Islamic Poems by Rukun Nasution (1928- 1998): Themes and Social Relevance

This study analyzes two poems written by Rukun Nasution (1928-1998), namely Syair Pengajak Solat (Invitation to Prayer) and Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar (Invocation/Poem before Dawn). This manuscript only came to the attention of the authors in 2018, and this is the first time the book of poetry is being studied and described. The main objective of this study is to analyze the content of the poems, with reference to their socio-religious relevance and some philological aspects. Rukun (the popular name of Rukun Nasution) wrote his poems in the 1960s using Latin script, and the fact he had no formal education other than a three-year of elementary school made his creative productivity more interesting. He presented his ideas in a well-structured text while applying the 'aa-aa' rhyme consistently. The poems contain Islamic messages, with prayer procedures being the most dominant theme. These poems are relevant to document religious information, disseminate Islamic teachings, while remains artistically creative.


Introduction
Islam appreciates the activity of reading significantly, as indicated in the first verses of the Qur'ān received by the Prophet Muhammad  (Ibn al-Nadīm, 1929;Ḥājj Khalīfah, 1943). Although the biggest part of this heritage was written in prose, some other substantial information on Islam was also recorded in poetry. In Islamic tradition, poetry is used to discuss a variety of fields, such as literature, Islamic Law, ethics, Sufism, Arabic Grammar, et cetera. In 66 VOL. 10 NO. 1 JUNE 2021 general, poetry is intended to beautify the language, thereby making it readable and easy to remember (Khulūṣī, 1990).
It is only natural that most primary sources on Islam are written in Arabic. However, the Malay language is also important in the Nusantara world, notably after the emergence of some Islamic sultanates in the 13 th century. The majority of Nusantara's manuscripts are in Malay, as stated by earlier studies (Braginsky, 1998;Saputra, 1997;Ilyas, 2018;Butar-Butar, 2018). In addition to being used as a lingua franca throughout the region, the Malay language was also used as an intellectual medium of expression (Roza, 2017). Therefore, there is a huge number of manuscripts in Malay that are not only relevant in the time of their production, but also do they carry the potentials to contribute in the present time and the future (Gunawan, 2018).
However, irrespective of these attributes, Malay manuscripts have not been accorded the attention they deserved both from the public and the scholarly communities. Therefore, an individual initiative such as the one made by Irwansyah needs to be appreciated (Irwansyah, 2019).
The present research aims to analyze two Islamic poems written in the 1960s, entitled Syair Pengajak Solat and Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar. This is a preliminary research with data obtained through documentation, description, and introduction of the manuscripts, which have never been studied nor published. Indeed, the poems came to the attention of the present writer only in 2018. This research focuses on explaining 1) Rukun Nasution's background, 2) physical description of the corpus, 3) themes and 4) social relevance of the poems.

Method
Essentially, this is a literary study with poems used as objects because a greater attention is given to mapping its content (Endraswara, 2008).
This study also involves some social history by considering the poems as a socio-religious phenomenon in its local context. Furthermore, this study considers the various views of Kuntowijoyo (2003Kuntowijoyo ( , 2008. It also applies some elements of biography studies (Harahap, 2014) and philology (Butar-Butar, 2017) in accordance with the object requirements. Data were obtained from three sources, namely the texts of the poem, informants consisting of the author's children, and villagers of Desa Hajoran where Rukun had spent his entire life. Some secondary sources were also used in the process of data analysis.

Literature Review
The study of Islamic Malay literature is by no means new; a long list of works on the theme could be produced. Braginsky (1998)  provides not only a fairly long list of works by Nusantara scholars, but also the description of their contents. His work could serve as a solid basis for further content-analysis studies. Ja'far's (2017) study is also of great importance since it elaborates the place of traditional Islamic works in Al Jam"iyatul Washliyah networks of madrasas. Al Jam"iyatul Washliyah has been a main provider of Islamic education in the region of Northern Sumatra since the 1930s.
Despite modernization, its madrasas continue to include traditional Islamic books in the curriculum (Asari, and Tanjung 2019;Asari, and Abidin 2020). Other studies undertaken by particular scholars explained their contribution to knowledge through their works. This type includes, among others, Syahnan (2019) who analyzes the works of Ali Hasan Ahmad ad-Dary, a Southern Tapanuli scholar; Dahlan (2020) who focuses on Zainal Abidin Ahmad, an early 20 th century scholar of East Sumatra; and Ja'far (2020) who elaborates on the contribution of Arsyad Thalib Lubis, one of East Sumatra's most productive writers. Roza (2017)

