This article was written by Andi Abdussalam In October 1992
Tangkit Baru, a tiny village with a population of 2,000 and well-known for its nick-name as a town of pineapples, could have never existed, if a Thoriqat (path to God) leader, Syeikh Muhammad Said, did not make his choice to set foot in the area, 25 years ago. Early in
1968, a group of 40 persons led by Puang Muhammad (Muhammad Said was popularly called so) arrived in the area which was partly covered by jungles and partly by swamps. They cleared lanes through the forest. They produced charts and laid the foundation for the development of a village. The lane they first cleared into the forest stretched 7 km from the southwest to the northeast. Now it has been layered with asphalt and become the main road that divides the village, situated some 15 km east of Jambi city.
The road, which has become the main lane for the villagers' economic activities, was developed with a presidential instruction fund worth Rp276.5 million (US$138,000). "It was villagers who developed this road, while the government only provides asphalt overlays," Fetta Muda, the village head said.
According to Fetta Muda, who is an alumnus of Jambi's Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), villagers, under the leadership of Puang Muhammad, developed themselves the roads and other village infrastructures. Now, trucks and other vehicles could run smoothly on it. Tens of tons of pineapples, the main source of income of the villagers, are transported out of the village to their market destinations. Before gaining success, Tangkit Baru was more or less a portrait of hardship. Puang Muhammad, who came here to develop agriculture and a Thoriqat-based village, many times failed to develop several kinds of plants like coconut, coffee and other kinds of food crops. One time, his people planted pineapple for fun in their yards. Unexpectedly, it grew and flourished, and later became the main plantation crop and main source of their income.
Development Achievements
With income they gained from developing pineapple plantations, they continued to build the village they were idealizing. In term of a village, Tangkit Baru, has now been successful. The success they have made was merely based on the spirit of cooperation. Tangkit Baru already has office for the village head, elementary school, house of worship and other village facilities. For his success, Puang Muhammad won the charter of the 13th Agricultural Service Day in 1973 by the governor. He found village cooperatives (KUD) which won the first place in the provincial KUD contest and the second place in the national KUD contest in 1976. Following the success, many ministers from the central government came to visit the village. Among those were then home affairs minister Amir Machmud, then transmigration and cooperatives minister DR Subroto and cooperative minister Bustanil Arifin. Ups and downs could happen anywhere. This also applied to Tangkit Baru. During the first years, the marketing of pineapples faced no problem. Villagers looked more prosperous compared to those of neighboring villages. Plantations continued to be expanded and production was increased. The local market began to be flooded. "Seeing this fact, the cooperatives began expanding its markets to other provinces like West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Jakarta. It even tried to carry out export to Singapore," said Basput Nasir, secretary of Tangkit Baru village. In late 1985, when Tangkit Baru reached the peak of its pineapple production, state-owned PT Berdikari company, the local KUD and MAT of Italy established cooperation to build a pineapple canning factory with an investment worth Rp5.5 billion (about US$2.7 million). The factory had a capacity of 40 tons daily and planned to export its produce to the Middle East and Europe. In this respect, the plantation area was expanded to 1,500 hectares with an expected turnout of 80,000 pineapples or 80 tons of canned pineapples per day.
Unfortunately, with a technical reason, this factory had not yet been in operation until today. The obsession of Puang Muhammad, the 43rd Mursyid (Grand leader) in the Treatise of Thoriqat Khalwatiyah As-Sammaniah, to develop a village had categorically been answered several years ago. He had the spirit to develop villages since long ago. His attempts to build villages in several places in South Sulawesi just served as an example. In Ujungpadang, he built the Kalukuang village, in the district of Ujung Tanah. This village in 1960 won the third place of the South and South East Sulawesi provinces' Welfare Movement Contest and for this he was awarded a charter of appreciation by then chief of Military Command XIV, Col. M. Yusuf (now chairman of the State Audit Board -BPK).
The success of Puang Muhammad in leading people to develop Tangkit Baru attracted the attention of many sides. They studied the secret behind it. In June 1982, led by Hartono Margono, a team of intellectuals from Jambi's IAIN school of Ushuluddin, conducted an interview to that effect with Puang Muhammad.
"In holding ceremonies to observe an Islamic Day, where he would deliver his preaches to his disciples, Puang Muhammad also often invited noted Moslem scholars such as DR M Chatib Quzwain and HMO Bafadhal (then rector of IAIN ed.)," said M Natsir. In his book " In Recognition of Allah", Quzwain wrote Thoriqat Khalwatiah As-Sammaniah in Tangkit Baru was led by Imam Abdur-Rahman. "That is not true. Abdur-Rahman was one of Puang's caliphs who is entrusted to lead prayers in Puang’s house," said one of Puang Muhammad's sons. Thoriqat As-Sammaniah, which is one of the 44 thoriqats under the association of the Semarang-based Jam'iah Ahli Thoriqat Mu'tabaroh, teaches dzikir (repeated chants of the confession of faith) to its disciples. It was the very dzikir, which served as the "engine" of the development of Tangkit Baru.
"His status as mursyid of the Thoriqat is the prime mover for villagers to carry out development," Fetta Muda said. Puang Muhammad teaches techniques of saying dzikir effectively in order to come close to God, which is called Thoriqat or spiritual path. There are three main stages in the spiritual journey a disciple should pass before he or she could arrive in an enlightenment stage. The first is the "takhalli" stage during which dzikir is said to clean the evil or bad attributes inherent in the soul. The second is the "tahalli" stage during which dzikir is said to fill in the soul with praiseworthy attributes. And the third one is the "tajalli" stage during which dzikir is said to open the 'hijab' or 'Divine Curtain' that exists between man and his Creator.
A mursyid is believed to have reached the third stage. His soul has become so clean and sacred that he is able to see Divine signals or to feel Divine messages behind realities. "Therefore, the guidance he was giving to his followers was considered sacred. That is the very clue to the success of the development of Tangkit Baru village," said Fetta Muda. "Puang Muhammad Said is a leader who is most respected by his people," wrote M. Natsir Luts of Jambi's IAIN School of Tarbiah, in his paper in 1985. The obedience of his followers was evident when Puang Muhammad Said "blew fresh wind" for Golkar in 1982. "It does not mean we would abandon the Islamic faith if we choose the Golkar party," he said at that time as quoted by Bs Nurdin, one of his disciple. Villagers soon construed the statement as a suggestion to give their votes to the Functional Group. "I know there is a respected elder people whose words are heard in this village," Bustanil Arifin, a cooperative minister, said when commissioning a rural electricity project in Tangkit Baru, not long before the 1982 elections.
The gesture by Puang Muhammad made villagers, who in previous elections were 100 percent supporters of the United Development Party (PPP), turn to Golkar during the elections. About 99 percent gave their votes to the ruling functional group in the May 1982 elections. For his rule in assisting Golkar to win the election in the village, retired General Soeharto (the President) in his capacity as Golkar's Advisory Board chairman, sent Muhammad Said a charter of appreciation in June 1982. That is the mystery of dzikir, which was inherent in Muhammad Said's soul that brought in a success to the development of Tankit Baru. So, it was not surprising if on Monday last week, Tangkit Baru all of a sudden hung its head and turned quiet in sorrow. Muhammad Said, its founder who was able to mobilize his people, bode farewell forever. He died at the age of about 80. Jambi's Regional Government Secretary Daeng Magguna and member of Tanjung Jabung Regional Legislative Assembly, M Yunus were among those who delivered him to the grave where he rests in peace forever.***
Tangkit Baru, a tiny village with a population of 2,000 and well-known for its nick-name as a town of pineapples, could have never existed, if a Thoriqat (path to God) leader, Syeikh Muhammad Said, did not make his choice to set foot in the area, 25 years ago. Early in
1968, a group of 40 persons led by Puang Muhammad (Muhammad Said was popularly called so) arrived in the area which was partly covered by jungles and partly by swamps. They cleared lanes through the forest. They produced charts and laid the foundation for the development of a village. The lane they first cleared into the forest stretched 7 km from the southwest to the northeast. Now it has been layered with asphalt and become the main road that divides the village, situated some 15 km east of Jambi city.
The road, which has become the main lane for the villagers' economic activities, was developed with a presidential instruction fund worth Rp276.5 million (US$138,000). "It was villagers who developed this road, while the government only provides asphalt overlays," Fetta Muda, the village head said.
According to Fetta Muda, who is an alumnus of Jambi's Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), villagers, under the leadership of Puang Muhammad, developed themselves the roads and other village infrastructures. Now, trucks and other vehicles could run smoothly on it. Tens of tons of pineapples, the main source of income of the villagers, are transported out of the village to their market destinations. Before gaining success, Tangkit Baru was more or less a portrait of hardship. Puang Muhammad, who came here to develop agriculture and a Thoriqat-based village, many times failed to develop several kinds of plants like coconut, coffee and other kinds of food crops. One time, his people planted pineapple for fun in their yards. Unexpectedly, it grew and flourished, and later became the main plantation crop and main source of their income.
Development Achievements
With income they gained from developing pineapple plantations, they continued to build the village they were idealizing. In term of a village, Tangkit Baru, has now been successful. The success they have made was merely based on the spirit of cooperation. Tangkit Baru already has office for the village head, elementary school, house of worship and other village facilities. For his success, Puang Muhammad won the charter of the 13th Agricultural Service Day in 1973 by the governor. He found village cooperatives (KUD) which won the first place in the provincial KUD contest and the second place in the national KUD contest in 1976. Following the success, many ministers from the central government came to visit the village. Among those were then home affairs minister Amir Machmud, then transmigration and cooperatives minister DR Subroto and cooperative minister Bustanil Arifin. Ups and downs could happen anywhere. This also applied to Tangkit Baru. During the first years, the marketing of pineapples faced no problem. Villagers looked more prosperous compared to those of neighboring villages. Plantations continued to be expanded and production was increased. The local market began to be flooded. "Seeing this fact, the cooperatives began expanding its markets to other provinces like West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Jakarta. It even tried to carry out export to Singapore," said Basput Nasir, secretary of Tangkit Baru village. In late 1985, when Tangkit Baru reached the peak of its pineapple production, state-owned PT Berdikari company, the local KUD and MAT of Italy established cooperation to build a pineapple canning factory with an investment worth Rp5.5 billion (about US$2.7 million). The factory had a capacity of 40 tons daily and planned to export its produce to the Middle East and Europe. In this respect, the plantation area was expanded to 1,500 hectares with an expected turnout of 80,000 pineapples or 80 tons of canned pineapples per day.
