THE HISTORY OF BAHALWAN IN INDONESIA

It has been years having an intention to write the history of Bahalwan since there is no one written it yet. In the beginning of 1995 I started to write, but faltered.  But then, Washil bin Zein Bahalwan demanded me to write it and he was successful to increase my motivation to continue writing the history of Bahalwan before the extinction of memories offspring. I was once asked to Abdurrahman bin Zein Bahalwan to write it in Arabic, in consideration  that Indonesian language may not last 1000 years, even the whole world languages ​​except Arabic. He approved my proposal and said: "Insya Allah, I will write and make one’s will that my book should held by Fadhil bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan if I am passed away later". However until now, I do not know exactly whether he has written or not.

The Bahalwan’s  genealogy tree was made by Zein bin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan. And the lineage only from the descendant of Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan. My writing is not as schematic rather text form. The materials are cited from:

1. Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan’s writing about his children’s birth 

    date.

2. Abdullah bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan’s writing about the date of birth, death, etc.

3. Karamah bin Omar bin Ali Mubarak Bahalwan’s writing about the origin of Bahalwan which

    was contained in the book "Rasyidatul Akhwan" by Zumali Bahalwan. The book is stored

    properly in Hadramaut. It has not printed yet since there is obstacle deals with the  costs.

4. The story that directly I heard from Zein Bahalwan.

5. The story that directly I heard from parents and grandparents in Banda.

6. The history of Banda’s book.

This article also noted the names of those who are interested in Bahalwan’s history namely:

1. Rugayah bint Abdurrahman Sabban, Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Bahalwan wife.

2. Abdullah bin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Bahalwan.

3. Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan.

4. Zein bin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Bahalwan.

5. Abdurrahman bin Zein Bahalwan.

6. Fadhil bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan.

7. Washil bin Zein Bahalwan.

8. Abdul Aziz bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan.

9. Farid bin Ibrahim Bahalwan.

10. Hisham bin Ali Bahalwan.

This article is divided into several sections:

I. The origin of  Bahalwan.

II. Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan.

III. Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan.

IV. Rugayah bint Abdurrahman Sabban and his family.

V. Business Abdurrahman continued by his children.

VI. Children of Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Bahalwan.

VII. Crisis phase.

VIII. Met Farooq Bahalwan from Abu Dhabi.

IX. Banda Island.

X. Photo copy.

Thus the history of Bahalwan, if there is some errors please kindly help to correct it with factual data. For those that his mother's family name (ulil arham) are not listed, I suggested that they come to write it. 

                                                                            Surabaya, 3^rd November 1995

Fadhil Bahalwan

 

Fadhil Bahalwan family- 0n Karangmenjangan street I / 9 Surabaya 1975. Fadhil Bahalwan is the author of Bahalwan history. He was very close with his great-uncle, Abdullah Bahalwan and Zein Bahalwan. He got a lot of information from them.

Fadhil Bahalwan (seated on rightmost).

Basri Bin Umar Bahalwan (behind-white shirt).

 

Memories: Fadhil Bahalwan with his mother (Mrs. Ani Bahalwan) on Karangmenjangan street 1/9 Surabaya in 1966

                             From right to left: Faisal Ali, Farid, Sholah Kabiran, Ibrahim, Ibu Ani.

                                               Back: Fadhil Bahalwan, Rugayah Ba'adilah.

                                                           Bahalwan Surabaya Family

                         At Fadhil Bahalwan’s house on Mulyorejo Tengah street, Surabaya, July 23, 1983.

  

   From the right (top): Himyar, Samijan, Helmi Sabban, Zed, Husni (Oce), Haris (Lalit), Fuad Alkatiri.

                                         From right (seated): Husni, Ali Fahmi, Rusdi.
 

THE HISTORY OF BAHALWAN IN INDONESIA

 Washil bin Zein Bahalwan

(Initiator History of  Bahalwan)

Zein Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan

He has much contribution about Bahalwan’s history.

 

Family trees: Bani Adnan,

Qhahthan Bani, Bani Quraysh.

Bahalwan is from Bani Adnan.

Halwan name is on the red circle.

 

Family Tree Bahalwan From Hadramaut To Indonesia

This Lineage was made by Zein Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan on Rabi’ul Akhir 1367 H / 1946 AD.

Source from Zein Bahalwan’s notes and letter of Karamah Bin 'Umar Bahalwan in Aden, Yemen.

 

Notes:

Blue circle: Karamah Bin Umar Bahalwan in Aden, Yemen.

