Ulama Aceh Dalam Perspektip Sejarah (Acehnese Ulamas in Historical Perspective)

The role of the ulama in Aceh has not been limited to the religious aspect before independent of Indonesia. In the past, ulama were also political figures. Their standing in the community often rivaled that of traditional authorities; to whom they sometimes acted as counselors such as to issue fatwa (legal opinion) when society faced problems. At each administrative level, ulama shared power with the officer of the formal administration. For instance, in the meunasah (a building that functions as the center of Islamic activities) placed in gampong (village) unit-the smallest political unit in Aceh- a tengku (imam) meunasah shared power with the geuchiek in the gampong unit, the imam mukim (a group of several meunasah and gampong) share power with the head of mukim. Ulama played a similar role in other political units in Aceh such as nanggroe (subdistrict) (Dara, 2004). Various scholars have highlighted the prominence of ulama as a characteristic of Islam in Aceh. Some time the ulama are even more powerful than a political leader in a society.