Fakih Usman : became involved with Muhammadiyah in 1925

Fakih Usman

Born to a merchant and his wife in Gresik, Dutch East Indies, Fakih studied with his father and at a series of pesantren until the 1920s. In 1925 he became involved with Muhammadiyah, rising quickly through the leadership until he became the head of the Surabaya branch in 1938; he was also active in local politics. When a group of 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. He grew in prominence within Muhammadiyah during his two periods as minister of religious affairs and oversaw educational and institutional reform. He served as deputy chairman under several different leaders before being chosen as chairman of Muhammadiyah in late 1968, several days before his death.
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. 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. Fakih studied Islam from a young age, receiving much of his instruction from his father. At the age of ten he 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.
Fakih's father brought him into the trading business, although Fakih continued to study independently. When the modernist Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah spread to Gresik in 1922, Fakih was one of the 1st to join. Extremely active within the group, within three years he became its leader; under his leadership the group became a formally recognised branch. Through his work with the Gresik branch, Fakih became better known and later transferred to the branch in Surabaya; in 1929 he was chosen to sit on that city's council. 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.
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. 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.
After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the proclamation of Indonesian independence in August 1945, the Japanese began withdrawing from the country. Fakih began making contacts within the new republican government. From 7 to 8 November 1945 Fakih participated in the Indonesian Islamic Conference 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.
In Malang, Fakih teamed-up 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 in Yogyakarta. He served as deputy chair, under Bagus Hadikusumo.
Fakih was made Minister of Religious Affairs in the Wilopo Cabinet and sworn in on 3 April 1952, which led to he and his family moving to the capital at Jakarta. He began to work on reforming the ministry, including formalising its mission statement: to provide religious teachers, promote interfaith relations, and to establish the dates of religious holidays. He also worked on internal structure, including formalising the ministry's leadership hierarchy and the opening of the provincial and regional branches. The ministry also continued its promotion of religious education. Other issues included handling the large number of hajj pilgrims who left Indonesia yearly. The Wilopo Cabinet collapsed on 30 July 1953, following an immigration and land dispute in Medan. Fakih was replaced by Masjkur.
Fakih continued working with the ministry and Muhammadiyah, serving as the organisation's 1st deputy chair under Ahmad Rasyid Sutan Mansur; in 1956 he was one of three Muhammadiyah members who presented their concept of a truly Islamic society, one which emphasised social education. However, he was more active with Masyumi. After the 1955 Constituent Assembly election, Fakih was made a member of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia. This assembly, meant to reach an agreement for a new national constitution, failed to reach a consensus, and as such was disbanded by president Sukarno with his decree of 5 July 1959. That year Fakih spearheaded the magazine Pandji Masjarakat with Hamka, Joesoef Poear Abdullah, and Ahmad Joesoef. Sukarno later disbanded Masyumi on 17 August 1960, after the leading Masyumi members like Mohammad Natsir and Sjafruddin Prawiranegara were involved with the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia; Fakih had been involved in the negotiations with the Revolutionary Government, working with Mohammad Roem.
This left Fakih more time to focus on Muhammadiyah, serving as Second Deputy Chair under Junus Anis. During a leadership course run by the organisation during Ramadhan of 1961, Fakih began promoting an institutional identity through his lecture "What is Muhammadiyah?", which outlined the organisation as one based in dawah, focusing on real-world issues, and willing to work with the government to ensure a prosperous future for Muslims. These concepts were later formulated through 1962 and established as an institutional identity, one which called for Muhammadiyah to work towards creating a truly Islamic society while opposing leftist politics. This in turn was followed by refactoring within the organisation to better adapt the new identity.
From 1962 until 1965 Fakih served as First Deputy Chair of Muhammadiyah under Ahmad Badawi, while providing guidance for young religious leaders. After the failure of the 30 September Movement, during the ensuing killings and power shift, Fakih and several Muhammadiyah members sent a letter requesting that Masyumi be allowed to reform, permission which wasn't granted.
In the 1930s, conservative Muslims disapproved of Fakih's work, giving him the nickname Londho silit ireng. Critics often threw stones at his home in Gresik. Within Muhammadiyah he continues to be well respected, and is credited with the formulation of the "Muhammadiyah Personality" (Kepribadian Muhammadiyah), Muhammadiyah's institutional identity. Out of respect towards Fakih, Muhammadiyah continues to record his period as chairman as lasting the full three-year term. Didin Syafruddin, a faculty member at the Jakarta Islamic State University, writes that Fakih was highly dedicated to education, noting that five of Fakih's seven children eventually became doctors; Syafruddin also writes that, owing to a lack of human resources, Fakih was limited in his reforms while Minister of Religious Affairs. The street where Fakih lived as a child is now known as Fakih Usman Street.

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