TOKOH ISLAM

Fakih Usman

Kyai Hajji Fakih Usman
Fakih in 1952
2nd Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia
In office 21 January 1950 – 17 August 1950
President	Sukarno
Prime Minister	Abdul Halim
Preceded by	Masjkur
Succeeded by	Post dissolved
6th Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia
In office 3 April 1952 – 30 July 1953
President	Sukarno
Prime Minister	Wilopo
Preceded by	Wahid Hasyim
Succeeded by	Masjkur
Personal details
Born	2 March 1904 Gresik, Dutch East Indies
Died	3 October 1968 (aged 64) Indonesia
Citizenship	Indonesian
Political party	Masyumi Party
Occupation	Muhammadiyah Council Member
Religion	Islam

This is an Indonesian name; it does not have a family name. The name Usman is a patronymic, and the person should be referred by the given name, Fakih.

Kyai Hajji Fakih Usman (also Faqih Usman; 2 March 1904 – 3 October 1968) was an Indonesian Islamic leader and politician with the Masyumi Party. He served as Minister of Religious Affairs on two occasions, first under the Halim Cabinet in the State of the Republic of Indonesia from 21 January to 17 August 1950, then for the Republic of Indonesia during the Wilopo Cabinet from 3 April 1952 to 30 July 1953. In his early years Fakih was criticised by conservative Muslims for his involvement with the modernist Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah, but is warmly remembered by the institution. A street in Gresik is named after him.

Born to a merchant and his wife in Gresik, Dutch East Indies, Fakih studied with his father and at a series of pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) until the 1920s. In 1925 he became involved with Muhammadiyah, rising quickly through the leadership until becoming head of the Surabaya branch in 1938; he also became active in local politics. When numerous Islamic organisations formed the Indonesian Islamic Assembly in 1937, Fakih became treasurer. He continued to be involved in these Islamic groups and politics during the Japanese occupation and ensuing national revolution. During his two periods as minister of religious affairs, during which he oversaw educational and institutional reform, Fakih also saw increased prominence within Muhammadiyah. He served as deputy chairman under several different leaders before being chosen as chairman of Muhammadiyah in late 1968, several days before his death.

[edit]Early life

Fakih was born in Gresik, East Java, Dutch East Indies, on 2 March 1904. His father, Usman Iskandar, was a wood merchant, and his housewife mother was the daughter of an ulama, or scholar of Islam.^[1] The couple, which was of modest means, had four other children; the family's lack of a noble background meant the children were unable to receive an education at Dutch-run schools.^[2][3] Fakih studied Islam from a young age, receiving much of his instruction from his father.^[3] At age he ten began studying at a pesantren in Gresik, finishing in 1918. The following year he continued his studies at several pesantren outside the city, including in rural Gresik and in nearby Bungah.^[1]

[edit]Muhammadiyah work

Fakih's father brought him into the trading business, although Fakih continued to study independently.^[2] When the modernist Islamic organisation Muhammadiyahspread to Gresik in 1922, Fakih was one of the first to join. Extremely active within the group, within three years he became its leader; under his leadership the group became a formally recognised branch.^[4] Through his work with the Gresik branch, Fakih became better known and later transferred to the branch inSurabaya, and in 1929 he was chosen to sit on that city's council.^[5] He also remained active in commerce, running a construction material trade and shipbuilding shop; he served on the local chamber of commerce during this period.^[3]

For the period of 1932 to 1936 Fakih was a member of the Muhammadiyah's regional council, serving concurrently as the editor of the organisation's official magazine Bintang Islam and on the Legal Affairs Committee.^[4] As he became more active, Fakih began commuting regularly from Surabaya to Gresik, handling Muhammadiyah business in Surabaya and the wood company in Gresik; this commute was done in Fakih's personal car, a rare luxury at the time. Studying Dutch in his spare time, Fakih continued to improve his knowledge of Islam through studying the thoughts of Muhammad Abduh.^[5]

On 21 September 1937, Muhammadiyah, the conservative Nahdatul Ulama (NU), the merchants' cooperative Sarekat Islam, and several other Islamic groups – which for the past decade had been feuding – united to form an umbrella group, the Indonesian Islamic Assembly (Majilis Islam Ala Indonesia, or MIAI), based in Surabaya;^[6] Fakih served as treasurer.^[7] In 1938 Fakih was made the head of the Surabaya branch of Muhammadiyah, replacing Mas Mansoer.^[5] In 1940 he began working full-time with MIAI, having been selected as the head of its secretariat in mid-September 1940. He resigned as head of the Surabaya branch of Muhammadiyah and as a city council member.^[7]

[edit]Masyumi

After the Japanese occupied the Indies in early 1942, on 9 March 1942 Governor-General Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and head of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army General Hein ter Poortencapitulated.^[8] The Japanese banned all forms of organisations, which led to MIAI disbanding in May. It was reformed on 5 September 1942 and, at the end of 1943, renamed to the Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations (Partai Majelis Syura Muslimin Indonesia, or Masyumi).^[9] Fakih was made a member of the Japanese sponsored advisory board, or Syu Sangi In, for Surabaya, a position in which he served until the end of the occupation;^[10] he also continued to serve on the Masyumi board.^[11]

After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the proclamation of Indonesian independence in August 1945,^[12] the Japanese began withdrawing from the country. Fakih began making contacts within the new republican government.^[13] From 7 to 8 November 1945 Fakih participated in the Indonesian Islamic Conference (Muktamar Islam Indonesia) in Yogyakarta, which resulted in Masyumi being made a political party representing Islamic interests. Although he returned to Gresik after the conference, the outbreak of a battle at Surabaya led to him and his family evacuating to Malang.^[14]

In Malang, Fakih teamed with Masjkur and Zainul Arifin to start an armed resistance, using the Japanese-trained Islamic units Sabilillah and Hizbullah, with Fakih as deputy chief in command. After the Dutch launched Operation Kraai in December 1948, Fakih and his family escaped to Surakarta, where he again became active in Muhammadiyah, commuting between Surakarta and the organisation's head office inYogyakarta. He served as deputy chair, under Bagus Hadikusumo.^[11]