explains the ways in which Malay
Islamic manuscripts significantly contributed to intellectual achievement of the Nusantara world. Important studies on the aspects of Islamic manuscripts of the neighboring Aceh have been made by Fakhriati (2010aFakhriati ( , 2010bFakhriati ( , 2013.
The present study focuses on two Malay poems never described or analyzed before in any academic publication. As such, this could be described as a pioneering study that introduces Rukun Nasution's poems to general contemporary readers. However, this study benefits greatly from its predecessors for perspectives as well as methodological insights.

Result and Discussion
The results of this study are presented in relation to the relevant previous studies then followed by some discussion. Indonesia was under Dutch occupation, which was only two years before the Japanese took over. This period was associated with turmoil in Indonesia, which made it difficult for anyone to achieve formal education. Furthermore, Rukun was not strongly motivated by his parents (especially his mother). This is due to the fact that at that time, parents in Hajoran were concerned that the Japanese military recruited educated children, which proven to be true. Japan's significant involvement in World War II led them into drafting young boys to enlarge its military forces. Rukun was the eldest son and had only a younger brother who further strengthened the emotional tie with his mother. Rukun regretted not being able to continue his formal education. According to his eldest daughter, Rafiah Nasution, he often recalled those days when he motivated his children to strife for their education. He often said, -Pade hamu nasikolai inang, au najolo nasikola au harana masoi zaman panjajahan, oppungmu pe inda dipaksa ia au,‖ in local Mandailing language, which means: "You should always be very serious with education. I did not go to school because of the colonial situation, and your grandmother failed to motivate me."

Rukun Nasution: Birth and Education
After being forced to quit formal schooling, Rukun tried to educate himself through non-formal education by attending the majlis ta`līm of Ahmad Syekh Abdurrabbi Siregar, a local `ulamā" who studied under Syekh Sulayman Arrasuli of Candung West Sumatera. Arrasuli was the founder of the Persatuan Tarbiyah Islamiyah, an Islamic organization that develops chains of madrasas in West Sumatra and other regions, including North Sumatra (Asari, 2006). This majlis ta`līm held some religious activities. Rukun formed the habit of leaving Hajoran every Thursday afternoon on his bicycle and heading to Langgapayung, a International Journal of Religious Literature and Heritage 71 small town some ten kilometers to the east. After performing afternoon and night congregational prayers (Maghrib and `Isyā") the syaikh led the group through a night long tawajjuh. The following day on Friday, a more general sermon was held, usually attended by a much larger audience of which do not spend the night at the compound. The sermon went on until around midday and ended when the Friday congregational prayer drew closer. The locals termed this activity "mangaji, tawajjuh, or maramal", which means learning, meditation, or worship. Rukun Nasution frequented this program consistently until his demise. Rafiah Nasution accompanied her father during the final days and stated that he was not ill during his lifetime. In fact, he failed to attend the program only two weeks before his death. Rafiah further stated that Rukun's zeal in attending his non-formal learning was also noted by Aminuddin Syekh Siregar, Syekh Abdurrabbi's son who led the majlis ta`līm by the time of Rukun's death. Aminuddin stressed that habit in his eulogy in Rukun's funeral service. The present paper authors attended the funeral service in person.
In addition to the one in Langgapayung, Rukun also attended another weekly majlis ta`līm in Hajoran Simaninggir. Villagers in this community usually call such activity markitab, which is loosely translated as reading books (kitab). In this particular village, the majlis ta`līm is based on a book (kitab), read by the guru (a teacher or instructor) and explained to the disciples. The most common subjects of markitab are theology and Islamic law (tawḥīd and fiqh), and the most popular book is Kitab Sifat Duapuluh (The Book of Twenty Attributes of God) which contains the foundation of Islamic theological doctrines. Although the title is in Malay, the script was written in Arabic. Since the 1950s the markitab in Hajoran Simaninggir was led Islamic Poems by Rukun Nasution (1928-1998

Description of the Manuscripts
The following paragraphs describe the two poems written by Rukun

