KH Ahmad Dahlan, The Enlightened Hero Who Laid the Foundation of Muhammadiyah

Muhammad Darwis—later known as KH Ahmad Dahlan—brought the spirit of tajdid (Islamic renewal) at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when many circles remained bound to narrow and traditional religious understanding.

He founded the Muhammadiyah organisation in 1912, which has endured and grown substantially to the present day.

In the early stages of disseminating his renewal movement after returning from the holy land of Mecca, Ahmad Dahlan faced numerous obstacles. These included attempts to correct the direction of the qibla until his mosque was destroyed, and opposition when he taught general knowledge at Islamic schools.

Scholar Alwi Shihab noted in his 1998 book Stemming the Tide several key factors that prompted Muhammadiyah’s founding: the influence of Islamic reform ideas in the early twentieth century, responses to longstanding ideological tensions within Javanese society, reactions to Christian missionary penetration, and anti-colonial sentiment.

The Indonesian government later recognised him as a National Hero in 1961.

From Darwis to Dahlan

Darwis—later KH Ahmad Dahlan—was the son of KH Abu Bakar, Imam and Scribe of the Great Mosque of Kauman in Yogyakarta. His mother, Siti Aminah, was the daughter of H Ibrahim bin Hasan, a Penghulu (religious official) at the Yogyakarta Sultanate.

KH Ahmad Dahlan was the fourth of seven siblings. He descended from Sunan Giri (Muhammad Ainul Yaqin) and Sunan Gresik (Sheikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim/Sheikh Magribi).

At age fifteen, Dahlan travelled to the holy land to perform the hajj pilgrimage. During his five years residing there, he studied the thoughts of Islamic reformers in the Hijaz region.

Upon his return to the archipelago in 1888, Darwis returned to Kauman, his hometown, and adopted the name Ahmad Dahlan by which he became known.

In his youth, Darwis—or Dahlan—studied under his brothers-in-law Kiai Haji Lurah Muhammad Noer, KH Muhammad Saleh, and Kiai Haji Muhsin.

His brother-in-law, KH Saleh, even pursued him to the train to strengthen his resolve to remain steadfast with Muhammadiyah after his prayer house, Langgar Kidul, was demolished on accusations of heresy. At that time, Dahlan and his wife, Siti Walidah binti Kiai Penghulu Haji Fadhil, intended to leave Yogyakarta.

“Get down, Dahlan, you cannot go,” KH Saleh told KH Ahmad Dahlan at Tugu Station, as quoted from Suara Muhammadiyah magazine.

“We shall establish a new prayer house. Come home now,” he added.

Muhammadiyah and the Islamic Renewal Movement

According to the official Muhammadiyah Central Board website, the organisation’s founding began with a school for the common people called Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Diniyah Islamiyah, which Ahmad Dahlan managed in one room of his house in Yogyakarta.

Initially, there were nine students studying under Dahlan at this school.

Over time, his students and pupils encouraged Ahmad Dahlan to establish an organisation to sustain the school.

“In the Statute or Articles of Association of Muhammadiyah presented to the Dutch East Indies Government, the organisation’s founding date is stated as 18 November 1912,” the Muhammadiyah website reported.

Then, on 22 August 1941, Muhammadiyah was recognised as a legal entity by the Dutch colonial government.

His resistance through education was also evident in his dissatisfaction with the dualistic educational system—the Islamic education system based in pesantren boarding schools and the secular (Western) education system based in schools managed by the Dutch colonial government.

After the Boedi Oetomo Congress at KH Ahmad Dahlan’s house in 1917, the founder of Muhammadiyah stated that the organisation should not remain only in Yogyakarta but expand throughout Java and various parts of the archipelago.

Permission was subsequently requested and approved by the colonial government shortly thereafter.

As time progressed, Muhammadiyah expanded rapidly. This growth prompted Dahlan to establish Aisyiyah to advance women’s welfare.

After obtaining permission in 1921, Muhammadiyah branches began opening in various regions throughout the archipelago.

The rapid expansion of Muhammadiyah aroused concern and was considered a threat by the Dutch government.

However, Dahlan chose education as his means of resisting Dutch colonialism. According to him, education was a tool for dakwah (Islamic preaching) to promote virtue and prevent wrongdoing—a concept to encourage good deeds and prevent bad ones.

Beyond Aisyiyah, KH Ahmad Dahlan also established a scout movement called Hizbul Wathan in 1918, formed a Hajj Assistance Division, and built the archipelago’s first prayer house specifically designated for women.

In the 2018 book KH Ahmad Dahlan The Benefactor, it is written that his efforts in building education and the Muhammadiyah organisation were inseparable from intellectual developments in the Middle East, particularly from Muhammad Abduh’s ideas.

“The difference is that Ahmad Dahlan, through Muhammadiyah, was able to extend his dakwah to various aspects of life. Not only reaching the literate educated class, but also embracing impoverished urban communities,” the book by Imron Mustofa states.

Ahmad Dahlan grasped this spirit of renewal in concrete form through organisational establishment. Beyond dakwah—including through the Suara Muhammadiyah printing press—he also engaged in formal education, healthcare, and social services.

“Based on Quran Surah Ali Imran verse 104, he established Muhammadiyah with the hope of fulfilling the Islamic duty of promoting virtue and preventing wrongdoing. His evangelistic spirit and commitment to the weak resulted in various public facilities such as hospitals, orphanages, and schools—an initiative considered aberrant in his time, as it was seen as imitating Western and Christian ways,” the book The Benefactor states.

KH Ahmad Dahlan led Muhammadiyah from 1912 onwards.