Red circle: Abdurrahman Bin Muhammad Bahalwan in Banda Neira

Green circle: Zein Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan

Pink circle: Fadhil Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan

Brown circle: Washil bin Zein Bahalwan

Orange circle: Faisal Bin Karamah Bahalwan Abu Dhabi

Purple circle: Bin Karamah Bahalwan Faruq Abu Dhabi

Dark circles: Ahmadun Bin Abdullah Bahalwan Samarinda

Two red circles: Bahalwan Abu Dhabi

Two blue circles: Bahalwan Yemen

Two green circles: Bahalwan Tanjung Selor, East Kalimantan

Two brown circles: Bahalwan Pasuruan

Two dark circles: Bahalwan Banda Neira and Surabaya

Lineage Bahalwan Indonesia

From the first generation, Abdurrahman Bin Muhammad Bahalwan, until the fifth generation.

This Lineage was prepared by Helmi bin Zein Bahalwan which was adjusted to lineage compiled by his uncle, Abdullah Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan.

Surabaya, 17 Romadhon 1416 H / February 7, 1996.

 

Red circle: Helmi Bahalwan

Green circle: Washil Bahalwan

Blue circle: Fadhil Bahalwan

I.                   Al-Bahalwan in Indonesia

Almost all descendants of Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan know that Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan is an Arab-born Gurfa, Hadramaut, but further lineage was discovered around 1948 story as follows:

 Abdullah Baljun, born in Gurfa, Hadramaut wanted to visit his relatives in Gurfa, Hadramaut and he recommended Zein bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan to write letters to Bahalwan family in Gurfa. He also said that he would personally deliver and tell about Al-Bahalwan in Surabaya to Al- Bahalwan in Gurfa. At the request of his son, Abdurrahman Bahalwan wrote a letter to Bahalwan family in Gurfa employed Arabic since he was an Arabic teacher. The letter was red by Bahalwan family in Gurfa, after that they sent it to Karamah bin Umar bin Ali bin Mubarak in Aden because they assumed that Karamah understand the lineage well. After Zein Bahalwan red the reply letter from Karamah, he sent it to Abdullah Bahalwan in Banda Naira and asked him to reply it on behalf of Bahalwan Indonesia. It is because Abdullah Bahalwan known the lineage well and he was also well in Arabic. He replied it in detail and ranging data of Muhammad Bahalwan from Semarang to Surabaya and his sons his wife until the day he died on July 23^rd, 1878. Similarly, Abdurrahman bin Muhammad and his children's names and dates of birth or death and also the work during his lifetime. What is interesting in this case is to check the accuracy of the existing pedigree in Hadramaut and pedigree guard of down - generations in the book RASYIDATUL ACHWAN by Zummali Bahalwan. From that book we know that the origin of Bahalwan is from Banu Adnan which was lived Madain Saleh, north-Arab. There were some from this descent moved to Yemen and lived there with their family. One of them is the famous Imam Abdullah Nasrudin Bahalwan, Governor in Zele 'Africa (in Yemen Royal’s power). His name is praised in the book Diwan Alydrus pages 46-96-97 and 163. There was also the one namely Geis, he worked as a soldier in the kingdom of Yemen in 1079 H. By Imam of Yemen, Imam Al Muttawakkal allallah, he was moved from Bahrath (Sana'a area) to Khijrien (Hadramaut’s area). He died there and his children moved to Gurfa (Ba'abbad), perhaps his wife came from Gurfa. Ahmad, Abu Bakr, Zumali, and Abdullah were the descendants of Geis. 

Ghurfah - Khijrien : The residence of Al-Bahalwan

 

   A.    Achmad does not have offspring unless Muhammad ibn Umar.

   B.     From the descendants of Abu Bakr, who moved to Java, Indonesia was bin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Abu Bakar bin Geis. From this descent, it was not known exactly where they were, about 1925, Salim bin Abdurrahman bin Mubarak received a letter from Ibrahim Bahaiwan-Hadramaut. He requested assistance allowance for travel from Hadramaut to Java in order to find his family in Indonesia. But, due to malese era, the request could not be granted. Some said that, perhaps, the family which was missing from the descendants of Abu Bakr moved to Sumatra and then to Malaysia. I (Fadil) have asked this issue to Zein Abu Bakr Bahalwan “ Is there any possibility that the lost descendants are those Bahalwan which lived in Pasuruan?” But according to Zein Bahalwan, the names of Bahalwan in Pasuruan was different from the pedigree which was sent by Karamah.

In addition to:

   Bahalwan Pasuruan which is mentioned above are:

1. Salim, has two children in the Pasuruan village.

2. Said, has two children without grandchildren namely Abdur Rahman and Rugayah.

3. Fatimah married to Hasan bin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan.

    and has three children. 