Syair Pengajak Solat
Rukun wrote Syair Pengajak Solat in Malay language. The colophon manuscript available to the authors was a reproduction copy completed on April 4, 1996. The colophon reads as follows "Written in Hajoran Simaninggir on Monday 11-07-1996 and copied to this book in 04-04-1996CE.‖ However, this dating proves This stanza clearly indicates the beginning of the production of the text, i.e. the first day of Ramadan 1397, using the Islamic Hijri calendar, which corresponded with August 16, 1977. Supposing "manyurat", which means ‗to write' here meant the creative production of the text (not just copying to another medium), the poem is likely to have two dates of production, such as 1969 (according to the colophon) and 1977 (according to the first stanza).
Another option is taking "manyurat" to mean copying-or perhaps recopying-from an older copy to the existing manuscript.
Presently, there is no additional information available to settle the problem. Nevertheless, it seems that this stanza was an addition to start the copying process. The second stanza of Syair Pengajak Solat is as follows.

Themes of the Poems
In the most general sense, the titles of the poems indicated some Islamic themes. The following paragraphs explain the themes in further details.

Syair Pengajak Solat
The title of this poem explicitly explains its theme by inviting people to prayer (ṣalāh), which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Ṣalāh has always been central to Islamic religious discourse throughout history. Every Muslim is mandated to perform obligatory ṣalāh five times a day along with some optional ones.
Ṣalāh has always been emphasized not just because of its doctrinal position but also due to the fact that many Muslims fail to perform them consistently.
In explaining prayer, a total number of forty-two stanzas of Syair Pengajak Solat are organized into parts or segments. These thematic parts are of different lengths with some comprising of two stanzas while others are much longer. Stanzas one through three contain the opening and introduction of the poem. The very first stanza explains the time and place of the text's production, as earlier stated. The second and third stanzas include the basmalah (Abū Dāwud al-Sījistānī, n.d.). Unlike the general practice, here basmalah is followed neither by the ḥamdallāh nor ṣalāwat (prayer) to the Prophet Muhammad. Instead, the opening here emphasizes on surrendering oneself solely to Allah. After the basmalah the author proceeds with a statement on his limited knowledge, an apology for any ensuing mistakes and shortcomings, and plea for his readers' forgiveness. Humbling before God and the audience is normal in Islamic literary tradition. It is usually represented by words or phrases before the author's name. For instance, ‗this book is the work of such-and-such a person whose knowledge is very shallow,' or ‗this book is authored by a servant that is poor and low before Allah.' Many other variations could be found in Ilyas (2018: 98, 109, 146, 230, 304, 322). These phrases are meant to underline the religious dimension of literary production. Nakus is hung vertically in a minaret and struck with a special bat made of the same wood, some 40-50 cm long with a diameter of around 5-7 cm. The handle's end is made a bit smaller to allow better grip and enables it to be easily tucked into the nakus"s opening and moved horizontally to produce variations of sounds. In Hajoran and the surrounding villages, nakus is sounded twice for every prayer time. The first is called ketek (small), and it is sounded half an hour prior to the actual prayer time. The sound is used to inform people to get ready for prayers. The second sounding marks the actual prayer time, and is immediately followed by azān. Apart from that, nakus also used as an emergency signal in cases of fire, flood, landslides, etc. Stanzas twenty-one, twenty-four, and twenty-eight explain the fifth, eighth and twelfth parts of prayer as follows.
Ruku" namanya bilangan ke lima, Tulang belakang ratalah sama. Tempat sujud tujuan tiliknya, Hingga sampai pada bangkitnya. After explaining the parts of prayer, stanzas #30 through #34 reemphasize the importance of prayer and the need for Muslims to perform it wholeheartedly. This segment also invokes the popular story of Isrā'-Mi`rāj, which is associated with the Miraculous Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad to Heaven. It is said that initially, God had asked Muhammad and his followers to carry out fifty prayers per day. However, after realizing its difficulties for Muslims, He continuously reduced it to five prayers a day. Therefore, with this praying background in mind, Muslims do not need to consider the act of praying five times a day as a burden.
There is almost no religiously acknowledged reason to skip a prayer, except for women with natural excuses, such as those in their menstruation or parturition periods. For men, there is absolutely no excuse to skip salah. Syair Pengajak Solat emphasizes this in Stanza #35 to #38. The final three stanzas Islamic Poems by Rukun Nasution (1928-1998

After this concluding stanza, a colophon reads, -Written in Hajoran
Simaninggir on Monday dated 11-07-1969 and was copied into this volume in 04-04-1996M.‖ Of this colophon, some discussion has been provided in the beginning.

Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar
Before the actual stanzas of Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar the authors provide a short note on the activities that need to be carried out upon getting up from one's bed, in preparation for the dawn prayer.
The notes prescribed the following. These notes come in prose followed by the actual poem, which is marked with stanza's number, to the right of every fourth line. This particular poem does not start with a basmalah rather with an invocation for God's mercy and forgiveness for numerous sins. The first and second stanzas are read as follows. As earlier indicated, Stanza twenty-one naturally serves as the ending of the poem. However, the two extra stanzas have substantive relationships with the earlier one. The twenty-two is related to the stanza twenty-one through the concept of salvation (selamat). Similarly, the stanza twenty-three is related to the stanza twenty-two through the concept of favor (ni"mat). Therefore, special notes need to be made regarding the stanza twenty-three, which has different handwriting from others. The words are italicized in a rather wider degree that makes them look almost vertical. Also, the average size of the letters is smaller than the rest. 84 VOL. 10 NO. 1 JUNE 2021 In addition, this stanza twenty-three is not numbered by the poet, while all other stanzas are numbered in every fourth line. Currently, there is no satisfactory explanation regarding the presence of this stanza. However, in a rather speculative manner and judging from the handwriting, Rafiah Nasution, the eldest daughter of Rukun, proposes the idea that it was probably a very late addition made by the end of the poet's life.

The Social Relevance of the Poems
It can be said that the themes of Rukun's poems are simply and plainly bear the foundational teachings of Islam. It seems that his poems are meant for ordinary Muslims with limited education. However, we need to examine the relevance of these poems to the society from which these poems were produced. In examining Rukun's poems, we contend that they were produced as a text of religious knowledge, media in the propagation of Islam, and as a form of art.

The poems as religious knowledge text
Although Rukun's poem does not resemble a complex structure and form, every writing contains and tries to convey some strong ideas and messages. Upon mapping poems' contents, the authors found that these poems explain some foundational aspects of Islamic teachings in a rather general sense. The bigger part of the poems portrays about salah and the correct way of performing it. Surely, Rukun's knowledge of Islam is largely based on non-formal learning through majlis ta`līm and reading Islamic bulletin and magazines such as Kiblat and Panji Masyarakat. As such, Rukun was not to be confused with trained `ulamā" that are generally graduated from pesantren.

The poems as Islamic propagation media
According to Rukun's son, Muhammad Daud Nasution, Rukun's poems were often recited with a certain rhythm in a mosque located at Hajoran Simaninggir. The recitation usually took place before the Maghrib prayer and usually lasted from a quarter to half an hour.
The mosque ta"mir used the mosque's amplifier device to sound it throughout the village. In Hajoran, this recitation is popularly known as tarahem, which is a local way of pronouncing the Arabic word tarāḥim. This activity was called tarahem because it involves the repetition of the phrase "Yā arḥamar rāḥimīn, irḥamnā …" which means ‗O The Most Merciful, have mercy on us …'. There seems to be no strict rule regarding what needs to be recited in a tarahem. In practice, the recitation includes verses from the Qur'ān,

The poems as an art
In principle, poetry is a form of art, in which a poem is an artistic arrangement of words into sentences and stanzas. A poem is not just a game of words, phrases or sentences, rather it carries meanings that a poet intends to record and communicate to the audiences. Therefore, a poet has to tackle both sides to form a meaning.
Conventional poems are composed on either ‗aa-aa' or ‗ab-ab' rhythm. The first pattern means that every line of a given stanza ends with the same letter or sound. The second pattern means that the first and third lines end with the same letter or sound as well as the second and the fourth line. In composing poems, Rukun Nasution applied the ‗aa-aa' rhythm with very small exceptions, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Distribution of Stanzas Based on Rhythms
The dominance of ‗aa-aa' style is clearly seen. In the case of Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar, 100% of its stanzas are written in ‗aa-aa' style. In poem Syair Pengajak Solat three out of forty-seven stanzas are in ‗abab' style, stanza #2, #16 and #34. This consistency demonstrates the ability of the poet to select and arrange words into stanzas that convey his intended messages in a well-structured manner.

