spread of Islam, as local Muslim traders relocated to the smaller and remoter ports, establishing Islam into the rural provinces. Towards the beginning of the 20th century, "Islam became a rallying banner to resist colonialism". During this time the introduction of steam-powered transportation and printing technology was facilitated by European expansion. As a result, the interaction between Indonesia and the rest of the Islamic world, particularly the Middle East, had significantly increased. In Mecca, the number of pilgrims grew exponentially to the point that Indonesians were markedly referred as "rice of the Hejaz". The exchange of scholars and students was also increased. Around two hundred Southeast Asian students, mostly Indonesian, were studying in Cairo during the mid-1920s, and around two thousand citizens of Saudi Arabia were had Indonesian descent. Those who returned from the Middle East had become the backbone of religious training in pesantrens. Concurrently, a number of newly-founded religious thoughts and movements in the Islamic world had inspired the Islamic current in Indonesia. In particular, Islamic Modernism, which was inspired by Islamic scholar Muhammad 'Abduh, aimed to return to the original scripture of the religion. The Modernist movement in Indonesia had criticized the syncretic nature of Islam in Indonesia. It advocated for the reform of Islam and the elimination of perceived un-Islamic elements within the traditions. The movement also aspired to incorporate elements of modernity into Islam and, for instance, built schools that combined an Islamic and secular curricula, and was unique in that it trained women as preachers for women. Through the activities of the reformers and the reactions of their opponents, Indonesian society became more firmly structured along communal (aliran) rather than class lines. Reformist movements had especially taken roots in the Minangkabau area of West Sumatra, where its ulema played an important role in the early reform movement. Renowned Minangkabau imam in Mecca Ahmad Khatib al-Minangkabawi had contributed greatly to the reformist training. He was single-handedly responsible for educating many of the essential Muslim figures during this time. In 1906, Tahir bin Jalaluddin, a disciple of al-Minangkabawi, published in al-Iman, the Malay newspaper in Singapore. Five years later followed publication of Al-Munir magazine by Abdullah Ahmad in Padang. In the first 20th century, Muslim modernist school arose in West Sumatra, such as Adabiah (1909), Diniyah Putri (1911), and Sumatera Thawalib (1915). The movement had also attained its supporter base in Java. In Surakarta, leftist Muslim