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Abdul Kahar Muzakkar was the leader of a rebellion 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.

Early Life [1920-1943]
Born on 24th March 1920 in the Kingdom of Luwu, a smaller principality on the northern end of the Gulf of Bone, [chaidar] 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.

Kahar completed elementary school in 1934, and his parents then sent him to Muhammadiyah Standard School in Palopo [capital of luwu] for 4 yrs. He was then sent to Solo to study in the Islamic Teachers College [kweekschool Muhammadiyah] from 1938 to 1941. It was in this last school that Kahar was introduced to a number of prominent ulama, including a prominent modernist muslim nationalist, Abdul Kahar Muzakkir. In fact, some people claimed that it was contact with this ulama that prompted Kahar to change his name to 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 asked ladomeng to change 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. [hamdan, siliwangi report] 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 Japanese clerk at the Nippon Hodobu, an information agency in Makassar. He thus had to frequently travel between Luwu and Makassar.

In 1943, Kahar was sentenced by the Hadat [governing council] of the kingdom of Luwu to ripaopangitana [literally, to put someone or something face downward on the land] on him, or simply to treat someone as dead [to translate it simply as 'banishment' is to ignore its most dreaded aspect: the severing of the tie which makes a bug is or makassar person one, emotionally and spiritually, with all the members of his community. There were varied accounts for the reason of such a sentence, all indicating that Kahar had alienated and angered the ruling powers in Luwu, particularly as his position as an activist of Hizbul Wathan. There are views that Kahar criticized the belief in Sawerigading, which claims that only the descendents of the Sawerigading can rule Luwu. [Tommy Thompson] According to his sister, Sulaeha, Kahar asked the aristocrats to discard the use of aristocratic titles, such as opu, due to its inherent discrimination. Military documentation also disclosed that Kahar rejected the tradition of bowing the knees before aristocrats. He also acted in ways that oppose the traditional system of his homeland, such as marrying a Javanese girl at a time when cross cultural marriages were not common in the Buginese tradition. According to Barbara Harvey, the versions of reasons for Kahar's exile are as many as the persons who spoke about it. Mukhlis, in his writing, attempted to interpret Kahar's punishment, concluding that he broke 2 main rules: Mapparibokoang Arung [guilty of self-importance and of abusing his position] and he did mpleo weloie Arung [attempted the illegal overthrow of the rulers' position] in his position as a Hizbul Wathan activist. At the time Kahar was expelled, he swore to return and marry a descendent of the Pajung, a prophecy which came true as he later married Andi Haliah, the granddaughter of the Pajung [king].

Links to Darul Islam [1952-1965]
Before 1952, Kartosuwirjo, the leader of the Darul Islam movement in West Java, sent a letter to Kahar inviting to join his movement. Kahar only replied on 20th January 1952, accepting the invitation to make Sulawesi part of the Islamic State of Indonesia. However, Kahar clarified in the same letter that he did not think Sulawesi is ready to adopt the DI movement formally, as some of his followers were still influenced by communism [which happened before his arrival in Sulawesi] and the lack of commitment on their part in initiating an Islamic revolution. According to Kahar:

"Actually, we have also wanted to initiate an Islamic revolution since 16 August 1951 [based on what I plan with Brother Abd. Fattach and Brother Saleh Sjahban], but unfortunately, these two brothers are not committed. That made our effort failed and our power was defeated by stronger and more influential powers in society which were unconsciously influenced by 'reddish' ideology"

On 27 February 1952, Kartosuwirjo replied to Kahar's letter, appointing the latter as the commander of Division IV, Hasanudin of the Indonesian Islamic Army. Kartosuwirjo also expressed his gratitude to Kahar for acknowledging him as the supreme commander of the Islamic State of Indonesia, and reminded him of the importance of being under the banner of the Darul Islam. In the whole organization of DI in Indonesia, Kahar was the Deputy Minister of Defence, and the Commander of the Fourth Military District [East Indonesia] and the Fourth Division [Hasanuddin]. However, there cannot be said to be an active coordination between the central DI movement and the South Sulawesi DI movement. [disunited indonesia]

On 7 August 1953, Kahar formally proclaimed South Sulawesi as part of the West Java Daril Islam at a gathering in Makalua. He read the proclamation of 1949, claiming that Sulawesi and its surroundings were part of the Islamic State of Indonesia. At this same gathering, Kahar also issued several regulations to start off the new movement. He announced the new DI flags for South Sulawesi and its surroundings. The state flag was to be red with a yellow crescent and three yellow stars, while the military flag was red with three yellow stars and the number '24'. He also activated a curfew within the areas of DI, and Islamic law was formally adopted. Kahar called on those who were not Muslims to voluntarily support the Islamic community, and labelled the existing guerrillas who were not part of the Islamic army as quttautthariq [robbers in Arabic].

In 1955, Kahar, in the name of the East Indonesia DI, called to the Muslim community, ulama, and Islamic political parties to understand the content of God's instructions of the jihad. He also concentrated on the creation of a legal basis in the application of the formalist Islamic system within the organization. In 1955, the DI held a conference at Makalua, and a constitution known as the Makalua was drafted to guide the South Sulawesi people. Kahar created systems to support the existence of the NII. He started collecting taxes, all in the name of the Islamic state, and also established organizations. He founded a youth organization, Pemuda Islam Jihad, whilst his wife, Susana Corry van Stenus, instituted a woman's fighter corps called Laskar Wanita.

Kahar also began to extend the DI influences outside South Sulawesi, soon after he was accepted as being under the West Java DI. He first expanded DI to Southeast Sulawesi, and around 1955, North Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Irian Barat came under the influence of Kahar's DI. It was also rumoured that Kahar established international connections which included guns supplies from Britain, and the smuggling of DI people under the noses of the British officials in Tawau [Sabah] who feigned ignorance on the matter. The supposed sightings of submarines in the gulf of Bone also fuelled such rumours.

