Shaping Charisma: Muda Waly al-Khalidi and Saint-Making in Contemporary Indonesia

This article aims to clarify the social process of creating waliyullah in Muslim society. Waliyullah is often considered the highest prestige acquired by a mere human other than the Messenger. It is obtained because people perceive and believe that a person is pious and close to Allah. Most scholars explain the aspects of godliness and devotion of a figure who is regarded as a trustee or define the various teachings he conveyed and their effect on religious life. Therefore, sainthood has been a priori received. This traces the process of setting up insight on the sainthood of Abuya Muda Waly Al-Khalidi (1917-1961), a cleric who brought tarekat Naqsabandiyah Khalidiyah to Aceh in 1939 and as the top of cleric teaching genealogy of Islamic boarding school in contemporary Aceh. Data is collected by conducting several interviews with related figures, reviewing relevant documents, either the previous study result or scholar publication in various media. From this study, the author argues that sainthood is a social construction which is processed and created through political negotiations as part of strengthening religious authority.


INTRODUCTION
The charismatic authority introduced by Weber is often related to the religious authority, where the owner of the authority is trusted because of his distinctive charisma, not due to tradition or law. 1 Although the study of religious authority is not always related to the charisma, this aspect always been an important study in this topic.Based on the context of Muslim society in Indonesia, among the groups which have religious charisma are wali or waliyullah (plural: auliya).Waliyullah has the core position in Muslim society because he can influence moslem's perspective on practicing religion.Pilgrimage to the tombs of saints have had a broad impact not only on the religious ways of society but also on the economic and political construction of the neighborhood. 2 far, discussion about sainthood tend to be placed on conceptual studies in the Qur'an and Hadith, the status of one's sainthood, 3 or the concept of sainthood according to certain cleric', such as sainthood based on Ibnu Taymiyah's perspective, 4 according to al-Hakim al-Tirmidzi, 5 according to Mahfuz al-Tarmasi, an Indonesian cleric who lives in Mecca 6 and according to Sayyid Haydar Amuli. 7In the Indonesian context, many studies flash on the karamah aspects of first generation Islamic figures, such as the study of Walisongo (nine saints) who became a preachers in the Java island and give a wide effect on religious life in Java island. 8nerally, based on the Islamic society, Waliyullah is a person who is believed to have the highest spiritual level acquired due to his piousness and closeness to Allah when he lived in the world. 9This predicate of piousness is one degree below the predicate of Prophet, namely a person who has communication ability directly to Allah and has a duty of delivering revelations to humans.
A person called Waliyullah is always followed by a story about karamah, or various good given to him by Allah that was never possessed by avarage person. 10n Islamic history, the term of sainthood appears along with the emergence of sufism thought, so this concept and sufism studies are inextricably linked.In the very well-known book Tadhkirat al-Auliya, Fariuddin Attar describes the karamah stories of saints in Islam. 11Likewise, the figures of Sufi at the beginning period were always releted to the karamah as proof of their sainthood. 12This discourse keeps on growing and becomes an important part on the treasury of Islamic thought until the eighteenth century when the emergence of thought renewal movement in Islam placed sainthood as heresy.In the nineteenth century, the Islamic purification movement by Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab in Saudi Arabia, assigned the view of Waliyullah as a heresy that must be omitted because it didn't line up with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.Meanwhile, another Islamic world, such as Morocco, Turkey, and Indonesia, where the tarekat developed, the concept of sainthood remains a significant part of the religious life of the community.This article will discuss about how followers of the Tarekat Naqsybandiyah Khalidiyah in Aceh, the westernmost province in Indonesia, shaping charisma of sainthood for their teacher Abuya Syaikh Muda Waly al-Khalidi (1937-1961) until he was considered a Waliyullah.Nowadays, the tomb of Muda Waly (among his followers called the Abuya dome) located in the middle of his Islamic boarding house in Labuhanhaji district, South Aceh regency, is visited by numerous folks everyday.
Similarly, his annual death ceremony was celebrated wonderfully by holding kenduri which brought countless guests, not only from Aceh but also come from various countries in Southeast Asia.It becomes an important symbol of Islamic orthodoxy and a major reference for Anti Wahhabi movement in Aceh.
