Muhammadiyah (); officially Muhammadiyah Society () is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia. The organization was founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan in the city of Yogyakarta as a reformist socioreligious movement, advocating ijtihad - individual interpretation of Qur'an and Sunnah, as opposed to Taqlid - conformity to the traditional interpretations propounded by the ulama. Since its establishment, Muhammadiyah has adopted a reformist platform mixing religious and secular education, primarily as a way to promote the upward mobility of Muslims toward a 'modern' community and to purify Indonesian Islam of local syncretic practices. It continues to support local culture and promote religious tolerance in Indonesia, while a few of its higher education institutions are attended mostly by non-Muslims, especially in East Nusa Tenggara and Papua provinces. The group also runs a large chain of charity hospitals, and operated 128 universities as of the late 1990s.
At the time of Dahlan's death in 1923, the organization reported a membership of 2,622 men and 724 women, mostly residents of Yogyakarta. Numbers grew steadily — 10,000 in 1928, 17,000 in 1929, and 24,000 in 1931. By the 1930s, moreover, it had begun to establish branches beyond Java, the main center of population, throughout Indonesia, and today it is said to be the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia (behind Nahdlatul Ulama) with 29 million members in 2008. The membership is largely urban and middle class in composition. Although Muhammadiyah leaders and members are often actively involved in shaping the politics in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah is not a political party. It has devoted itself to social and educational activities.
History
On November 18, 1912, Ahmad Dahlan— a court official of the kraton of the Yogyakarta Sultanate and an educated Muslim scholar from Mecca—established Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta. There were a number of motives behind the establishment of this movement. Among the important ones are the backwardness of Muslim society and the penetration of Christianity. Ahmad Dahlan, much influenced by Egyptian reformist Muhammad Abduh, considered modernization and purification of religion from syncretic practices were very vital in reforming this religion. Therefore, since its beginning Muhammadiyah has been very concerned with maintaining tawhid and refining monotheism in society.
From 1913 to 1918, Muhammadiyah established five Islamic Schools. In 1919 an Islamic high school, Hooge School Muhammadiyah was established. In establishing schools, Muhammadiyah received significant help from the Budi Utomo, an important nationalist movement in Indonesia in the first half of the twentieth century, which provided teachers. Muhammadiyah has generally avoided politics. Unlike its traditionalist counterpart, the Nahdlatul Ulama, it never formed a political party. Since its establishment, it has devoted itself to educational and social activities.
In 1925, two years after the death of Dahlan, Muhammadiyah only had 4,000 members but had built 55 schools and two clinics in Surabaya and Yogyakarta. After Abdul Karim Amrullah introduced the organisation to the Minangkabau people, a dynamic Muslim community, Muhammadiyah developed rapidly. In 1938, the organisation claimed 250,000 members, managed its 834 mosques, 31 libraries, 1,774 schools, and 7,630 ulama. Minangkabau businesspeople spread organization to the entire of Indonesia.
During the 1965-66 political turbulence and violence, Muhammadiyah declared that the extermination of the Communist Party of Indonesia constituted Holy War, a view endorsed by other Islamic groups. (See also the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66). During the events surrounding the 1998 fall of Suharto, some parts of Muhammadiyah urged the leadership to form a party. Therefore, the leadership, including Muhammadiyah's chairman, Amien Rais, founded the National Mandate Party. Although gaining large support from Muhammadiyah members, this party has no official relationship with Muhammadiyah. The leader of Muhammadiyah said the members of his organisation are free to align themselves with political parties of their choosing, provided such parties have shared values with Muhammadiyah.
In 2008, with 29 million members, Muhammadiyah was the second-largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, after Nahdlatul Ulama.