Early life Sulaiman was born in Candung,
Agam on 10 December 1871 to Muhammad Rasul, a local religion teacher, and Siti Buliah. In 1881, he was taught Qur'an by Abdurrahman Batuhampar, a well-known
Naqshbandi murshid and grandfather of
Mohammad Hatta, in Batuhampar,
Lima Puluh Kota. After completed his study in Batuhampar, he visited various ulama in
Minangkabau Highlands. One of those was Abdullah Halaban, a scholar who Sulaiman studied various subjects under him. In 1903, Sulaiman went to
Mecca for
hajj and Islamic education. He studied under several scholars such as
Ahmad Khatib al-Minankabawi, Mukhtar Atarid al-Bughuri, Umar Bajunaid al-Hadrami, Ahmad Shata al-Makki, and others. After completed his studies, he returned to Candung and opened a
surau in 1908. In 1923, he received
Naqshbandi-Khalidi ijazah from Muhammad Arsyad, son of Abdurrahman Batuhampar.
Activities during Dutch and Japanese period Sulaiman ar-Rasuli engaged in several political activities in West Sumatra. The first one was in 1918 when he elected as the head branch of
Sarekat Islam in Candung. In 1921, he participated in establishing
Ittihad Ulama Sumatera (Union of Sumatran Clerics), a
kaum tua organization led by Muhammad Saad Mungka. In 1928, he transformed his surau into
madrasa in order to compete with
kaum muda (
modernist) schools like
Sumatera Thawalib. Together with other
kaum tua clerics like Muhammad Jamil Jaho, Abbas Qadhi, and Abdul Wahid Saleh, Sulaiman ar-Rasuli founded
Persatuan Madrasah Tarbiyah Islamiyah (Union of Islamic Education School) on 5 May 1928. The organization later changed its name to
Persatuan Tarbiyah Islamiyah (Union of Islamic Education, PERTI). During
Japanese occupation of West Sumatra, he became one of the founders of
Majelis Islam Tinggi (High Islamic Council, MIT), an organization founded by both
kaum tua and
kaum muda scholars. He was chosen as the
Ketua Umum (general chairman) of MIT. In 1943, he became one of the representatives from Minangkabau in conference of ulama in
Singapore.
After independence of Indonesia When PERTI held a congress on 22–24 December 1945 in
Bukittinggi, ar-Rasuli approved the plan to transformed PERTI into political party. He also established
Lasykar Muslimin Indonesia, a paramilitary wing of PERTI during the
national revolution in 1945–1949. In the
1955 Indonesian Constitutional Assembly election, he was elected as the member of
Konstituante (Constitutional Assembly). When
Konstituante held the first session on 10 November 1956, he became the head of the session. Owing to his experience as a
qadi in Candung, he was appointed as the Head of
Mahkamah Syariah (Sharia Court) in
Central Sumatra on 17 January 1947. He held the position until 1958.
Death Sulaiman ar-Rasuli died on 1 August 1970 in Candung, Indonesia. He was buried in his madrasa, Madrasah Tarbiyah Islamiyah (MTI) Candung.
Harun Zain,
Governor of West Sumatra, instructed flags in West Sumatra to be flown at
half-mast. ==Views==