Isa Anshary

Muhammad Isa Anshary was born on 1 July 1916 in Manindjau, in what was then the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). He received an education at a Sekolah Rakjat (lit. 'People's School') as well as a Sekolah Agama (lit. 'Religion School'). He also took courses on foreign languages, politics, economics, and sociology.^[1] In 1932, at the age of sixteen, he left for Bandung where he became fascinated with the ideas of Sukarno. This led Isa to abandon his plans of studying in Yogyakarta to pursue a political career.^[2]

He joined the nationalist Partindo political party by lying about his age. He also became a member of the Bandung branch of the Persatuan Pemuda Rakjat Indonesia (lit. 'Popular Union of Indonesian Youth') which was a radical, revolutionary youth group. In addition to his involvement in Partindo, Isa took part in religion classes organized by the Persatuan Islam (Persis, lit. 'Islamic Union'). Gradually, he became more involved in Islamic politics and took over the leadership of the Sumatra-based Persatuan Muslim Indonesia (Permi, lit. 'Union of Indonesian Muslims') branch in Bandung.^[2]

Following the break-up of Partindo in 1934, he restricted his political activities to Islamic organizations. He became a member of Muhammadiyah and later Persis. Around this time, Isa became the secretary of the Bandung branch of the Indonesian Islamic Party with Mohammad Natsir as chairman.^[3] He also became the chief editor of two Islamic magazines—Aliran Muda (lit. 'Young Stream') and Lasjkar Islam (lit. 'Islamic Warriors')—and was involved in helping various other Islamic publications, such as the daily Perbintjangan (lit. 'Conversation') in Bandung and weekly Pandji Islam (lit. 'Islamic Banner') in Medan. He also became a member of the secretariat of the Indonesian Political Federation.^[1]

In 1942, the Dutch East Indies were invaded by the Empire of Japan. During the subsequent occupation period, Isa worked in the offices of a Japanese propaganda organization—the Center of the People's Power—in Priangan.^[1] The Japanese also established the Majelis Islam A'la Indonesia [id] (MIAI) during their occupation and Isa was appointed MIAI secretary for Priangan. However, his involvement with the Angkatan Muda Indonesia (lit. 'Indonesian Youth Force') which advocated for Indonesian independence led to his imprisonment for a month.^[4] He had been one of the founders of the organization and was part of its secretariat. Isa also founded and led an illegal "Anti-Fascist Movement" consisting of militant youths and select ulamas. Following the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence in 1945, he became a leader in the Sabilillah in Priangan. During the Indonesian National Revolution, Isa founded the Gerakan Muslimin Indonesia (lit. 'Indonesian Muslims' Movement') which was opposed to the State of Pasundan.^[1]