Unfortunately, with a technical reason, this factory had not yet been in operation until today. The obsession of Puang Muhammad, the 43rd Mursyid (Grand leader) in the Treatise of Thoriqat Khalwatiyah As-Sammaniah, to develop a village had categorically been answered several years ago. He had the spirit to develop villages since long ago. His attempts to build villages in several places in South Sulawesi just served as an example. In Ujungpadang, he built the Kalukuang village, in the district of Ujung Tanah. This village in 1960 won the third place of the South and South East Sulawesi provinces' Welfare Movement Contest and for this he was awarded a charter of appreciation by then chief of Military Command XIV, Col. M. Yusuf (now chairman of the State Audit Board -BPK).
The success of Puang Muhammad in leading people to develop Tangkit Baru attracted the attention of many sides. They studied the secret behind it. In June 1982, led by Hartono Margono, a team of intellectuals from Jambi's IAIN school of Ushuluddin, conducted an interview to that effect with Puang Muhammad.
"In holding ceremonies to observe an Islamic Day, where he would deliver his preaches to his disciples, Puang Muhammad also often invited noted Moslem scholars such as DR M Chatib Quzwain and HMO Bafadhal (then rector of IAIN ed.)," said M Natsir. In his book " In Recognition of Allah", Quzwain wrote Thoriqat Khalwatiah As-Sammaniah in Tangkit Baru was led by Imam Abdur-Rahman. "That is not true. Abdur-Rahman was one of Puang's caliphs who is entrusted to lead prayers in Puang’s house," said one of Puang Muhammad's sons. Thoriqat As-Sammaniah, which is one of the 44 thoriqats under the association of the Semarang-based Jam'iah Ahli Thoriqat Mu'tabaroh, teaches dzikir (repeated chants of the confession of faith) to its disciples. It was the very dzikir, which served as the "engine" of the development of Tangkit Baru.
"His status as mursyid of the Thoriqat is the prime mover for villagers to carry out development," Fetta Muda said. Puang Muhammad teaches techniques of saying dzikir effectively in order to come close to God, which is called Thoriqat or spiritual path. There are three main stages in the spiritual journey a disciple should pass before he or she could arrive in an enlightenment stage. The first is the "takhalli" stage during which dzikir is said to clean the evil or bad attributes inherent in the soul. The second is the "tahalli" stage during which dzikir is said to fill in the soul with praiseworthy attributes. And the third one is the "tajalli" stage during which dzikir is said to open the 'hijab' or 'Divine Curtain' that exists between man and his Creator.
A mursyid is believed to have reached the third stage. His soul has become so clean and sacred that he is able to see Divine signals or to feel Divine messages behind realities. "Therefore, the guidance he was giving to his followers was considered sacred. That is the very clue to the success of the development of Tangkit Baru village," said Fetta Muda. "Puang Muhammad Said is a leader who is most respected by his people," wrote M. Natsir Luts of Jambi's IAIN School of Tarbiah, in his paper in 1985. The obedience of his followers was evident when Puang Muhammad Said "blew fresh wind" for Golkar in 1982. "It does not mean we would abandon the Islamic faith if we choose the Golkar party," he said at that time as quoted by Bs Nurdin, one of his disciple. Villagers soon construed the statement as a suggestion to give their votes to the Functional Group. "I know there is a respected elder people whose words are heard in this village," Bustanil Arifin, a cooperative minister, said when commissioning a rural electricity project in Tangkit Baru, not long before the 1982 elections.
The gesture by Puang Muhammad made villagers, who in previous elections were 100 percent supporters of the United Development Party (PPP), turn to Golkar during the elections. About 99 percent gave their votes to the ruling functional group in the May 1982 elections. For his rule in assisting Golkar to win the election in the village, retired General Soeharto (the President) in his capacity as Golkar's Advisory Board chairman, sent Muhammad Said a charter of appreciation in June 1982. That is the mystery of dzikir, which was inherent in Muhammad Said's soul that brought in a success to the development of Tankit Baru. So, it was not surprising if on Monday last week, Tangkit Baru all of a sudden hung its head and turned quiet in sorrow. Muhammad Said, its founder who was able to mobilize his people, bode farewell forever. He died at the age of about 80. Jambi's Regional Government Secretary Daeng Magguna and member of Tanjung Jabung Regional Legislative Assembly, M Yunus were among those who delivered him to the grave where he rests in peace forever.***
