Muhammadiyah

Muhammadiyah (, followers of Muhammad); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society () is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia. The organization was founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan in the city of Yogyakarta as a reformist socioreligious movement, advocating ijtihad - individual interpretation of Qur'an and sunnah, as opposed to taqlid - the acceptance of the traditional interpretations propounded by the ulama. Since its establishment, Muhammadiyah has adopted a reformist platform mixing religious and secular education, primarily as a way to promote the upward mobility of Muslims toward a 'modern' community and to purify Indonesian Islam of local syncretic practices. It continues to support local culture and promote religious tolerance in Indonesia, while a few of its higher education institutions are attended mostly by non-Muslims, especially in East Nusa Tenggara and Papua provinces. The group also runs a large chain of charity hospitals, and operated 128 universities as of the late 1990s.
In 2008, Muhammadiyah was considered the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia with 29 million members. Although Muhammadiyah leaders and members are often actively involved in shaping the politics in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah is not a political party. It has devoted itself to social and educational activities.
History.
On November 18, 1912, Ahmad Dahlan— a court official of the "kraton" of Yogyakarta and an educated Muslim scholar from Mecca—established Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta. There were a number of motives behind the establishment of this movement. Among the important ones are the backwardness of Muslim society and the penetration of Christianity. Ahmad Dahlan, much influenced by Egyptian reformist Muhammad Abduh, considered modernization and purification of religion from syncretic practices were very vital in reforming this religion. Therefore, since its beginning Muhammadiyah has been very concerned with maintaining tawhid and refining monotheism in society.
From 1913 to 1918, Muhammadiyah established five Islamic Schools. In 1919 an Islamic high school, "Hooge School Muhammadiyah" was established. In establishing schools, Muhammadiyah received significant help from the Boedi Oetomo, an important nationalist movement in Indonesia in the first half of the twentieth century, which provided teachers. Muhammadiyah has generally avoided politics. Unlike its traditionalist counterpart, the Nahdatul Ulama, it never formed a political party. Since its establishment, it has devoted itself to educational and social activities.
In 1925, two years after the death of Dahlan, Muhammadiyah only had 4,000 members but had built 55 schools and two clinics in Surabaya and Yogyakarta. After Abdul Karim Amrullah introduced the organisation to the Minangkabau ethnicity, a dynamic Muslim community, Muhammadiyah developed rapidly. In 1938, the organisation claimed 250,000 members, managed its 834 mosques, 31 libraries, 1,774 schools, and 7,630 ulema. The Minangkabau Merchants spread organization to the entire of Indonesia.
During the 1965-66 political turbulence and violence, Muhammadiyah declared that the extermination of the Indonesian Communist Party constituted Holy War, a view endorsed by other Islamic groups. (See also: Indonesian killings of 1965-66). During the 1998 "Indonesian reformation", some parts of Muhammadiyah urged the leadership to form a party. Therefore, the leadership, including Muhammadiyah's chairman, Amien Rais, founded the National Mandate Party. Although gaining large support from Muhammadiyah members, this party has no official relationship with Muhammadiyah. The leader of Muhammadiyah said the members of his organisation are free to align themselves with political parties of their choosing, provided such parties have shared values with Muhammadiyah.
In 2008, with 29 million members, Muhammadiyah was the second largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, after Nahdlatul Ulama.
Doctrine.
The central doctrine of Muhammadiyah is Sunni Islam. However, it emphasizes the authority of the Qur'an and the Hadiths as supreme Islamic law that serves as the legitimate basis of the interpretation of religious belief and practices. This is contrasted with traditional practices where shariah law is invested in religious schools by ulema. The main focus of the Muhammadiyah movement is to heighten people's sense of moral responsibility, purifying their faith to true Islam.
Muhammadiyah strongly opposes syncretism, where Islam had coalesced with animism (spirit worship) and with Hindu-Buddhist elements that were spread among communities from the pre-Islamic period. Muhammadiyah opposes the tradition of Sufism that allows a Sufi leader (shaykh) to be the formal authority over Muslims. As of 2006, the organization was said to have "veered sharply toward a more conservative brand of Islam" under the leadership of Din Syamsuddin the head of the Indonesian Ulema Council.
Activities.
Muhammadiyah was noted as a Muslim reformists organization. Its main activities are religious practice and education. It has built modern Islamic schools, differing from traditional pesantren. Some of its schools are also open to non-Muslims. In 2006 there were around 5,754 schools owned by Muhammadiyah.
It also functioned as a charitable organization involved in health care. In 2016, it owned several hundred non-profit medical clinics and hospitals across Indonesia. In 2006, it was active in campaigning about the danger of bird flu in Indonesia.
Organization.
The national headquarters was originally in Yogyakarta. However, by 1970 the committees dealing with education, economics, health and social welfare had been relocated to the national capital, Jakarta.
Muhammadiyah is supported by several autonomous organizations:
The central committee structure consists of five advisors, a chairman with several deputies, a vice chairman, a secretary general with some deputies, and a treasurer with some deputies.
Universities.
The Muhammadiyah organisation has a number of universities which are spread out in several provinces of Indonesia, such as: