Warisan Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari's heritage in South Africa
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Warisan Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari's heritage in South Africa
December 14, 1683 was a very unlucky day for Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari and his followers. The cleric from Gowa, South Sulawesi was arrested by the Dutch and then sent to Batavia as a prisoner. The arrest was done because Sheikh Yusuf helped the king of Banten Sultanate, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa (1651-1683), face the Dutch.
Sheikh Yusuf did not stay long in Batavia. The Dutch still seem to be concerned about the influence of this person even though his followers have been sent to Cirebon to be returned to South Sulawesi. So it was decided that Shaykh Yusuf and his wife and children would be exiled to Ceylon or Sri Lanka.
In Sri Lanka, Shaykh Yusuf's charisma is still radiating. Despite his status as a prisoner of the Netherlands, he still launched his da'wah in the land of exile. Not a few Sri Lankans who Islamized by Sheikh Yusuf through his friendly approach.
Not only that. He also managed to establish relationships with the pilgrims from Nusantara who transit in to Sri Lanka before continuing the voyage to Mecca, or vice versa. From there he can leave a letter addressed to the Sultanate of Banten and the Sultanate of Gowa.
The Dutch felt miserable, at the same time worried by the increasing number of followers of Sheikh Yusuf in Sri Lanka. Anticipation action was immediately prepared. On July 7, 1693, the Dutch finally exiled the cleric to a further place: South Africa.A A. Cense through his writings entitled "Worship of Shaykh Yusuf in South Sulawesi" compiled in the book of Local History in Indonesia (1996) edited Taufik Abdullah reveals that in this black continent the struggle of Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari is completely over (pp. 244).
The Origin of the Castaways
Syekh Yusuf Al-Makasari lahir di Gowa, Sulawesi Selatan, dengan nama Muhammad Yusuf pada 3 Juli 1626. Nama ini konon diberikan Sultan Alauddin (1593-1639), penguasa Gowa pertama yang memeluk Islam.
Terdapat beberapa versi terkait hubungan antara Muhammad Yusuf dengan Alauddin. Versi pertama menyebut, Yusuf adalah putra kandung Alauddin dari salah satu istrinya yang tidak tinggal di istana. Dikutip dari buku Syaikh Yusuf Seorang Ulama; Sufi dan Pejuang (1994) yang ditulis Abu Hamid, Alauddin merahasiakan perkawinan yang nantinya melahirkan Yusuf itu agar tidak menyakiti hati permaisuri (hlm. 131).
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Namun, Alauddin tidak ingin menelantarkan Yusuf dengan memasukkannya ke lingkungan istana dan dibesarkan sebagaimana anak-anak sultan lainnya. Alauddin, lanjut Hamid, menunjuk seorang bangsawan Gowa keturunan Arab bernama Khaidir untuk berpura-pura menjadi ayah Yusuf.
Setelah beranjak remaja, Yusuf dinikahkan dengan salah seorang putri Alauddin yang bernama Sitti Daeng Nisanga. Menurut Hamid, pernikahan ini adalah perkawinan palsu yang diprakarsai oleh sultan untuk mengelabui permaisuri (hlm. 132).
Adapun versi kedua meyakini bahwa Muhammad Yusuf adalah putra angkat Alauddin. Samsul Munir Amin dalam buku Karomah Para Kiai (2008) menyebut, ibunda Yusuf bernama I Tubiana Daeng Kunjung yang masih keturunan raja-raja Gowa, namun bukan istri Alauddin (hlm. 227).
Menurut versi kedua ini, Muhammad Yusuf dilahirkan di lingkungan Istana Gowa dan diberi nama oleh Alauddin. Sang sultan tampaknya memang sangat menyayangi Yusuf dan menjadikannya sebagai anak angkat.
Terlepas dari status anak kandung atau anak angkat, Muhammad Yusuf memang kerap memperkenalkan dirinya sebagai putra Alauddin. Salah satunya seperti yang dikutip dari buku Syekh Yusuf Menuntun Kita ke Surga (2008: 26) karya Siradjuddin Bantang:
“[…] saya adalah Yusuf, berasal dari Kerajaan Gowa, anak Karaeng Sombaya Ri Butta Gowa I Mangarangi Daeng Manrabia bergelar Sultan Alauddin, Raja Gowa ke-14.”
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Yusuf memang perlu begitu selama berkelana, termasuk saat pertama kali menghadap penguasa Kesultanan Banten, Sultan Abu al-Ma'ali Ahmad, pada 1644. Banten kala itu memang bersahabat dengan Gowa sehingga kehadiran Yusuf yang memperkenalkan diri sebagai putra Sultan Gowa langsung diterima dengan baik.
Banten, Aceh, to the Middle East
During his stay in Banten to deepen the science of religion by studying well-known scholars in the sultanate located on the western tip of Java Island, Yusuf established a close friendship with the children of Abu al-Ma'ali Ahmad, especially with the crown prince ie Abu al -Fath Abdulfattah or Prince Surya.
Prince Surya is what in 1651 up the throne with the title of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa. Muhammad Yusuf alias Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari later appointed as mufti of the kingdom as well as adviser Tirtayasa and also struggled against the Dutch who intend to divide the Sultanate of Banten.
According to the records of Kasma F. Amin in Prisoners of War: The Stories of Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari and Whitewater Palakka (2017), after some time settling in Banten, Muhammad Yusuf continued his wandering to Aceh. He traveled to Aceh because he was interested in Sufi teachings from a great scholar named Sheikh Nur al-Din ar-Raniri (pp. Xvii).
Joseph arrived in the rencong land in 1645 when the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam was led by a queen, namely Sultanah Safiatuddin Tajul-'Alam (1641-1675), who was the daughter of Sultan Iskandar Muda. To Nur al-Din ar-Raniri, Yusuf studied tasawuf and tarekat.
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Two years in Aceh, Yusuf intends to continue his overseas trips to the Middle East. He sailed in 1649 and briefly stopped in Sri Lanka before heading for Yemen. In addition to several cities in Yemen, Yusuf also deepened the religious knowledge in Medina and Mecca, as well as performing the pilgrimage.
Coming home from the Middle East in 1670, Yusuf did not return directly to Gowa, but to Banten, then led by his best friend, Tirtayasa.
He heard that the Sultanate of Banten began threatened by the Dutch. Joseph was involved in the fight against the invaders-who applied the devide et impera tactics to divide the palace family-until it was finally captured and exiled to South Africa until the end of his life.
Traces of Ulama Nusantara in Africa
According to Azyumardi Azra in Muhammad Yusuf Al-Maqassari (2004), Joseph was the third pioneer of reforms in the archipelago in the 17th century after Nur al-Din ar-Raniri and Abdurrauf as-Singkili (pp. 259). As is known, Joseph is the direct disciple of Nur al-Din ar-Raniri.
Khoirul Badriyah's research titled "Sheikh Yusuf Taj Al-Maqassari 1627-1699: Study of Biography and His Thought in the Sufism of the Archipelago of the XVII Century" (2012) mentions that Yusuf adheres to Sunni mysticism and adheres to Ash'arite teachings (p.62).
The Ash'ariyah theology or ahlussunnah wal jamaah is considered to represent the traditional Islamic groups and against the perceived heresies of Islam. On the other hand, there are other streams that are considered as rational Islamic representatives, namely Mu'tazila ?.
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Azyumardi Azra in the Network of Middle Eastern and Archipelago Scholars of the Middle Ages XVII & XVIII: The Root of Reform in Indonesia (2007) explains, the main concept of Sufism of Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari is the purification of belief in the unity of God in explaining God's transcendence of His creation p. 288). Joseph asserts that the unity of God is infinite and absolute. And that's what mankind must believe.
Yusuf divides the believer into 4 groups, ie those who only utter creeds without truly believing (hypocrites), those who instill creeds in their souls (laity), people who truly believe and realize their faith in life (elite) and those who claim their creed by practicing tasawwuf to be closer to God (elected from the elite).
Of the four groups, said Khoirul Badriyah, Yusuf asserted that his Sufism is only for the third and fourth classes. And, for him, a servant of God must carry out Sufism in harmony with the Islamic Shari'a (p.66).
Islamic Shari'ah is referred to the religious laws contained in the Qur'an, also guided by the Hadith. Yusuf believes in the thought of Junaid al-Baghdadi, the legendary Sunni scholar from Persia, that anyone who wants to arrive at God must follow the Prophet Muhammad by birth and mind.
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It was this doctrine that Yusuf continued to preach to the time of his exile to South Africa since 1693. In his last dumping place, Yusuf actually gained peace of life and more freedom in performing Islamic scholars to the local people, assisted his loyal students.
Thanks to Joseph and his followers, some South Africans are converting to Islam. They married and reproduced there, until the Malay community formed in Cape Town which is now the capital of the Western Cape Province.
The former Yusuf exile area in Cape Town then became a small town called Macassar. In this city of 28.85 km2, there are also Malay street names, such as Macassar Road, Kramat Road, or Sheikh Yusuf Road.
The name of Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari is very imprint for South Africans. Nelson Mandela even mentions Joseph as "Son of Africa, our exemplary warrior". In addition, as revealed by Suryana Sudrajat in Ulama Pejuang and Ulama Adventurers: Learning the Wisdom of the Windward Country (2006), Mandela also made the scholar of this archipelago an inspiration for the South African people's struggle against apartheid (pp. Xiv).
Read also: Sheikh Yusuf: Our Heroes of Pride Nelson Mandela
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari died in Cape Town on May 23, 1699, just today 319 years ago. At the request of Sultan Gowa, Abdul Jalil (1677-1709), the body of Sheikh Yusuf was repatriated to Makassar in 1705. Then his body was buried in the aristocratic tomb complex in Lakiung which was once the seat of government of the Sultanate of Gowa.
On August 7, 1995, President Soeharto on behalf of the Indonesian government established Sheikh Yusuf Al-Makasari as National Hero.