Cheh Marahaban — in Kreemer’s spelling Teungkoe Tjhèh Marahaban — was one of the most important Acehnese religious scholars of the nineteenth century, a Pidiësche oelama who served as ulama and kali (religious judge) to the last two Sultans, Sultan Mantsoer Sjah (1838–1870) and Sultan Ala ad-dïn Mahmoed Sjah (1870–1874). The son of an unlearned man from Tirö (Tiro), he studied in Pidië and at Mekka, where he served as haji-shaikh to pilgrims, before settling at the capital and serving Teuku Kali Malikon Ade and the kali of the XXVI Mukims. A prolific writer, his works include the Minhajoy Abidin (an abbreviated translation of al-Ghazali), the Meunajat, and the Nalam Jawoe. His son-in-law was Teungku Lam Gut, and his writings, alongside those of Teungku Tiro, are cited by Hurgronje as the high-water mark of Acehnese learning.
Scholarly formation
Tjhèh Marahaban was the son of an unlearned man from Tirö. He studied in Pidië and in Mekka, where he attained the rank of hadji-sjaich. He was known as a “rustlievende oelama” — a peace-loving oelama — in contrast to the more militant oelama’s of the Tirö school.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Cheh Marahaban
In the rare cases where the Sultan of Acheh had need of the advice of those learned in the law, his real adviser was Cheh Marahaban, and not the Teuku Kali — the hereditary “supreme judge” who, as Snouck Hurgronje observes, could neither read nor write. The office of kali raja (chief kali) thus effectively devolved upon Cheh Marahaban, whose authority as ulama of Teuku Kali placed him, in all questions of religious law, above the titular holder of the supreme judicial office. He was the son-in-law of Teungku Lam Gut, the chief kali of the XXVI Mukims when the Dutch first came to Acheh; born in Lam Gut and appointed as the successor of his father, Teungku Lam Gut had some reputation for learning but subsequently changed his abode, in consequence of his marriage, to Lam Bhu close to the Dalam. There he married his daughter to Cheh Marahaban, who was thus able to support his father-in-law in his official work; for Teungku Lam Gut, though a man of sound intelligence, was himself devoid of learning.
Cheh Marahaban’s example is cited by Snouck Hurgronje in connection with the willingness of some ulamas to come to terms with the Dutch, should they have been able to find conclusive arguments strong enough to counterbalance the contumely attending such a step. At the time when the Dutch still occupied a great portion of Acheh, “the example of Cheh Marahaban, the earlier kali raja and ulama of Teuku Kali, showed clearly enough that some of them would have been quite willing to change sides.” His position as kali raja and ulama of the Sultan’s court gave him a unique authority among the learned; his willingness to treat with the infidel — had it been politically feasible — would have carried great weight in favour of submission.
Cheh Marahaban is one of the few Achehnese ulamas of the late Sultanate period whose personal name is recorded by Snouck Hurgronje. He exemplifies the type of the learned kali — the ulama proper, as distinguished from the hereditary title-bearers — on whom the real work of administering justice according to religious law always devolved, even when the formal office belonged to an illiterate uleebalang.
Loyalty oath and mosque directorship
In 1881, when the Dutch were consolidating their hold on Koeta Radja (Banda Atjèh), Tjhèh Marahaban swore loyalty (trouw) to the Gouvernement and became director (directeur) of the great mosque at Koeta Radja. Under his direction the mosque’s personnel was established with the following monthly salaries (bezoldigingen):
- Imeum (prayer leader): ƒ75
- Hatib (preacher): ƒ50
- Bileuë (muezzin): ƒ35
Death
Tjhèh Marahaban died in 1885, having served as director of the Koeta Radja mosque for four years after his 1881 loyalty oath. His son, Teungkoe Tjhèh Ibrahim, succeeded him as hatib of the mosque and became Kreemer’s principal Atjèhnese informant.
Significance
Cheh Marahaban is significant in the history of Atjèh as the learned kali and ulama under whom the religious-judicial office of the late Sultanate effectively devolved from the hereditary Teuku Kali to the scholarly ulama proper. Snouck Hurgronje treats him as the type of the learned kali — the man who actually did the work of the supreme judicial office while the titular holder could neither read nor write. Kreemer’s account supplies the additional facts of his service to the last two Sultans (Mantsoer Sjah and Ala ad-dïn Mahmoed Sjah), his loyalty oath and mosque directorship at Koeta Radja in 1881, and his founding of the institutional structure of the great mosque — the imeum, hatib, and bileuë — that would continue under his son Tjhèh Ibrahim into Kreemer’s own time.
See Also
- Acheh
- Al-Ghazali
- Lam Bhu
- Mecca
- Pidie
- Tirö
- Sayyid Abdallah al-Haddad
- Teuku Kali
- Teuku Kali Malikon Ade
- Teungku Lam Gut
- Teungku Lam Paya (kali)
- Teungkoe Tjhèh Ibrahim
- Koeta Radja
- XXVI Mukims
- Teungkoe Tjheh Ibrahim
- Sultan Mantsoer Sjah
- Sultan Ala ad-dïn Mahmoed Sjah
- Oelama
- Kali
- Moskeepersoneel
- J. Kreemer
- 1838
- 1870
- 1874
- 1881
- 1885
Sources
The Achehnese, Vol. I and Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Tweede Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1923. Identifier: Delpher MMKB02B:000001798; PPN 395084288. Koninklijke Bibliotheek.