   C.  From Zumali’s descendants who moved to Indonesia (Donggala) is Bakran bin Ali bin Bakran bin Umar bin Zumali bin Geis. From Donggala they moved to Tanjung Selor Bulungan, East-Kalimantan. The offspring lived there until now. From this family, there is someone who frequently correspondences with Bahalwan Surabaya until 1940 namely Hassan Bahalwan addressed on Tanjung Selor.

    D.   From the descendants of Abdullah, who moved to Indonesia (Semarang) then to Surabaya is Muhammad bin Mubarak bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Geis and he lived in Surabaya until his death on July 23^rd, 1878.

 

II. Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan

Born in Gurfa – Hadramaut. He moved to Semarang -Indonesia around the mid-19th century or ± 1845. Indeed, at that time many Arabs who moved to Indonesia. One of her friends is Abdurrahman Sabban. According to the story, Muhammad Bahalwan is a captain of the ship sails. Many Arabs came to Indonesia ride on his ship. As captain of the ship he had been visited China and islands in east-Indonesia. Then he and his friend, Abdurrahman Sabban, married in Semarang. After that, Abdurrahman Sabban moved to Banda Naira. Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan's wife is Nur bint Syarwan, she is a Malay tribes. With Nur bint Syarwan, he has 4 daughters and a son, with the following names:

1. Muhani married to Abdullah bin Muhammad Basalamah lived in Semarang.

2. Aminah married to Zein bin Salim Basalamah lived in Surabaya and Children lived in Bangil, Pasuruan

    and Malang. Names of his children:

1. Muhammad

2. Salim

3. Abdullah

4. Chadijah (Ili)

5. Muhani, Fatmah Basalamah’s mother and Ahmad Baraja’s grandmother.

3. Aisyah married to Said Tarmum and the daughter’s name is Nur Tarmum

4. Salmah married to Umar Assegaf and has a son, name Abdullah Assegaf, lived in Gresik on KS. Tubun 

     street no. 11

5. Abdurrahman married to Rugayah bint Abdurrahman Sabban, the daughter of his father’s friend

     which was lived in Semarang.

Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan from Semarang moved to Surabaya. After his son, Abdurrahman Bahalwan, was adult he traveled to Banda Naira with his son. Then, his best friend, Abdurrahman Sabban asked Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Bahalwan to marry his daughter, Rugayah Sabban. Unfortunately, Muhammad bin Mubarak Bahalwan could not present at the wedding day of his son Abdurrahman, because the ship he used was destroyed in the course, so he settled in Surabaya until his death on July 23^rd, 1878. He was buried in Kenjeran Street, Surabaya, because at that time the Arab graves in Jl. Sidorame have not existed yet. The tombstone made from teak was taken by someone during the war of 1942. That is all the information from Zein Bahalwan. He died leaving a wife and five children.

III. Abdurrahman bin Muhamad bin Mubarak Bahalwan

Born in Semarang in 1856 birth and is estimated he marriage at the age of 18 years. His mother is Nur bint Syarwan from Malay tribes - Indonesia. When teen, he followed his parents to Surabaya. He can write well in Arabic so he is not illiterate. About the age of 17 years, he has a trip with his father to Banda Naira. They visited his father’s old friend, Abdurrahman Sabban. At Banda Naira, Abdurrahman Sabban asked him to stay and marry his daughter, Rugayah bint Abdurrahman Sabban. On the way back to Surabaya, the ship that his father used was broken so his dad could not return to Banda Naira at the time of his son's wedding. At Banda, initially, He worked in his father in law’s store before he has his own.

In 1874, he married to Rugayah bint Abdurrahman Sabban. At that time, he was 18 years old and his wife was 13 years old. They have 10 children: 7 boys and 3 girls and all were born in Banda Naira.

   1.  Abdullah was born on 12^th April 1876 married to Salmah binti Abdul Kadir Billahmar dan Boke/MaryamC.

     2.      Salim was born on August 19^th , 1877 married to Nur Sabban and Anawiyah

    3.      Muhammad was born on March 13^th, 1880 married to Muhani Binti-Salim Sabban dan Halimah.    

    4.      Fatimah was born on June 4^th , 1882 married to Ahmad bin Abdullah Sabban.

    5.      Zainah born on November 2^nd, 1884 married to Abu Bakr bin Abdullah Sabban.

    6.      Umar was born on May 4^th, 1887 married to Muhani binti Abdullah Sabban.

    7.      Hasan was born on November 3^rd, 1889 married to Fatmah Bahalwan from Pasuruan.

   8.      Zein was born on February 1^st, 1892 married to Rugayah binti Muhammad Baadila and Latifah from Bangil.

   9.      Said was born on February 25^th, 1893 married to Hasbiah Maghrib.

  10.  Salmah (Salimun) born on September 18^th, 1894 married to Ahmad bin Muhammad Sabban.

 

