THE FATWAS OF AHMAD KHATIB MINANGKABAU (1860-1916) AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY IN INDONESIA

J.G. Kaptein, Nico

Epistemé: Jurnal Pengembangan Ilmu Keislaman
Vol 19 No 02 (2024)

Ahmad Khatib originated from Minangkabau, West Sumatra and after his settlement in the Holy City of Mecca in 1877, he grew into a scholar in Islamic sciences of great repute and eventually died there in 1916. His written work, educational and other activities have played a vital part in the exchange of religious ideas between Mecca and the Malay-Indonesian archipelago and make him an important person in the history of Islam in Southeast Asia. In my paper I will go in detail into a fatwa he gave on the question of whether or not it was allowed to sell chickens to Chinese. The paper aims to shed light on the mufti-ship of Ahmad Khatib and will look into the wider implications of the issue as far as religious authority is concerned, in particular into its locus.