by Ahmad Dahlan, a cloth merchant and minor court official who had studied in Mecca. The organization quickly gained additional followers among Sumatran traders. With its multiethnic urban base, the movement spread rapidly, reaching even remote towns in eastern Indonesia by the late 1920s.

The Muhammadiyah eschewed formal politics, concentrating on social welfare and religious education. In contrast to traditional Qur˒anic schools (pesantren), Muhammadiyah madrasas had age grades, modeled directly on mission schools. Curricula included science, mathematics, and geography, in addition to religious study. These emphases showed the organization's twin ambitions of urging Muslims to respond to the scientific and political challenge of the West while encouraging individual responsibility in devotion. Muhammadiyah also stressed women's education. Its women's branch, Aisyiyah, remains the largest organization of its kind in the world.

Muhammadiyah has based its success on steering clear of formal politics. The regime of Indonesian president Suharto (1966–1998) sought to nurture a conservative faction in the organization, but the mainstream leadership guarded its independence. Although still solidly middle class, Muhammadiyah today is more intellectually diverse than at any point in history. In recent years the organization has experienced heated debates over Islamic law, women's rights, and religious tolerance.

See alsoReform: Southeast Asia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peacock, James L. Muslim Puritans: Reformist Psychology inSoutheast Asian Islam. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978.

Robert W. Hefner