Unfortunately, Muda Waly still yet to gain much researcher attention.In fact, several previous researchers who observed socio-religious issues in Aceh stated that the importance of studying this figure to understand Islam and politics in Aceh. 13Even though there have been several studies about this figure, they only focus on his life history, his role in the development of Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khaldiyah,14 his political role and his concept of education. 15There has not been a writer analysing how Muslims in Aceh describe his role throughout his lifetime until he is treated a Waliyullah.

METHOD
This article is the result of a social history and biographical research that took place in Aceh, where the figure lived.As a social history research, data are based on historical records carried out by previous researchers and/or historical artefacts that can reveal the previous facts about the subject.
On the other hand, data are collected by interviews with people who have had touch with and connected to the figure being studied.Additionally, data were taken by books and biographical writings of Muda Waly al-Khalidi that is the main subject of the article.These data have been collected since 2015 and steadily updated and added until 2023.

DISCUSSION
The main figure discussed in this article is Muhammad Waly, or in social community in Aceh known as Abuya Syaikh Muda Waly al-Khalidi (in this article, he is just called Muda Waly).
He is a cleric who comes from South Aceh Regency, a district in Aceh Province.The greatness of his name can be seen by the numerous student who are spread around Aceh and other provinces in Indonesia.Although, he passed away on his relative youth, specifically 44 years, his legacy of knowledge keeps on being directives and guidelines for many Muslims.His greatness can be divided into three domains, the establishment of Islamic boarding house, the development of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah, and the improvement of Islamic politics.In several sub-chapters, there will explain three main roles that make Muda Waly al-Khalidi considered a main figure to the development of Islam in Aceh.

Family and Education
Muda Waly's great-grandfather was a cleric who come from Minangkabau, West Sumatra, migrated to Aceh at the end of nineteenth century.At that time, most of minangnese migrated to other regions in Sumatra, either to trade or to preach.One of the migrated destination regions is Aceh through the west coast of Sumatra Island.Chugs along it, there were inhibited by the migrant of minangnese mostly, such as Barus, Singkil, Bakongan, Tapaktuan, and Labuhanhai.Muda Waly's grandfather known as Teungku Peulumat migrated to Labuhanhaji at the end of the nineteenth century.A few years later, he was pursued by Muhammad Salim, his nephew, who was the parent of Muda Waly.Muhammad Salim married a local people and stayed in Labuhanhaji.It was there where Muda Waly was born in 1917 and grew up in a local community.When he was child, he studied in the traditional Islamic boarding house in Labuhanhaji which was well-intentioned parenting by Tengku Ali from Lampisang, a cleric from Aceh Besar Regency.A few years later, he continued his study with another cleric who also came from Aceh Besar, namely Syekh Mahmud, who opened a religious education in Blangpidie (today, it becomes the capital city of Southwest Aceh Regency).After completing his study in Islamic boarding house, he continued his study.After completing his study in Islamic boarding house, he continued his study in Aceh Besar in the mid-1930s.In Aceh Besar, he met Tengku Hasan Krueng Kalee, a famous cleric in Aceh at that time, who recommended Muda Waly to study in Indrapuri Islamic boarding house Aceh Besar, led by Teungku Hasballah.There, he spent his time to study religion on various fields. 16ter two years of studying at Indrapuri, Muda Waly received a scholarship from Aceh Studi Fond, a social organization formed by several Acehnese figures to support the development of human recources by providing endorsement for education.He was elected to receive a scholarship because of his intelligence in the religion field.He was supported to continue his study in al-Azhar University, Egypt.As a preliminary step, Aceh Studi Fond sent him to West Sumatra to take an Arabic language training at the Islamic Normal educational institution led by Mahmud Yunus.Mahmud Yunus who founded a school in West Sumatra is an alumna of al-Azhar university.
Unlike any Islamic schools in Sumatra at that time, Mahmud Yunus emphasized the aspects of language learning and general science in his school. 17It is possible that Muda Waly who grew up in the traditional Islamic boarding house tradtion, thinks that the learning model is not in accordance with his interest.Therefore, he only held for three months.Then, he continued his study from general learning in Padang.In Padang, he met several clerics of Kaum Tuo who were really active in the development of religion both Islamic boarding house and general leaning.Several clerics of Kaum Tuo who are known by Muda Waly are Syaikh Khatib Ali and Syaikh Djamil Jaho who then married Muda Waly with the member of his family. 18 1939, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca with one of his wives.It is different with most other cleric who performed the Hajj at that time, that they also continued their religion studies, Muda Waly only performed the Hajj and did not continue his study with religious teachers in Mecca.
On his return from Mecca, Muda Waly looks for a tarekat teacher to get an ijazah of tarekat.
Although, there are several tarekat teachers in West Sumatra, most of them do not focus on their tarekat and cannot give an ijazah to a murshid.Because of that, Muda Waly went to Kampar, Batu Basurek, that is now a part of Riau province.There, he met Abdul Gani al-Kampari who gave him an ijazah as a murshid on Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah after going through a suluk ritual process for 40 days. 19After returning to Padang, he found that political condition in West Sumatra was not condusive.It is related to the issue of the arrival of Japanese on colonialization mission to replace Dutch authority.He decided to return to Aceh. 20

Islamic Boarding House: Modernization and Networking
The first activity undertaken by Muda Waly after returning to Labuhanhaji was building an Islamic boarding house.Initially, he wanted to continue recitation which had been begun by his parent in Kampung Blang Poroh.It was a weekly religious recitation which had been going on since he was child.His arrival from overseas brought a new spirit, new knowledge, new insights, and various information about religion that attracted public's attention.It makes the recitation highly demanded so it is growing rapidly.Despite having hard times during the Japanese colonial era, after Indonesian independence in 1945, the number of worshippers who attend his recitation is getting crowded.In fact, his worshippers do not only come from Labuhanhaji, but also they come from other areas in Aceh.
Muda Waly decided to build an Islamic boarding house in Labuhanhaji and named PERTI Darussalam.He obtained a large plot of land from Wedana Labuhanhaji who still had family ties.
On that land, he built some buildings used to accomodate students who came from several regions.

Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah Center
Other than constructing an Islamic boarding house focusing on religious learning for children and adults, the other most important object carried out by Muda Waly through his Islamic boarding house is to improve tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah.Based on the previous part, Muda Waly took tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah to Abdul Ghani from Kampar, Riau.He was appointed to be a murshid on this tarekat, so he had the authority to develop in in his own region and had the authority to appoint a new students in this tarekat.As the first person who brings this tarekat in Aceh, he becomes the top of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah lineage growing in Aceh.
According to the history of Aceh, tarekat Naqsabandiyah was not a popular tarekat.In the seventeenth century, Abdurauf as-Singkil, a greatly affect and well-known cleric in Aceh, chose to develop tarekat Syattariyah, although he had an ijazah of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah. 22Unfortunately, based on the existing data, we have not achieved an explanation yet of how tarekat Syattariyah developed in Aceh and who inherited it now.Although there are several tarekat Syatariyah centers in Aceh at present, it develops through other lineages instead of Abdurrauf.Syattariyah of Abdurrauf's network actually developed more in West Sumatra and Java Island than the others. 23me studies stated that the network of tarekat in Java mostly comes down to Abdurrauf as-Singkil.
It is caused by many migrants from Java traveled earlier to Haramain then dropped in Aceh and studied with Abdurrauf in the seventeenth century.Therefore, after they returned to Java, they brought tarekat Syattariyah taken from Aceh.
When Muda Waly developed this tarekat, it can be said that this is a new traditional tarekat not already in Aceh.Because of the developmenet of his advanced Islamic boarding house, tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah that he developed was also accepted by the community.He elevated and sent some of his students to develop the Islamic boarding house and tarekat around regions in Aceh.One of them is Kamarudin from Sawang.He becomes a murshid of Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah.
Then, he entrusted to Teunom region, Aceh Jaya now.In Teunom, he founded an Islamic boarding house and developed a tradition of tarekat.The other students are Jailani Musa entrusted to North Kluet District, South Aceh Regency and Adnan Mahmud, the first person to take a bai'at in this tarekat.Adnan Mahmud is asked to develop this tarekat in Bakongan District, South Aceh Regency.
These two students of Muda Waly developed tarekat Naqsyabandiyah in their Islamic boarding house.Not all students studied to Muda Waly took an ijazah of tarekat from him.Some of his students had possessed a previous ijazah of tarekat, so they didnot take tarekat of Muda Waly.Most of the students taking this tarekat come from West and South Coast of Aceh and those from the East COast of Aceh rarely take tarekat even develop it in their region.However, there are still several people who become clerics of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah of Muda Waly and develop this tarekat in their region, such as Teungku Karimudin Muhammad Amin from Alue Bilie, North Aceh.
Today, when it apears in the social context of Islamic community in Aceh, there are more embraced of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah Khalidiyah came from West and South coasts of Aceh than North and East coasts.The worshippers who came from North and East coasts followed tarekat Syattariyah originated from some teaching networks.three people expressed their support for Soekarno and stated that Darul Islam movement led by Daud Beureueh was rebellion against the legitimate government or known as bughah.Bughah is a rebellion movement prohibited by Islam. 28e important role of political movement of this should be continued to parliament.Began 1955, PERTI registered as a party to participate general elections in Indonesia.The result showed that they succeeded to send some members to Jakarta.One of them was Hasan Krueng Kalee. 29wever, they keep growing in the society of Aceh as an Islamic education movement covered the Islamic boarding house.

Shaping a Charisma of Sainthood
On Weber's charismatic leadership theory, it stated that the follower of charismatic leader tend to choose a legal-formal leadership or goes back to traditional leadership if the charismatic leadership passed away or there is a change in a perception in the society, though not in all cases. 30e changes will still occur because there is no replacement leader who can equilibrate for what the previous leader has done.The future leaders require an effort to connect themselves to the previous leader, so the followers realized that he is the legitimate heir who has an equal authority.
The death of Sheikh Muda Waly was followed by the loss of a role model cleric in struggling for Islam Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah in Aceh and a patron has the core position to justify a religious authority in Islamic boarding house.He was replaced by both his.This came up an effort constructing a charisma of teacher through various media to maintain his greatness in the midst of Islamic tradition among Islamic boarding house in Aceh.This effort is carried by utilizing several modern media that can influence society.Some of these media are as follows: Hagiography Book Basically, a biography book is a way to describe someone based on the approved perspective by the person concerned, their family or friends.This article is needed to explain about someone to other people to preserve their memory about that person.In composing the biography, narrative, text and social context conveyed related to the goals that the author aims to accomplish by his book.As an effort to shape a charisma of the figure, biographers will try to show the side of charismatic figure to the readers.
There are many books about Syaikh Muda Waly al-Khalidi written by some authors spreading in Aceh.According to the references, all the points lead to the similar book, specifically Ayah Kami Maulana Syeikh Haji Muhammad Waly al-Khalidi (Teungku Syeikh Haji Muda Waly) written by Abuya Muhibuddin Waly, his eldest son.This book was published in Singapore in 1993 and was never reprinted after that.Most books circulating in the library in Banda Aceh are the photocopied of original books.Because this is written by his eldest son, this book colors the story of Syaikh Muda Waly in general public in Aceh.
As the eldest son, the heir of leader of Islamic boarding house in Aceh, and the replacement of Syaikh Muda Waly became Said al-Mursyid of tarekat Naqsabandiyah Khalidiyah, Abuya Muhibbuddin tried to explain the life history of his parent from birth to death.In several parts, he also explained the thoughts of Muda Waly about the religious and political issues.Sometimes, there are found that there is some confusion as the opinion of whether the explanation is the opinion of Syaikh Muda Waly himself or the opinion of Abuya Muhibuddin claimed Syaikh Muda Waly, because Syaikh Muda Waly passed away when he was 24 years old.Then, he continued his study to Egypt and pursued a career in Jakarta.After 30 years of his parent passed away, this book is written by him, so teh possibility of new interpretation could not be avoided.
In 2004 after the tsunami in Aceh, there was a lot of scripts about Syaikh Muda Waly published on the internet.Mostly, the books quotes from the book above by a few other additions.
A slightly different article was written by Abu Keumala, a person who claimed as personal assistant of Syaikh Muda Waly when he was still alive.In the article entitled "Wadifah 'Ibadah dan Pengembangan Ilmu Keagamaan Hari-harian Abuya Syaikhul Islam Aceh Maulana Syaikh Muhammad Waly al-Khalidi" he explained the daily activities and the habits of Muda Waly, such as the private collections of Syaikh Muda Waly and his relationship with the society.
One of the most important books is written by Musliadi, entitled "Abuya Syeikh Muda Waly   al-Khalidy (1917-1961) Syaikhul Islam Aceh, Tokoh Pendidikan, dan Ulama 'Arif Billah."He comes from Dayah and he is a board of teacher in Dayah Darussalam Labuhanhaji.Even though, he wrote a similar writing style of the previous article, he provided a lot of other information about Muda Waly based on the interviewing to elderly around Dayah Darussalam and Muda Waly's students made a pilgrimage there.He also gives an explanation completely about Muda Waly's family and the other parts never been written before, although most of the content of the article is a Abuya Muhibuddin writing above.
The book can be included in the hagiographic genre.Derived from the word holy and graphy, hagiographic is a model of biographical writing tend to glorify the figure being discussed by the author.The author doesn't make a critical position by asking various questions of what happened, and he tends to simplify the problem and also makes his writing object a perfect model with no flaws as a human.This writing model developed rapidly in the Catholic and Protestant communities trying to describe saints probably lived around Middle Ages.The aim was to be a role model and a majesty in practicing religious teachings for believers.
The article of Syaikh Muda Waly above cannot be separated from this writing model.The main goal is to make Sheikh as a role model for Muslims in Aceh.In the preface of the book written by Musliadi, Abuya Jamal, the son of Muda Waly and Rais 'Am Dayah Darussalam, wrote his introduction in the book.: "It is hoped that the story of the life and struggle of Abuya Sheikh Muda Waly al-Khalidi can motivate clerics, educational figures, the government and the young generation of Islam in facing various life challenges and struggling to spread the message of Islam for people.".Likewise, Musliadi revealed that the author of the book was grounded on his desire of three main motivation in writing the book.One of them is to collect various karamah of Muda Waly in the form of a book so that it would be not forgotten, because during this time it was just told orally by society. 31Musliadi wrote: "There are three biggest encouragements in writing this book.Firstly, the affection for him because he has substantial contribution to develop education of Dayah, especially in Aceh and Nusantara in general.Secondly, the author wrote this history, because he worried if one day the history will be lost by the death of people who know the past and the future generation will just forget.The last, the wish of some people to the author is to write a book that discusses karamah of Abuya Syaikhul Islam Sheikh Muda Waly al-Khalidy, so the author wants to realize it.The others, the author is not only to describe karamah of him, but also explains a various sides of his life." 32he quote above explained that there is an anxiety of the followers and the worshippers of Sheikh Muda Waly about the loss of the master history made Muslims not known his existence and role in the future.The book attempts to document the verbal stories developed in society, followers, and worshippers of Muda Waly.All the stories were compiled in a book.The book can become a guide for students and worshippers to recognize a cleric much better.

Posters
After the tsunami in some regions in Aceh, it is not hard to see posters of cleric photos be attached to the walls of house, the halls of preaching, mosque and coffee shops.These posters are often sold by teenagers wearing skullcaps in some cities and even rural areas

d. The story of Karamah
Many stories about the sacredness of Muda Waly revolve in Acehnese society.Some of them seem duplicated to similar stories about other clerics both in Aceh and Java.This story has grown enormously among the worshippers of tarekat Naqsyabandiyah in Aceh.All stories want to show the greatness of Sheikh Muda Waly and his piety.The story wants to show that he is a great and close to Allah, so he was given superiority by Allah in facing a life.Most of the stories developed by word of mouth and the earliest sources are difficult to obtain.Tgk.Mulyadi from Labuhanhaji collected these stories and publishes them in a book. 37 general, the story of Sheikh Muda Waly emphasized his greatness in solving problems.
Everything which brought trouble referred to nature or human kneels before him.For example, he can cut down a tree which cannot be cut down for years by villagers because they believed that the tree was in habited by spirit beings.The process of tree clearing went smoothly.There is also Moreover, in 1953, there was Darul Islam revolt led by Teungku Daud Beureuh and the revolt center was in Pidie region, North and East Aceh.It makes the region unsafe, thus encouraging parents to send their children to the Muda Waly Islamic boarding house that is relatively more condusive.21The development of Darussalam Islamic boarding house was extremely fast.Shortly afterward, there creates a great figure in the world of Islamic boarding house in Aceh.It cannot be separated from the fact that many children of Teungku, the leader of Islamic boarding house in the region disturbed by DI conflict, sent their children to Darussalam.After they finished and returned19  Bruinessen. 20Muhibuddin Waly. 21NazaruddinSjamsuddin, Pemberontakan Kaum Republik, Kasus Darul Islam Aceh (Jakarta: Grafiti Pers, 1990).to their village, they continued leadership of their parent's Islamic boarding house.There are also build up a new Islamic boarding house.Ijazah as a student of PERTI Darussalam Islamic boarding house made the new Islamic boarding house was well-known quickly and enthused by communities.One of the first student of Darussalam is Teungku Abdul Aziz from Samalanga (Bireun Regency) who went to Labuhanhaji in 1956 and studied with Muda Waly directly.After graduated, he returned to Samalanga and led his father in law's Islamic boarding house, Teungku Hanafiah, named Ma'had al-Ulm Diniyah Islamiyah Mesjid Raya Samalanga (MUDI Mesra Samalanga).Since he led this Islamic boarding house, it has grown a famous Islamic boarding house and enthused by students all over Aceh.Until now, MUDI Mesra is one of the famed Islamic boarding houses in Aceh.Something similar was undertaken by Tengku Abdullah from Tanah Merah village, North Aceh Regency, Teungku Usman Fauzi and Teungku Ahmad from Aceh Besar, Teungku Abubakar Sabil from West Aceh, Teungku Baihaqi and Teungku Bahauddin from Aceh Singkil, Teungku Jailani and Teungku Adnan from South Aceh.The work of Muda Waly students in some regions had created a network of Islamic boarding house teachers in Aceh leading to him.His students also have students and become a leader in a new Islmic boarding house or take a part in social and political life in Aceh.It makes Muda Waly as the top figure of lineage of Islamic boarding house learning in Aceh.Nowday, the Islamic boarding house teachers have disciplines lineage to him either directly or indirectly.It will be continued and connected to the next generation.
. The first poster was made In 2008, The government of Aceh province selected several names worthy of being awarded as an Education Figure in Aceh in order to education day of Aceh regional.The selection is carried out by a team consisting of various officials in the province.The public is permitted to suggest names worthy of the title.From the various names, the team chose Waly al-Khalidy received the title "education figure".In charter Number 002/39325 signed by Governor, Irwandi Yusuf on September 2 nd 2008 stated that the award was given for services in advancing an education in Aceh.This selection was carried out by Majelis Pendidikan Daerah (MPD) Aceh.One of the members is Jamaluddin Waly, the son of Muda Waly.He said that the selection process to receive the award was conducted independently and publicly without his institution's intervention, because the judges team came from the high officials in the administration in Aceh.He claimed that he did not need to intervene at anything.The result is truly a tribute to Muda Waly's work during his life.Syaikhul Islam On October 7 th 2009, The 48 th haul of Muda Waly is held in Dayah Darussalam Labuhanhaji.Dozens of Dayah clerics affiliated to Darussalam or affiliated to tarekat attended in the agenda of haul.During the meeting, they discussed the title for Muda Waly who has extensive knowledge and obedient to the religion.Some ideas emerged, such as Sulthanul Auliya, Syaikhuna, and Syaikhu Masyaikh.They agreed that Muda Waly received the title Syaikhul Islam.This title was officially announced by the chairman of DPRA at that time, Hasbi Abdullah who came to Labuhanhaji to attend closing haul of Muda Waly.