Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin

Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin (7 March 1913 – 1 January 2006) was an Indonesian ulama, politician, and writer.
==Early life and education==
Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin was born on 7 March 1913 in Bangkinang, Kampar Regency, as the eldest child and son of the three children of Muhammad Amin and Taraima, both were a cloth trader. His parents were from Kuok, a village not far from his birthplace. He had two brothers, Hasyim and Ahmad. Zakaria also had a paternal half-brother, Ahmad Sanusi, and two paternal half-sisters, Siti Maryam and Syarafiah. All of his siblings worked as a farmer and glassware traders and lived in Kuala Lumpur. They became Malaysian citizen since the 1960s.
Zakaria's parents worked as ready-to-wear traders every day in a market that moved from one village to another along the Riau-West Sumatra Road. They had a pen of buffalo as livestock that were herded on the rice field embankments that they owned. On these rice field embankments, Zakaria spent his childhood helping his parents look after and herd the livestock. The life of both of his parents who worked hard without forgetting to worship left a special impression on him. 
As the first son, every day Zakaria was woken up at four in the morning by his parents to help prepare merchandise and perform the morning prayer in congregation as well as herd their livestock throughout the day. Zakaria was raised in a family that has strong religious practices and strong discipline. In terms of educating children, Zakaria's parents emphasized to their children to be honest, not to disturb other people, if someone disturbs them it is better to give in, not to hurt other people, and to like helping the weak. 
During his childhood, Zakaria felt that he did not have any outstanding advantages compared to his other siblings, so he did not feel that he was treated specially by his parents and siblings. His parents did not differentiate between their love for their children, so that Zakaria and his siblings got along with each other with love. Zakaria spent his childhood playing marbles, flying kites, and swimming in the Kampar River with his friends while herding cattle on the rice field embankments. In making friends, he does not differentiate between friends and is close to all his friends.
In 1920, at the age of seven, Zakaria was enrolled at Volks School in Bangkinang and only attended school up to the third grade. He then dropped out of school because he had no interest in science and was more interested in religious knowledge. Seeing Zakaria's great interest in the religious field, in 1923, at the age of ten, Zakaria was taken by his uncle, Abdullah, and his aunt, Fatimah, to perform the Hajj in Mecca. The journey to Mecca at that time was still using ships from Teluk Bayur Port in Padang, West Sumatra. The journey to Mecca was quite tiring because the KLM ships owned by the Dutch East Indies government were numerous and often stopped at a number of ports that were part of its colonies, so the journey took three to four months.
In Mecca, Zakaria and his uncle got to know the Hajj pilgrims from British Malaya. While performing the Hajj, they also studied religious knowledge with famous sheikhs there, including Ali Al-Maliki, Sheikh Umar Al-Turki, Umar Hamdan, Ahmad Fathoni, and Sheikh Muhammad Amin Quthbi. Together with the pilgrims from various countries, Zakaria sat huddled around the teacher by making a circle (halaqa) to study religious knowledge every time he finished the obligatory prayer. The sciences he studied included the science of the Quran, interpretation, hadith, mustolah hadith, tawhid, balagah, and qonafi which is the science of Arabic poetry. 
After performing the Hajj pilgrimage, Zakaria was taken by his uncle and aunt to British Malaya to further his religious studies, because at that time the area was known as an area that was devout in implementing the teachings of Islam. Zakaria's scientific lineage connects to Shaikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi who once served as the imam of the Syafi'i school of thought at the Masjidil Haram and was also the teacher of Ahmad Dahlan, the founder of Muhammadiyah, and Hasyim Asy'ari, the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama. 
In Temerloh, Zakaria studied religious knowledge for six years until his teacher Muhammad Saleh died. To Saleh, in addition to studying religious knowledge as he was taught in Mecca, he also studied Matan Jurumiyah completely. Zakaria then moved to Pasir Mas and Kuala Lipis for nine months until the area was flooded in late 1929. In this situation, he and several of his friends moved to Bengkalis and stopped at a religious school at the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque under the leadership of Tuan Guru Haji Ahmad while also deepening his religious knowledge at the school. Zakaria then became a teacher at the school together with Ahmad and several of his friends, such as Muhammad Toha, Muhammad Sidik, and Muhammad Ismail. In 1933, on the advice of Ahmad, Zakaria returned to British Malaya, to Bagan Datuk Perak to deepen his Islamic religious knowledge.
