A teacher and kali of the IV Mukims of the VII (sagi of the XXVI), son of Teungku Tanoh Abie, who like his father acquired his learning at Lam Nyong under Teungku di Lam Nyong.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teungku Tanoh Mirah
Teungku Tanoh Mirah was the learned kali of the IV Mukims of the VII of the XXVI Mukims — that is, of one of the sub-districts of the third sagi of Great Acheh. He is named by Snouck Hurgronje as a typical example of those ulamas who, in spite of the indignant remonstrances of their more ambitious colleagues, held themselves aloof from the bickering of rival religious leaders and behaved as though no jihad existed.
The occasion of the mention is Snouck Hurgronje’s summary of the pamphlets of Teungku Kutakarang, the active but peculiar ulama who, after the death of Teungku Tiro, sought to supplant the dead man’s authority. In his pamphlets Teungku Kutakarang complained that some ulamas “sit on their prayer-carpets or lose their senses over ascetic exercises” — an allusion to the Teungku’s rival Habib Samalanga — while others “devote themselves to the repair of mosques far away from the scene of the war, and hold great kanduris or religious feasts, squandering the money subscribed for the war on purposes for which it was never intended” — an allusion to Teungku Tiro. From this spirit of discord among the ulamas, Teungku Tanoh Mirah is distinguished as one who held himself entirely apart.
Teungku Tanoh Mirah’s behaviour, as Snouck Hurgronje describes it, was that of the learned kali who, in the midst of a holy war, persisted in the life of study and the discharge of his ordinary judicial duties, refusing to be drawn into the rivalries of the war-leaders. The fact that his name is recorded at all, in a passage devoted to the contrasts among the ulamas, shows the respect in which his attitude was held: while Cheh Marahaban “would have been quite willing to change sides if he could only have found conclusive arguments strong enough to counterbalance the contumely attending such a step,” and while Habib Samalanga, Teungku Tiro, and Teungku Kutakarang contended for the leadership of the jihad, Teungku Tanoh Mirah represented the learned and retiring type of kali — the scholar who, in a country given over to war, kept himself apart for study and the ordinary business of justice.
His example is the more noteworthy because the kali of the IV Mukims of the VII of the XXVI Mukims was, in ordinary circumstances, one of the lesser learned offices of Great Acheh. The reputation of Teungku Tanoh Mirah was due not to his office but to his personal learning and to the consistency of his abstention from the politics of the jihad.
See Also
- Cheh Marahaban
- Great Acheh
- Habib Samalanga
- Teungku di Lam Nyong
- Teungku Kutakarang
- Teungku Lam Paya (kali)
- Teungku Tanoh Abee
- Teungku Tanoh Abie
- Teungku Tiro (Muhamat Amin)
- XXVI Mukims
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
A teacher and kali of the IV Mukims of the VII (sagi of the XXVI), son of Teungku Tanoh Abie, who like his father acquired his learning at Lam Nyong under Teungku di Lam Nyong.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teungku Tanoh Mirah
Teungku Tanoh Mirah was the learned kali of the IV Mukims of the VII of the XXVI Mukims — that is, of one of the sub-districts of the third sagi of Great Acheh. He is named by Snouck Hurgronje as a typical example of those ulamas who, in spite of the indignant remonstrances of their more ambitious colleagues, held themselves aloof from the bickering of rival religious leaders and behaved as though no jihad existed.
The occasion of the mention is Snouck Hurgronje’s summary of the pamphlets of Teungku Kutakarang, the active but peculiar ulama who, after the death of Teungku Tiro, sought to supplant the dead man’s authority. In his pamphlets Teungku Kutakarang complained that some ulamas “sit on their prayer-carpets or lose their senses over ascetic exercises” — an allusion to the Teungku’s rival Habib Samalanga — while others “devote themselves to the repair of mosques far away from the scene of the war, and hold great kanduris or religious feasts, squandering the money subscribed for the war on purposes for which it was never intended” — an allusion to Teungku Tiro. From this spirit of discord among the ulamas, Teungku Tanoh Mirah is distinguished as one who held himself entirely apart.
Teungku Tanoh Mirah’s behaviour, as Snouck Hurgronje describes it, was that of the learned kali who, in the midst of a holy war, persisted in the life of study and the discharge of his ordinary judicial duties, refusing to be drawn into the rivalries of the war-leaders. The fact that his name is recorded at all, in a passage devoted to the contrasts among the ulamas, shows the respect in which his attitude was held: while Cheh Marahaban “would have been quite willing to change sides if he could only have found conclusive arguments strong enough to counterbalance the contumely attending such a step,” and while Habib Samalanga, Teungku Tiro, and Teungku Kutakarang contended for the leadership of the jihad, Teungku Tanoh Mirah represented the learned and retiring type of kali — the scholar who, in a country given over to war, kept himself apart for study and the ordinary business of justice.
His example is the more noteworthy because the kali of the IV Mukims of the VII of the XXVI Mukims was, in ordinary circumstances, one of the lesser learned offices of Great Acheh. The reputation of Teungku Tanoh Mirah was due not to his office but to his personal learning and to the consistency of his abstention from the politics of the jihad.
See Also
- Cheh Marahaban
- Great Acheh
- Habib Samalanga
- Teungku di Lam Nyong
- Teungku Kutakarang
- Teungku Lam Paya (kali)
- Teungku Tanoh Abee
- Teungku Tanoh Abie
- Teungku Tiro (Muhamat Amin)
- XXVI Mukims
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.