Discussion
The previous section has discussed the data and findings of this study.
The following segmen is dedicated to discussing some of the most interesting points of these findings.
First, there is no special interest in the writing medium used by Rukun Nasution in writing those poems. The paper used as media is a regular notebook easily found during the time of production of the manuscript.
In fact, the same type of notebook is widely used by school students at that time. However, the manuscript is extremely neat and consistent in style throughout the pages. It is also striking that there is a uniformity Ahmad ad-Dary (Syahnan, 2019) and Zainal Arifin Abbas (Dahlan, 2020). With this social-intellectual background, it is fair to conclude that Rukun Nasution's poems are unique and somehow anomalistic.
Secondly, the themes of the poems are rather general and foundational, namely theology, Islamic law of rituals, and some ethics with sufism tinge. Rukun's poems are intended for general layman readers who wish to strengthen one's belief in Allah without doubting Islamic teachings. Furthermore, there are prolonged explanations on the thirteen parts of the prayer (ṣalāh), including the proper way of performing each. The poems also include an invitation to ponder upon the favors given by Allah in the form of an ideal human body with complete functioning parts. In order to express their gratitude, those body parts need to be used in ways approved by Islamic teachings.
The poet also urged on the importance of continuous improvement of religious knowledge of every Muslim. Knowledge is indispensable; Islamic teachings are practiced correctly only when one acquires a sufficient amount of knowledge. In other words, these poems are intended as means of propagation, inviting Muslims to become better informed and, at the same time, more obedient to Allah. At many points, the poems emphasized the idea of Allah as the Merciful lifegiver that provides humans with limitless favors. Humans are always indebted to Allah for His borderless mercy and limitless favors, and obedience is the only proper response. However, the author does not fail to realize that life presents many challenges and temptations that cause deviation from the straight path of Islam. Therefore, the poems play a double-sided function, one side is as information for the uninformed, and the other side is as a reminder for the negligent. Poems as a mode of expressing religious knowledge are found in all major Muslim languages. In the Indonesian context, the Malay language was the lingua franca when the region was under the Islamic kingdoms, therefore it was used for every aspect of life, including in 92 VOL. 10 NO. 1 JUNE 2021 through the village mosque's minaret, their messages were to some extent known to the villagers.
It has been mentioned that Rukun responded to the emergence of fake `ulamā". The awareness of this phenomenon needs to be shared with many Muslims, especially by the learned segment. The poet is unique in a way he realized that complex social phenomenon, but conveyed his message in a rather simple technique, i.e. by composing poems.
Rukun's criticism of such `ulamā" followers do not involve sophisticated arguments and religious interpretation. He simply asks people to exercise carefulness in choosing whom to follow for matters of religion. People need to take every precaution before deciding to become part of a new emerging Islamic group. Rukun's criticism and advice are general in nature because he had no expertise in Islamic knowledge. He positions himself merely as a concerned Muslim, recording some observations and presenting some pieces of advice.
This can be seen in opening stanza of Syair Pengajak Solat cited earlier. Rukun is known as a person with strong social awareness and always tries to contribute in any way possible. His villagers remember him as a practicing Muslim and an ever-contributing member of their society. In principle, the poems studied here do not present any sophisticated philological issues. Rather, all texts are produced in recent times, i.e. the second half of the 20 th century, and written in Latin, thereby deviating from the more popular practice of using Malay-Arabic scripts for such genre of literature. The media on which the poems are written is also regular and readily available in the general market as a 50-gram notebook with guiding lines. Furthermore, the handwriting is very neat and consistent throughout the poems in both sizes, with the letters italicized. An absolute majority of the stanzas are written in 'aaaa' rhythm.

Conclusion
As indicated by their titles, the poems contain Islamic information with the most dominant theme being salah, its parts/acts, and the way to perform them correctly. The poems of Rukun are socially relevant from at least three perspectives. Firstly, it serves to record and preserve Islamic knowledge and information. Secondly, it functions as media of Islamic propagation with valuable information documented, preserved, and made accessible to others. Indeed, it is regretful that they have never been published during the lifetime of the poet. Thirdly, they are relevant as a linguistic art, following a long tradition of putting Islamic information into stanzas. These poems are a product of high linguistic capacity, indicated by excellent word choices, the arrangement of phrases into stanzas, and its organization into well-structured poems.