Muhammadiyah in Betawi

Although the majority of Betawi people adhere to the Ahlussunnah Wal Jama’ah Asy-Syafi’iyyah school of thought in their Islamic faith, some Betawi individuals follow other schools or are active in Islamic organisations such as Muhammadiyah.

One example is Prof H Agus Suradika, who currently serves as Head of the Regional Civil Service Agency (BKD) of DKI Jakarta Province. He is a native Betawi and a Muhammadiyah figure who once served as Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Regional Executive for Jakarta.

The early presence of Muhammadiyah in Betawi lands, as cited from the jakarta.muhammadiyah.or.id website and other sources, began with the establishment of the Muhammadiyah Jakarta Branch, which coincided with Muhammadiyah’s 9th anniversary on 18 November 1921.

The idea to establish the Muhammadiyah Jakarta Branch started in 1920, when KH Ahmad Dahlan, en route to the Holy Land, first stopped over in Jakarta. During this stopover, at 2:00 a.m. on the Tanah Tinggi railway line in the Senen area, KH Ahmad Dahlan had the opportunity to make direct contact and provide guidance to several individuals, such as Kartosudarmo, Soewito, Sardjono, and Wirjosudarmo, who later became known as the pioneers of Muhammadiyah in Jakarta.

In fact, prior to this meeting, some of these pioneers of the Muhammadiyah Jakarta Branch had already been in contact with KH Ahmad Dahlan, either through correspondence or by receiving lessons directly from him. Nevertheless, this particular meeting in Jakarta was truly historic, because after the encounter with KH Ahmad Dahlan, the spirit of Muhammadiyah began to blaze in the hearts of the pioneering generation of Muhammadiyah Jakarta.