==Personal life==
Zakaria was first married to Mariah, the daughter of Tuan Guru Haji Ahmad, in 1933. They had seven children, Nashruddin, Aminah, Zaharah, Ulfah, Azra'ie, Hanim, and Syakrani. Their marriage lasted until Mariah's death. 
He later remarried to Zainab and has had six children, Zulkarnain, Nukman, Gamal Abdul Nasir, Rita Puspa, Nida Suryani, and Sri Purnama.
==Career==
In 1929, at the age of 16, Zakaria devoted himself as a teacher at the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque. In 1930, a year after returning from British Malaya, he wrote several things that were discussed at that time, including an essay on the issue of qunut in the Subuh prayer entitled Balqurramhi fi Sunniyyati Qunut Subhi in the At-Tabib magazine in Cikampek. In 1932, Zakaria wrote about the problem of usholli in salat in Hidah Benar magazine in British Malaya. He then wrote about the rakat of sunnah tarawih prayer, and wrote a collection of Friday and Eid sermons totaling twelve sermon titles, in 1939.
In 1937, Zakaria established Al-Khairiyah, the first Islamic boarding school in Bengkalis, and lead the school with a classical system until the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies arrived in Bengkalis in 1943.
Approaching the proclamation of Indonesian independence in 1945, Zakaria was one of the figures who always propagated Indonesian independence to his students and the general public. This was done to raise the fighting spirit of the people in Bengkalis. 
From 1948 to 1949, during Operation Kraai, Zakaria led the Sabilillah People's Army and served as Chairman of the Bengkalis Regency People's Struggle Agency under the command of Captain Iskandar together with the Indonesian Army, taking up arms against the Dutch army who wanted to take control of Bengkalis again. He then moved to Dumai and joined the II/V Battalion Unit in the public relations section with the rank of titular sergeant major under the leadership of Captain Iskandar.
In December 1949, Zakaria was appointed as Head of Government in the Field of Islamic Religion. From 1950 until 1972, he served as the first Head of the Religious Affairs Office of Bengkalis Regency. Zakaria then served as a Member of the House of Representatives in Bengkalis Regency. He was a member of Masyumi Party until the party was banned by President Sukarno on 15 August 1960. 
On 7 August 1955, Zakaria attended a conference of four DPRDS (Kampar Regency, Bengkalis, Riau Islands, Indragiri) throughout Riau as one of the delegates of the Bengkalis Regency DPRDS which was held in Bengkalis. The conference resulted in an agreement to demand the granting of autonomy status to Riau which at that time was still part of Central Sumatra. On 9 August 1957, Riau was officially formed with the enactment of the Republic's Emergency Law Number 19 of 1957 concerning the Establishment of Level I Regions of West Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau.
On 17 July 1963, Zakaria founded MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, a school consisting of elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. The construction of this school was purely carried out independently by Zakaria together with the community. In addition to leading the school, he also taught a concentration of Islamic religious knowledge based on yellow books. Until the end of his life, Zakaria taught without being paid at all. The number of students studying at MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, which numbered from its establishment until his death reached thousands of people without being charged at all. Meanwhile, to finance the school's operational costs, including teachers' honorariums, Zakaria collected donations from donors every month.
In addition to leading and teaching at MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, Zakaria also teaches religious knowledge at mosques and prayer rooms in the Bengkalis area and its surroundings, such as the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque, the Raudhatul Jannah Damon Prayer Room, the Kayu Manis Prayer Room, and even taught religious knowledge in Batu Panjang, Rupat. From 1964, Zakaria became the judge of Musabaqah Tilawatil Qur'an and a teacher at the religious teacher education at YPPI Bengkalis for six years until the school was closed in 1970.
In 1974, Zakaria was appointed as Chair of the Advisory Council of the United Development Party from Nahdlatul Ulama and served until 1986. He then became an administrator of Nahdlatul Ulama in Bengkalis Regency.
In 1982, Zakaria together with the community established the Al-Ishlah Mosque (previously called Surau Zakaria) as a means for the community to carry out worship and other socio-religious activities.
==Death==
Zakaria died on 1 January 2006 in Bengkalis, Riau, at the age of 92, and was buried there.
Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin (7 March 1913 – 1 January 2006) was an Indonesian ulama, politician, and writer.
