Selasa, 01 Juli 2008

KH TURAICHAN OF KUDUS


”Professor” for Indonesian astrologists

The calendar is a measuring means mostly understood by people to determine events surrounding them. For Indonesian people have just recognized two kinds of calendar, namely Qomariyah (lunar calendar) and Syamsiyah (solar calendar), so it is little bit difficult to synchronize the two calendars.

The difficulty is sometimes based on the fact that the lunar system has two methods of determining, namely hisab (astrological calculation) and rukyat (the sighting of the new moon/hilal). On account of the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar system, so most religious events can be determined based on the lunar system. Whereas the results of the two systems have some of the time been different.

When important events happen in social religious life with differing decision, the ummat (people) have always held firmly on their own decision based on reliable arguments and valid findings.

The dispute has in turn tended to increasingly be unstoppable as each of them holds firmly on their own viewpoints. The dispute would be vulnerable that potentially leads to such difference of creed. The scene has always come into existence in Indonesia as the world most populous Muslim country.

Amid the condition, people are of course in need of a figure whom they can follow, a man responsible for his arguments and leaving no any long dispute. In short the people need to have a figure enable him to protect them and play a mediating role to settle any social conflicts.

In this case Muslims in the archipelago has one of prominent and brilliant experts of astrology from Kudus, Central Java. The figure named KH Turaichan Adjhuri Asy-Syarofi that has even been mandated to be Chairman of Central Java’s Calendar Office.

The ulema born in Kudus on 10 March 1915 is the son of Kiai Adjhuri and Ibu Nyai Sukainah. He has lived in religious family and studied religion under local ulemas and continued his formal education at the Maddrasa Tasywiquth Thullab Salafiyah (TBS) in his town for two years only, namely when he was 13 years old in 1928s. On account of his outstanding intelligence, he was then appointed to involve in learning and teaching process.

When he involved in teaching at the maddrassa, Kiai Turaichan started to take part actively in social activities by, for instance, participating in preaching and any scholarly religious discussion locally and nationally.

Since then, he has actively involved in discussion forums, including NU’s Problems Deliberation (Bahtsul Masail) during its conferences. His intelligence and courage to express his arguments could be traced in the forums. He could convincingly express viewpoints with no doubts even before senior ulemas like KH Bisri Samsuri from Pati, who then established Pesantren Denanyar in Jombang East Java.

We can also trace his roles in national politics. He had some of the time been appointed to be Ad Hoc committee by the central board of NU party. While in his region, he had also been mandated to be Rais Syuriah (law making body) of NU branch board. He had ever served as judge of the government in 1955-1977.
Yet his broad interesting in the field of astrology has made him popular and charismatic due to his stand on his arguments. He has now involved in the Astrology Committee of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU). Though he has ever some of the time had different viewpoints with ulema majority, but he has still held firmly on his viewpoints. Even his views have always been in line with reality. He is the prominent man publicly recognized as both the expert and astrologist whose precise and accurate accounts. Many people have now studied astrology under his supervision.

Mbah Tur has never been absent in any NU conferences, except when he was sick. When NU based its ideology on Pancasila rather than Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah, Mbah Tur tended to isolate himself form the organization of NU.

What is interesting to note here is that, though he isolated himself with the Nahdliyin-based organization, but he has now mandated to be chairman of law making body (Rais Syuriah) of NU Regional Board of Kudus. Kiai Turaichan preferred to campaign “NU Locality” that means he would all of the time struggle for NU as jam’iyyah (organization) in local level, namely Kudus.

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