Abdul Kahar Muzakkar
| Abdul Kahar Muzakkar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 March 1920 Luwu, Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Died | 3 February 1965 (aged 44) South Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Movement | Darul Islam / Negara Islam Indonesia |
Abdul Kahar Muzakkar was the leader of an Islamic movement in South Sulawesi from 1950 till his death in 1965. He led his group of men in a guerrilla warfare against the Indonesian central government, and was finally killed by the army in the jungle. He was also the leader of the South Sulawesi branch of the Darul Islam movement.
Born on 24 March 1920 in the Kingdom of Luwu, a smaller principality on the northern end of the Gulf of Bone, Abdul Kahar Muzakkar was formerly known as Ladomeng. Ladomeng is a Buginese word derived from 'dominoes', an allusion to his father who was playing cards at the time he was born. His father, Malinrang, was reportedly a businessman who was from the lower aristocracy class. Their family owned many lands, a sign of wealth at that period of time.
Kahar completed elementary school in 1934, and his parents then sent him to Muhammadiyah Standard School in Palopo (capital of Luwu) for 4 years. He was then sent to Solo in Central Java to study in the Kweekschool Muhammadiyah (Islamic Teachers College) from 1938 to 1941. It was in this last institution that Kahar was introduced to a number of prominent ulema, including a prominent modernist Muslim nationalist, Abdul Kahar Muzakkir. In fact, some people claimed that it was contact with this ulema that prompted Kahar to change his name from Ladomeng. There were other views, though, that Kahar had his name changed before he went to Solo, whilst according to Tommy Thomson, Kahar's former guard in the jungle, Kahar's 2 close friends, Jufri Tambora and Siddiq Bakri had been the one who asked Ladomeng to change his name to Kahar.
According to sources, Kahar was average as a student, and that his strength lay not in formal education, but in creativity and talent in dealing with problems. In fact, Kahar did not even complete kweekschool, partly because he married Walimah, a girl from Solo who was his first wife. It was with Walimah that he then returned to Palopo, teaching at a Muhammadiyah school until 1943. Though not an exceptional student, Kahar was actively involved in organizations, particularly after he had returned to Palopo. He joined the local Hizbul Wathan, the youth organization for Muhammadiyah, and was active in his opposition to what he called the feudal system in Luwu, and called for an end to the aristocracy. His opposition gained him many support from the Luwu youths. Kahar remained active in Hizbul Wathan until the arrival of the Japanese in 1942. During the Japanese Occupation, Kahar worked as a clerk at the Nippon Hodobu, an information agency in Makassar under the Japanese authority.
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Wikipedia