==Early life and education==
Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin was born on 7 March 1913 in Bangkinang, Kampar Regency, as the eldest child and son of the three children of Muhammad Amin and Taraima, both were a cloth trader. His parents were from Kuok, a village not far from his birthplace. He had two brothers, Hasyim and Ahmad. Zakaria also had a paternal half-brother, Ahmad Sanusi, and two paternal half-sisters, Siti Maryam and Syarafiah. All of his siblings worked as a farmer and glassware traders and lived in Kuala Lumpur. They became Malaysian citizen since the 1960s.
Zakaria's parents worked as ready-to-wear traders every day in a market that moved from one village to another along the Riau-West Sumatra Road. They had a pen of buffalo as livestock that were herded on the rice field embankments that they owned. On these rice field embankments, Zakaria spent his childhood helping his parents look after and herd the livestock. The life of both of his parents who worked hard without forgetting to worship left a special impression on him. 
As the first son, every day Zakaria was woken up at four in the morning by his parents to help prepare merchandise and perform the morning prayer in congregation as well as herd their livestock throughout the day. Zakaria was raised in a family that has strong religious practices and strong discipline. In terms of educating children, Zakaria's parents emphasized to their children to be honest, not to disturb other people, if someone disturbs them it is better to give in, not to hurt other people, and to like helping the weak. 
During his childhood, Zakaria felt that he did not have any outstanding advantages compared to his other siblings, so he did not feel that he was treated specially by his parents and siblings. His parents did not differentiate between their love for their children, so that Zakaria and his siblings got along with each other with love. Zakaria spent his childhood playing marbles, flying kites, and swimming in the Kampar River with his friends while herding cattle on the rice field embankments. In making friends, he does not differentiate between friends and is close to all his friends.
In 1920, at the age of seven, Zakaria was enrolled at Volks School in Bangkinang and only attended school up to the third grade. He then dropped out of school because he had no interest in science and was more interested in religious knowledge. Seeing Zakaria's great interest in the religious field, in 1923, at the age of ten, Zakaria was taken by his uncle, Abdullah, and his aunt, Fatimah, to perform the Hajj in Mecca. The journey to Mecca at that time was still using ships from Teluk Bayur Port in Padang, West Sumatra. The journey to Mecca was quite tiring because the KLM ships owned by the Dutch East Indies government were numerous and often stopped at a number of ports that were part of its colonies, so the journey took three to four months.
In Mecca, Zakaria and his uncle got to know the Hajj pilgrims from British Malaya. While performing the Hajj, they also studied religious knowledge with famous sheikhs there, including Ali Al-Maliki, Sheikh Umar Al-Turki, Umar Hamdan, Ahmad Fathoni, and Sheikh Muhammad Amin Quthbi. Together with the pilgrims from various countries, Zakaria sat huddled around the teacher by making a circle (halaqa) to study religious knowledge every time he finished the obligatory prayer. The sciences he studied included the science of the Quran, interpretation, hadith, mustolah hadith, tawhid, balagah, and qonafi which is the science of Arabic poetry. 
After performing the Hajj pilgrimage, Zakaria was taken by his uncle and aunt to British Malaya to further his religious studies, because at that time the area was known as an area that was devout in implementing the teachings of Islam. Zakaria's scientific lineage connects to Shaikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi who once served as the imam of the Syafi'i school of thought at the Masjidil Haram and was also the teacher of Ahmad Dahlan, the founder of Muhammadiyah, and Hasyim Asy'ari, the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama. 
In Temerloh, Zakaria studied religious knowledge for six years until his teacher Muhammad Saleh died. To Saleh, in addition to studying religious knowledge as he was taught in Mecca, he also studied Matan Jurumiyah completely. Zakaria then moved to Pasir Mas and Kuala Lipis for nine months until the area was flooded in late 1929. In this situation, he and several of his friends moved to Bengkalis and stopped at a religious school at the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque under the leadership of Tuan Guru Haji Ahmad while also deepening his religious knowledge at the school. Zakaria then became a teacher at the school together with Ahmad and several of his friends, such as Muhammad Toha, Muhammad Sidik, and Muhammad Ismail. In 1933, on the advice of Ahmad, Zakaria returned to British Malaya, to Bagan Datuk Perak to deepen his Islamic religious knowledge.
