Masjid al-Bukhari in Alor Setar dedicated by an Arab who is now known as a Malay entrepreneur, lol
This article is adapted from the working paper of Nazirah Lee. Only for educational purpose and personal record. Please mention Nazirah Lee and other writers as the owners of the sources if reproducing these data! Lee discussed about the role played by the Arabs in British administration in Kedah Sultanate before the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948. Just click on the Federation of Malaya to get more information.
Urm, I just to clear more about the term Jawi Pekan or Jawi Peranakan as we are from Kedah Sultanate while the Jawi Pekan
mentioned everywhere is about Northern Indian. Our ancestors were Arab
tribes who were also stationed in India-Pakistan and we are not Indian.
It's true that Jawi Pekan
most of them were from North India and some from Southern India but
those in Kedah Sultanate were strongly Arab descents in contrast to
those in Straits Settlements like in Singapore or Penang. Some of these
Arab descents also married North or South Indian women so their descents
are associated with Indians and they only choosing the candidates who
are related to Arab tribes. Please avoid mentioning us as Indian or
Malay. We will be a little bit shocked especially when we have no
political affiliation or interests in government but we consider both
Malays and Indians as human-being like everyone also as our brothers in
faith if they are Muslims, don't worry.
Nazirah
Lee talks about the position of Arabs in Kedah Sultanate administration
policy and the approach used by British officials in their relationship
with Arab community of Kedah Sultanate. The definition of a person's
racial background based on religion and language spoken by a person has
given a big impact on the position of Arabs in British administration in
Kedah Sultanate. It has given the Arabs of Kedah Sultanate more spaces
and opportunity to serve the government in administration areas,
judicial and legal areas in the Kedah Sultanate government during
British period.
Introduction
In
her introduction for her working paper, Lee says that previous
researches reflecting the importance and the contributions of Arab
community toward Muslims in Malaya before the independence of Malay
countries. Their contribution is more significant in religious and
spirituality of the people. Her paperwork discussed the British
administration policy and the role of the Arabs in British
administration in Kedah Sultanate. How British view the position of
Arabs among Muslim which determine them to practice positive approaches
toward the community and in the same time they were also careful with
the community.
Arabs in Kedah
Kedah
was among the earliest settlements of Arab community in Malaysia. Their
existence could be traced since 9th century (Syed Hasan, 2004). The
Sultanate is not really new to Arabs since it is located at the trade
route. Hourani mentions that it was the place where the Arabs and
Chinese merchants meeting each other after the 9th century. Kedah was
known in many names by the Arabs. Ishaq bin Imran for example refers
Kedah as Kalah while Ya'aqubi refers it as Qaqulla (Tibbets, 1957). It was popular because it produced steel and bamboo.
The
size of Arab community in Kedah was quite small as their population
fluctuate in the period of researches conducted by researchers due to
the immigration process by the Arabs is quite continuous. Some of them
returned to their homeland in Middle East in some period of time. While
some others came to Kedah to try their luck. According to the statistic
done in 1911, the population of Kedah Sultanate who were classified as Arabs
were 226 and the population decreased to 113 in 1931 (Nathan, 1922).
The population of female in Arab community is smaller than of male and most of them were born in South East Asia and Malay countries. Following is their population according to gender and their origin:
Year
|
Male
|
Born in Arabia
|
Female
|
Born in Arabia
|
1911
|
----
|
No
|
Data
|
------
|
1921
|
128
|
27
|
98
|
3
|
1931
|
76
|
23
|
37
|
3
|
Table
1: Population of Arabs according to gender and place of birth (Nathan, 1922)
It
is quite difficult to determine the real place of origin of these
people who were classified as Arabs in the table from the Census of
British Malaya for British Protected States (Kedah, Brunei, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johore),
Straits Settlements, and Federated States. According to report in 1931,
those who were classified as Arabs in Kedah in majority were originated
from Hadramawt of Southern Yemen. Small division of Arabs were
from Mecca, Medina and Egypt (Ramli, 1984). The table shows the majority
of Arabs in Kedah were born in Malay countries. It refers also to Arabs
who came from the area in today's Indonesian islands and those who
locally born in Kedah. Arabs who were born in this region mostly came
from mixed parentage. They have Malay mothers. Other than that, some of
them were of Sayyid clans who only marry among Arabs as to make
sure that they are not contaminated. We can see that cousins marrying
cousins. And this is what happens in our community. Also the name of
forefathers being recycled like their descents were the incarnation of
forefathers just to make sure that forefathers won't be forgotten,
lol.
From
the discussion, we could see that Arabs in Kedah were of different
places of origin and family background. Not all of them were the Sayyids
because this is what I always hear when we talk about the Yemeni
Hadramis, hahahaha. Arab settlements could be found in almost all places
in Kedah Sultanate of Kedah state today. Most of them were in Kota Setar and Kuala Muda.