Death
According to the information collected by Anhar Gonggong, Kahar was killed on 3rd February 1965 by Corporal Sadeli of the Indonesian Army. It was reported that Sadeli heard the sound of a radio plaiyng in the forest near the Lasolo River area, and approached the source of the sound, knowing that Kahar always carried with him a transistor radio. Sadeli had initially wanted to capture Kahar alive, but upon seeing the grenade in his hand, he shot to kill instead. He then compared a photograph of Kahar with that of the dead body, and concluded that the man he had killed was truly Kahar. The body was retrieved by a helicopter and flown to Makassar, where it was received by Jusuf at Palemonia Hospital. Upon the announcement of Kahar's death, only one of his wives, 2 children and an uncle were authorized to see the body. kahar's son, Abdullah, identified his father from the eczema on his food and his dentures.

However, this claim of Kahar's death had been refuted by many of his followers. There were some who claimed that Kahar was a distance away from where the fighting purportedly took place. Moreover, Kahar was always surrounded by 2 platoons of armed bodyguards, and he carried a rifle, not a grenade, as was mentioned in the radio news and newspapers which reported on his death. For these followers, the government news stories were pure propaganda. A whole platoon claimed that they were with Kahar at Lasolo at the supposed time of death, and he disappeared when they left him for a while. However, there was no trace of bloodshed in the area to indicate any sort of fight or struggle. Mansur, one of Kahar's close assistant, also insisted that he was with Kahar when the latter's death was announced on the radio. A few days later, Kahar simply disappeared while Mansur was taking a bath in the river.

All these witness accounts point not to the death of Kahar, but to a mere disappearance, a view that was supported by his followers. There were some people who claimed that it was Jusuf who had merely faked the death of Kahar based on an earlier face-to-face meeting. These people believed that when Kahar and Jusuf met in Bonepute first on 21 October 1961 and then on 12 November 1961, Jusuf suggested to Kahar that he should go into hiding. It was said that they embraced tearfully. Based on this version, Kahar agreed to be picked up by helicopter to make his escape while another retrieved someone else's body in his place. According to Tihami [1984], the body was dropped in the sea between Makassar and jot[?] so that no one would be able to claim tt it was nt Kahar's. People also doubted Abdullah's capacity to identify his father as he had spent his childhood in Java with his mother, and rarely saw his father. He had only seen Kahar for 3 days 3 yrs before his death, although they did share a bed. Said Abdullah: 'The problem is that no one else saw the corpse. I did, however.' Another version that claims to refute Kahar's death draws on the Sulawesi tradition of a tomanurung [one who descends from heaven] who comes to earth to serve the ruler by protecting the general population from corrupt, authoritarian and abusive leaders. According to the myth constructed and believed by his followers, Kahar is a tomanurung. Therefore, he did not die, but ascended temporarily to heaven, awaiting the time when it is necessary to come back. These suggestions of Kahar as a tomanurung are usually buttressed by accounts of him living in exile, where he is both engaged in strategic work and at the same time practicing Sufi meditation. For many of his followers, the issue of Kahar's alleged death is close for discussion he purportedly said before he left: 'I'll go away from you all for some time, don't ever try to look for me, because you simply can't. But, if I want to, I can easily find you.' There was also a very prevalent belief that Kahar had merely gone into hiding and had taken another persona. This new identity of Kahar, many believed, was Syamsuri Abdul Madjid also known as Syekh Imam Muhammad Al Mahdi Abdullah. Syamsuri passed away in 2006, and was said to have been very close to Susana Corry van Stenus, one of Kahar's wives.

The government's position on this issue, though, is that Kahar is truly dead, killed in the jungle on 3rd February 1965, a position sustained by both Harvey [1974] and van Dijk [1981]. This, though, did not stop the contemporary movement from capitalising on the mystery and controversy of Kahar's death. Mansur's version of events at the time of Kahar's supposed death, though gotten third-hand and thus less reliable, had been the one that has galvanised the movement's followers. Jusuf's silence, on the other hand, had conspired in expanding the truth, wittingly or not. A core group of contemporary Kahar's loyalists includes a number of members of NGOs who are involved in a varied field of activities ranging from cooperatives, legal practice and farming, to youth training, and professionals employed in Sulawesi as teachers, lecturers, lawyers, consultants and engineers.

Writings
During the course of the rebellion, Kahar was active in writing. His writings include monographs, speeches and regulations. He was said to have written more than 10 monographs, of which not all are available to the public. Hamdan Juhannis claims that Kahar's writings especially reflect an effort to strengthen the legitimacy of Darul Islam as most touch on Islamic issues, quoting Quranic verses against the republican government. Several reasons for this had been brought forth, such that Kahar saw a need to 'Islamise' his DI community in South Sulawesi, and that he wrote for a general audience to help outsiders understand the nature of formalist Islamism.

Kahar's writings were influenced by his short-temperedness and his broad knowledge. Many of them were rather emotional, even to the extent of attacking his enemies like Sukarno. Kahar's writings also reflect his broad knowledge, especially on Islam and politics. Most of his writings can be categorised into general points, namely: his position from a defender to opponent of the pancasila, Islamic democracy verses Sukarno's Java-centricness, Islam versus other ideologies like the pancasila and communism, and his changing conception of state - from an Islamic federation to that of a caliphate system. According to Deliar Noer, Kahar's writings also are significant for it not only addressed the people in his time, but also provide lessons in idealism, and at least a guide for later generations to continue such idealism.