In 24^th September 1894 he passed away at the age of ± 38 years. He leaves a wife, 33 years old; 7 sons and 3 daughters. The youngest child aged 6 days and the oldest is 18 years old. He has a house where they living and trading. He was buried in the tomb of Islam Naira. According to the stories of elders in Banda, before Abdurrahman Bahalwan death, he had planned to move to to Surabaya with his family but failed as he died. All his property held by Weskamar, after he died. According to the request of his wife and Chung Baadila (captain Arab at that time). The treasure, store and its contents must be run by his sons, Abdullah (eldest) with Salim. But with the provision that Weskamar should be given living costs Rp. 5, - per month for each son and Rp. 2,5,- for daughters over 6 years. If it is not so, then he will be put in jail. Fortunately, Abdullah succeeded to develop the business, even it is not only for 6 years but until they are all married.

Ships door:  it means that this area is the entrance of large ship because the sea is very profound.

 
VIII.  Meeting  Farooq Bahalwan from Abu Dhabi

Farooq Bin Karamah Bahalwan 

Faisal Bin Karamah Bahalwan

The relationship of Bahalwan from Surabaya and Bahalwan from United Arab Emirates. The first letter of Bahalwan Abu Dhabi by Karamah bin Faisal bin Ali bin Mubarak Bahalwan, dated November 1989, to Zuraidah Zein bint Bahalwan. He aimed to make a relationship with Bahalwan in Indonesia after he got the news from an Arab from Surabaya who now resides in Abu Dhabi. But, after six months, the letter was not returned, then I, Fadhil bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan, asked Zuraidah Bahalwan’s permission to reply the letter. Zuraidah Bahalwan agreed and provided a copy of the letter. Then I asked Farid bin Ibrahim Bahalwan to answer. A week later, June 5^th, 1990, letter from Farid Bahalwan to Faisal was sent in English. The letter also attached a copy of a letter from the Faisal’s father,  Karamah bin Omar bin Ali bin Mubarak Bahalwan to Abdullah bin Abdurrahman bin Mubarak bin Mohammed Bahalwan around 1948. Similarly, a copy of the writing of Abdullah bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan about Bahalwan descent in Indonesia.

Alhamdulillah, Abdullah bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan’s record becomes authentic proof of  Al Bahalwan in Indonesia. So it gets a response, written by his brother Farooq bin Karamah Bahalwan, because Faisal bin Karamah Bahalwan cannot speak English instead German. One of the most interesting posts that I still remember is Farooq said that they read the letter from Farid by seeing a copy of his father letter. They were surprise and pretty sure that we are truly descendants of Bahalwan. Then they, Farooq and Farid, started to frequently correspond with attachments of family photographs.

Abdul Aziz Bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan

He accommodates Farooq’s visiting in Indonesia

In the same way, after Washil read a letter from Farooq he also has a desire to correspond, even he sent photo Karamah bin Omar bin Ali bin Mubarak Bahalwan together with his small children, photo Fadhil Bahalwan family and a copy of Bahalwan family tree which was drawn up by Zein bin Abdurrahman Bahalwan. Then, Farooq copied it again and filled the names of Mubarak’s descendants in Arab countries and sent it to Washil. Washil let Abdul Aziz Bahalwan know the address and telephone number of Farooq in Abu Dhabi. That is why when Farooq visited Hassan Al Katiri’s house in Surabaya, Indonesia, he always looking for Farid. Wasil is the pioneer connection of Bahalwan families Surabaya-Abu Dhabi. We have to thank to the three of them (Farid Wasil, and Abdul Aziz) who have been trying to connect families Bahalwan without any strings attached. Abdul Aziz Bahalwan spent much money to welcome Farooq Bahalwan in Hassan Al Katiri’s house (Hamzah Fansyuri Street) with a festive reception and samrah. The interesting is the speech of Ahmad Sungkar, teachers of Al Irsyad. He told the goodness and glory of Bahalwan in the era of Salim Bahalwan Bahalwan and also the time when Bahalwan founded school “Al Maarif”. And the next day they went to visit Villa Sakinah in Trawas, very interesting.

Unforgettable memory at Hasan Alkatiri’s house dated October 9^th, 1993, Farooq Bin Karamah Bahalwan (white shirt) in the midst of family Bahalwan Surabaya.