According
to Paridah Ramli (1984) research from Malaysia National University
mentions that many Arabs live in Kota Setar and Kuala Muda because these
areas were the area closer to the capitals of Kedah. I had read some of
the chronicles of our elders and they confirms it. There were also Arab
settlements in Kubang Pasu and Yan districts but not as many as in Kota
Setar and Kuala Muda districts.
The
map in the research by Paridah Ramli (1984) shows that Arab community
in Kedah did not live in a specific area. Their settlements is all over
the state and it shows that they mingled with natives. Previous
researches related to the history of Arab community in Kedah shows that
they assimilated themselves into the native society. However, Sharifah
Zaleha explains that degree of assimilation with natives always changing
according to the development in Muslim society. In the same time, Arab
community struggled to maintain their identity as Arabs. In some Arab
families, they used Arabic terms such as family hierarchy term to
address their family member or using surname. In our case also we use
Arabic words more than English words in our spoken Malay. In most cases,
Arab community in Kedah speak in Kedah Malay and local dialects. They
also adapted local cultural traits into their life so it is very
difficult now to determine who are they unless if they talk about
themselves in detail in which I think not all of them realize about it
especially youngsters.
In
Kedah, the Arab community there is quite different in the matter of
marriage related to female family member. Just like other typical Arabs
in other areas in Malay countries in Malaysia and Indonesian islands,
those with Sharifah title were not allowed to marry others who are not with the title Sayyid.
I think this is so out-dated but I agree that we need to check our
spouse background especially their religion background and piety. What
concerns me is religion, not the money, lordship status or racial
background. For this, those Arabs of Shafi'ie madzhab using the principle of kafaah in marriage. But I also know few of these people who marry Malay noble men and they are not Arabs such as the late Tunku Abdul Rahman,
the Malaysian first prime minister. He was the son of our beloved 26th
Sultan, Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah. Our 26th Sultan was also married
to Arab women with Sharifah title. Most of patriotic Kedahan will
keep a picture of this sultan. I keep one with me too and many Kedahan
who live outside of the state also keeping it with them as our symbol of
patriotism and love toward our sultanate no matter of what racial
background we are. Don't be surprised if non-Kedahan fellow Malaysians
could see this sultan picture in our premises such as in Chinese or
Indian shops and etc, hahaha.
However,
this matter has no effect on the relationship between Arabs of Kedah
with other Muslims although many critics being directed toward their
status and position around 1930's. Tunku Abdul Rahman as an example
urged Malay society to reckon the contribution of Arab community because
they were also involved in defending the sultanate during the war
between Kedah sultanate and the Siam empire. Paridah Ramli (1984)
mentions that he refers it to the sacrifice made by Sayyid Zainal Abiddin (posthumous name Tengku Kudin)
who lead the Kedah army to attack the Siam empire and he was finally
killed. In this matter, Arab community was regarded as a respected
community and considered as aristocrats by native Malays of Kedah.
This
is also influenced by the view of local society at that time who
assumed that all Arabs were the family of prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Ok,
now I am laughing, hahahaa. Many people will refer to Arabs in term of
religion. I also see this tendency by some non-Arabs to view Arabs
should act according to Islamic rites even if they consume non-halal
food. Not all Arabs are Muslim and not all Arabs are religious. There
are also Jew Arabs and Christian Arabs and it is true some of them even
those Christians and Jews were also connected to prophet family before
they become apostates. Arabs are not holy people or angels and Arabs are
not demons too. Arabs are just human-being like other nations. When we
see an Arab behaved like sh*t, we should not generalize all Arabs
because there are civilized and uncivilized Arabs. The same thing also
to other nations like Malay, Chinese, Africans, Indians or Caucasians. I
personally don't like the mentions about prophet Muhammad s.a.w was
sent to Arab nation because they were so barbaric by Malay ustazs and ustazas.
Arab nations had exist since after Semitic era even before the
existence of Hebrews. Muhammad s.a.w is a sign of Mercy from Allah Azza
wa Jall to all nations in this period. Many of his descents through Ali k.w and his daughter Fatimah r.a has spread out of the Arabian Peninsula.
Paridah
Ramli (1984) shows that Arabs also playing important role in
transmitting religious teaching to people in Kedah. Traditionally, Kedah
sultans will invite Arabs to the sultanate and teaching Islam. They
also appointed Arab scholars specialized in religious sciences as muftis to serve the sultanate in term of religious guidelines and rituals. It also happened during British administration era. The Sheikhul Islam
of Kedah in 1334 H (1916) was invited from Arabia to serve the state
and he actually knows no Malay words at all. This is among the reason
why Arab community in Kedah were closely related to ruling class of the
state.
Other
than the role in religious teaching, Arabs in Kedah also being seen as
apart of nobility because the relationship among royal family. Sultan
Zainal Rashid Muazam Shah II (1880-1881) for example is a son of an Arab
mother who were born in Patani Sultanate in Southern Thailand (Mohammad
& Othman, 2001).
