A surau is an Islamic assembly building in some regions of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula used for worship and religious instruction. Generally smaller physical structures, its ritual functions are similar to a mosque, allow men and women, and are used more for religious instruction and festive prayers. They depend more on grassroots support and funding. They can be compared to the Arab zawiya. In Minangkabau society, they continued pre-Islamic traditions of a men's house, and are built on high posts. In contemporary usage, "surau" is often used to refer to either a small mosque, or a designated room in a public building (such as a shopping mall, a university, or a rest stop along a highway) for men or women to do salah. Indonesia Surau among the Minankabau of Sumatra date to pre-Islamic times. Men lived together in them. The first Islamic Surau in Minangkabau is believed to have been built in the late 17th century in the coastal town of Ulakan. Smaller surau are known as Surau Mangaji, and consist mostly of a small room for to 20 students and one teacher who is usually also the Imam and teaches Quran recitation. Large Surau, during the heyday of Surau culture in the 18th century, help up to 1,000 students and included up to 20 buildings. The central figure of Surau was the Tuanku shaikh who mostly as carriers of Baraka was. He oversaw in large Surau usually a large number of teachers who as Guru were called and had mostly learned even with him or even met with him. The establishment and maintenance of Surau performed usually by foundations (waqf) and donations from parents as well as by the work of Surau residents. Minangkabau Surau has great similarities with the institution of the pesantren, which was initially distributed only to Java. Many Surau were simultaneously centers of Sufi orders. In this case, the Tuanku Shaikh was the spiritual leader of Surau-residents, and this kept him the oath of allegiance. The Surau of Ulakan served as a center of Shattāriyya Order, which had been introduced by Burhan ad-Din, a student of Abd al-Ra'uf as-Singkilī. Other orders, which had their own Surau in Minangkabau, were the Naqshbandīyya and Qadiriyya. Some students visited various Surau succession and could be introduced in different orders. The fact that the students of Tuanku shaikh as Mureed or Faqīr are called, shows the great impact