Habib Munzir Al-Musawa

Habib Munzir Al-Musawa
Native name	Munzir
Born	Munzir (1973-02-23)February 23, 1973 Cipanas, West Java, Indonesia
Died	September 15, 2013(2013-09-15) (aged 40) Jakarta
Resting place	Jakarta
Residence	Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesian
Other names	Mun
Ethnicity	Hadhrami
Citizenship	Indonesian
Occupation	Islamic scholar, teacher
Years active	1998 - 2013
Organization	Majelis Rasulullah
Known for	Founder of Majelis Rasulullah
Title	Habib
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni (Shafi'i), BaAlawi
Spouse(s)	Khadijah Al-Juneid
Children	Muhammad Hasan Fatimah
Parent(s)	Fuad bin Abdurrahman (father), Rahmah binti Hasyim (mother)
Website
www.majelisrasulullah.org

Habib Munzir Al-Musawa (Arabic: منذر المساوى‎ Munḏir Al-Musāwā; February 23, 1973 – September 15, 2013) was an Indonesian Islamic cleric, teacher, da'i and founder of the Majelis Rasulullah religious organization.^[1]

Early life

Munzir was born on February 23, 1973, in Cipanas, Indonesia. He was the fourth out of five siblings. His father, Fuad bin Abdurrahman Al-Musawa, was born in Palembang and was a journalist at Berita Buana newspaper. His mother was Rahmah Binti Hashim Al-Musawa, also born in Palembang, the capital city of the South Sumatra province of Indonesia. His father spent ten years in Mecca, studying under the guidance of the late Shaikh Alawi Al-Maliki, father of the late Shaikh Muhammad Bin Alawi al-Maliki, as a scholar at Mecca's Masjidil Haram. His father also studied in the United States earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism at New York University in New York City.^[2] Fuad bin Abdurrahman Al-Musawa died in 1996 in Cipanas, Indonesia. Munzir's childhood was mainly spent in Cipanas, along with his brothers and sisters, Nabiel, Ramzy, Lulu, and Aliyah. Munzir is considered a sayyid, a descendent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad of Ba 'Alawi sada family through his grandson Hussein ibn Ali.^[3]

Education

After completing high school, Munzir began to explore the science of Islamic Sharia in Ma'had Assaqafah of Al-Habib Abdurrahman Assegaf at Bukit Duri, South Jakarta. He also took Arabic language courses at LPBA Assalafy. He continued his education in Islamic legal studies at Al Khairat Ma'had in Bekasi, which was led by Habib Naqib bin Muhammad bin shaykh Abubakar bin Salim. While at ma'had Al-Khayrat, he became acquainted with Habib Umar bin Hafiz, the director and founder of Dar al-Mustafa boarding school in Tarim, Hadramaut in Yemen who visited the school as part of his outreach. In 1994, he was invited and offered a four-year scholarship by the Habib to come to the school to enhance his knowledge in the field of Shari'ah. There he studied the science of fiqh, Qur'anic tafsir, hadith science, history of science, the science of tawhid, the science of tasawwuf, mahabbah Rasul, science of Dawah, and other Islamic sciences.

Career

After spending four years at Dar al-Mustafa Islamic seminary, Munzir returned to Indonesia in 1998 to start a missionary program in Cipanas, which was unsuccessful. He then began preaching in Jakarta where he lived moving between his students' houses. The assembly every Tuesday night took place in homes of the followers. The students were for the most part older than Munzir, and were mostly laymen (grass-root).

After some time, the congregation grew too large to be held at the homes of worshipers, so they began meeting in mosques that could accommodate the growing numbers. As the number of worshipers increased, so did the size of the meeting place required. When one mosque became too small for the crowd, the worshippers would move to a larger mosque until, eventually, they established a permanent place of worship, known as mosque "Al-Munawwar."

Legacy

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel, met with Habib Munzir bin Fuad al-Musawa at the cleric’s residence on January 9, 2013

Munzir founded his organization called Majelis Rasulullah which continues to hold weekly activities. The organization has grown in such a way that it has had millions of followers in many branches and is even known in neighboring countries (Malaysia and Singapore), even to Japan. It is very common every year, when the organization has a Tabligh Akbar or Dzikr Akbar (Great Dhikr) event, that there is the presence of top Indonesian officials such as Indonesian President, vice president, ministers, some generals and ulema. Notably, during his mawlid events, is the use of rebana as accompaniment while his students chant qasida or hadhra. Both alto and bass rebanas are commonly used.

The habib was noted to have impressed an associate professor from Japan while he was doing social and culture studies in Indonesia.

One of his missions to found the organization is to teach all people that Islam is a religion of peace and love. He said that his organization is for people, especially the youth, of crowded and sometimes-stressful cities like Jakarta who want to find an inner peace and turn away from violence, anarchy, and drugs. Many of his followers are repenters - drug addicts, alcoholics and criminals who have turned around to become devout Muslims because of da'wah of the Habib.

On January 9, 2013, The US ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel, visited Habib Munzir to discuss the importance of religious tolerance, spirituality, mutual understanding and interfaith dialogue in both countries.^[4]

Family

Munzir was married to Khadijah Al-Juneid, with whom he had three children. Two sons, Muhammad and Hasan, and a daughter, Fatimah.

Death

Munzir claimed in a blog entry that the prophet Muhammad had appeared to him in a dream and told him he would die at the age of 40.^[5]

Munzir died of complications arising from asthma and encephalitis on September 15, 2013, at age 40. He was buried at Habib Kuncung cemetery in Jakarta. Thousands of people, including ulama, artists and top Indonesian officials attended his funeral.^[6] The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered a eulogy at the funeral.^[7]

References