==Personal life==
Zakaria was first married to Mariah, the daughter of Tuan Guru Haji Ahmad, in 1933. They had seven children, Nashruddin, Aminah, Zaharah, Ulfah, Azra'ie, Hanim, and Syakrani. Their marriage lasted until Mariah's death. 
He later remarried to Zainab and has had six children, Zulkarnain, Nukman, Gamal Abdul Nasir, Rita Puspa, Nida Suryani, and Sri Purnama.
==Career==
In 1929, at the age of 16, Zakaria devoted himself as a teacher at the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque. In 1930, a year after returning from British Malaya, he wrote several things that were discussed at that time, including an essay on the issue of qunut in the Subuh prayer entitled Balqurramhi fi Sunniyyati Qunut Subhi in the At-Tabib magazine in Cikampek. In 1932, Zakaria wrote about the problem of usholli in salat in Hidah Benar magazine in British Malaya. He then wrote about the rakat of sunnah tarawih prayer, and wrote a collection of Friday and Eid sermons totaling twelve sermon titles, in 1939.
In 1937, Zakaria established Al-Khairiyah, the first Islamic boarding school in Bengkalis, and lead the school with a classical system until the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies arrived in Bengkalis in 1943.
Approaching the proclamation of Indonesian independence in 1945, Zakaria was one of the figures who always propagated Indonesian independence to his students and the general public. This was done to raise the fighting spirit of the people in Bengkalis. 
From 1948 to 1949, during Operation Kraai, Zakaria led the Sabilillah People's Army and served as Chairman of the Bengkalis Regency People's Struggle Agency under the command of Captain Iskandar together with the Indonesian Army, taking up arms against the Dutch army who wanted to take control of Bengkalis again. He then moved to Dumai and joined the II/V Battalion Unit in the public relations section with the rank of titular sergeant major under the leadership of Captain Iskandar.
In December 1949, Zakaria was appointed as Head of Government in the Field of Islamic Religion. From 1950 until 1972, he served as the first Head of the Religious Affairs Office of Bengkalis Regency. Zakaria then served as a Member of the House of Representatives in Bengkalis Regency. He was a member of Masyumi Party until the party was banned by President Sukarno on 15 August 1960. 
On 7 August 1955, Zakaria attended a conference of four DPRDS (Kampar Regency, Bengkalis, Riau Islands, Indragiri) throughout Riau as one of the delegates of the Bengkalis Regency DPRDS which was held in Bengkalis. The conference resulted in an agreement to demand the granting of autonomy status to Riau which at that time was still part of Central Sumatra. On 9 August 1957, Riau was officially formed with the enactment of the Republic's Emergency Law Number 19 of 1957 concerning the Establishment of Level I Regions of West Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau.
On 17 July 1963, Zakaria founded MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, a school consisting of elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. The construction of this school was purely carried out independently by Zakaria together with the community. In addition to leading the school, he also taught a concentration of Islamic religious knowledge based on yellow books. Until the end of his life, Zakaria taught without being paid at all. The number of students studying at MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, which numbered from its establishment until his death reached thousands of people without being charged at all. Meanwhile, to finance the school's operational costs, including teachers' honorariums, Zakaria collected donations from donors every month.
In addition to leading and teaching at MDTA Mahbatul Ulum, Zakaria also teaches religious knowledge at mosques and prayer rooms in the Bengkalis area and its surroundings, such as the Parit Bangkong Grand Mosque, the Raudhatul Jannah Damon Prayer Room, the Kayu Manis Prayer Room, and even taught religious knowledge in Batu Panjang, Rupat. From 1964, Zakaria became the judge of Musabaqah Tilawatil Qur'an and a teacher at the religious teacher education at YPPI Bengkalis for six years until the school was closed in 1970.
In 1974, Zakaria was appointed as Chair of the Advisory Council of the United Development Party from Nahdlatul Ulama and served until 1986. He then became an administrator of Nahdlatul Ulama in Bengkalis Regency.
In 1982, Zakaria together with the community established the Al-Ishlah Mosque (previously called Surau Zakaria) as a means for the community to carry out worship and other socio-religious activities.
==Death==
Zakaria died on 1 January 2006 in Bengkalis, Riau, at the age of 92, and was buried there.
Category:1913 births
Category:2006 deaths
Category:People from Kampar, Perak
Category:Indonesian people
Category:Politicians