Other
than acting as missionaries, Arabs in Kedah were also merchants and
traders. There were also Arabs who were involved in agricultural
activities. Mohamad Redzuan Othman had discussed about the involvement
of Hadrami Arabs from al-Idrus, Barakbah and Jamalullail clans in
agricultural activities. Sayyid Alwi bin Sayyid Ahmad al-Habshee as an
example was an entrepreneur who owned a rubber plantation in Yan
district. Sayyid Abdul Rahman al-Junied was an Arab businessman who was
also involved in the petrol industry in Kedah. He had made an appeal to
British government to build a gas station in Kulim. Sayyid Abdullah bin
Mohsin al-Attas was an Arab who involved in the trade of sugar in Penang
and Kedah.
In
a simple word, Arabs in Kedah mostly enjoyed good social and economy
status. Their life was comfortable. There were also records about some
Arabs who lived a difficult life in Kedah Sultanate. The record says
that an Arab originated from Medina was arrested by British police in
Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah. The man was known as Abdul Karim and
he was classified as a vagrant living in the masjid as an example of
poor Arab in Kedah. Other example is Sayyid Omar bin Sheikh Shahabuddin
who worked as British clerk II in Padang Terap District Office was
prosecuted on the charge owing an Indian creditor known as Muthuya in
the Alor Setar Court. He failed to pay his debt in total of $226.51
until he died in January of 1932.
As
the conclusion for this part, among Muslims in Kedah Sultanate, Arab
community had played their role in religious field. They were seen as
administrator supporting groups due to their relatively good social and
economy status. However, not all of Arabs in Kedah contributed toward
the society. There were also proves that Arabs and Malays having
misunderstanding and Arabs who lived poor life. As an example, the
rubber plantation owner Sayyid Alwi of Yan district that was just
mentioned in few paragraphs had some quarrels with a Malay or perhaps
Achehnese known as Nyak Abdullah bin Ku Bak Usop. Nyak Abdullah said
that he was cheated by Sayyid Alwi in the contract of land selling that
they had agreed before.
Urm,
I don't like any exaggeration about whatever role of Arab community
anywhere in the world because people may say that we are boasting and
etc or thinking that we are holy creature. I don't even care about it
and I never think myself as a holy creature because I have low-self
esteem when I am with other Muslim nations. I can't even look at people
face because I think I am filthy and inferior as compared to Malays or
any other nations. This is just what has been written in the working
paper of the seminar about Arab community in Kedah state, Malaysia. I
guess it is enough we are known according to our ethnicity like Chinese
or Indian and being recognized as natives like other natives like Malay
or Siamese. I didn't get native privilege like textbooks and others
because my father was not government servant and I was treated badly by
Malay kids and teachers last time because I refused to be one but there
are many other hypocrite Arabs who were racists not marrying people of
non-Sayyid ancestry but in the same time using Malay privileges. This is not right, isn't it?!!
Gratitude to Researchers
Special
thanks to researchers who had conducted researches about our community
in Kedah sultanate. Your assistance and help hopefully will be rewarded
and I wish others could also trace their origin from researches
conducted by researchers. Next we will see the Arab community of Kedah
in British administration period. My paternal grandpa was one of the
British government servant. He was a clerk for British official in
Kubang Pasu and also used to deal with the royal family in Kota Setar. I
get the information from elders in Kota Setar. They mentioned that he
has lands even in Penang Island. He also possessed horses when he was
young but sadly he passed away as a poor man in Kodiang town when my
father was 12 years old. He has many children and most of my cousins
were old the same age as my father because they were from previous
marriage, hahaha. I never see him so it was very difficult for me to get
access from our elders that made me contacting people in Kedah, India
and Pakistan to get information beside accessing data about local South
East Asian Arabs. At least now I know why I am different from others and
I could proceed with my religion, traditions and customs without doubt
like others.
References
Mills,
J.V. (1974). “Arab and Chinese Navigators in Malaysian Waters in About
A.D.1500” in Journal of the Malayan
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 47 (II)
Tibbets,
G.R. 1957. “Early Muslim Traders in Southeast Asia” Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1(1)
Sharifah
Zaleha bte Syed Hasan. (2004). History and Indigenization of the Arabs in Kedah
Malaysia in Asian Journal of Social
Science (29)1
Mohamad
Redzuan Othman. (2009). Sumbangan Usahawan keturunan Arab dalam perkembangan
ekonomi Tanah Melayu sebelum Perang Dunia Kedua”. Kertas Kerja di Seminar
Sejarah Keusahawanan: Pelajaran untuk MAsa depan. 9 January 2009. UM KL.
Muzaffar
Mohamad and Suhana Othman. 2001. Ahli
Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah saw dan Raja-raja Melayu. Kuala Lumpur:
Al-Wasilah Enterprise
Paridah
Romly. (1984). Orang Arab di Kedah. Undergraduate Thesis at the Department of
History‚ National University of Malaysia
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