Muhammad bin Yahya

Habib Muhammad bin Yahya was born in 1260 AH (1844 CE) in Al-Masilah, a small village in Hadhramaut. Muhammad came from the family of Ba 'Alawi sada surnamed Aal bin Yahya, his father named Sayyid Ali bin Hasan bin Thaha bin Yahya (d. 1875),^[1][4] while his mother was a Sharifah from the family of bin Thahir.^[5] The father of his grandfather, Habib Thaha bin Muhammad bin Yahya was his ancestor who first entered Nusantara. He first entered Indonesia via Penang, Malaysia. In Penang, he met Sultan Hamengkubuwana II (1750–1828) who exiled by the Netherlands, who later became his disciple as well as his father-in-law.^[3]

During his lifetime, Habib Muhammad bin Yahya was married to four women. First, he married in Tarim while traveling from Hadhramaut to Aden via Tarim,^[1] from which he had no offspring. Secondly, when traveling from Batavia to Surabaya he married a girl from Surabaya who gave him a daughter named Sharifah Fatimah. Third, he married in Ambon while traveling from Surabaya to Ambon to meet his cousin Habib Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdurrahman bin Thahir, from whom he had a son named Sayyid Ali. Fourth, he married in Tenggarong with Aji Aisyah gelar Aji Raden Resminingpuri, daughter of Aji Muhammad Alimuddin (19th Sultan of Kutai) and sister of Aji Muhammad Parikesit (20th Sultan of Kutai). From his marriage to Aji Aisyah, he was awarded 9 children, 6 men (Sayid Ahmad, Sayid Umar, Sayid Ali, Sayid Barri, Sayid Abdul Maula, and Sayid Hussein) and 3 women (Sharifah Sehhah, Sharifah Nur, and Sharifah Fatimah).^[6] Because of his marriage to the Kutai nobility, his descendants were later given the title Aji Sayid for men and Aji Syarifah for women.^[7] Adji Raden Sajid Fadly, an Indonesian actor from Samarinda is one of his descendants.^[8]

The thing behind the immigration of Habib Muhammad bin Yahya to Indonesia in addition to visiting his relatives in Batavia (now Jakarta) and Ambon who first migrated, also for trade and preach. The route from Al-Masilah, Hadhramaut to Indonesia there are two versions, first, from Masilah-Tarim-Aden-Batavia-Surabaya-Ambon-Tenggarong; second, from Masilah-Tarim-Aden-Batavia-Surabaya-Ambon-Surabaya-Tenggarong.^[1]

On his journey from Al-Masilah to Indonesia, Habib Muhammad passed Aden through Tarim. At Tarim, he's staying in a house where the owner is exposed to leprosy. By Allah's permission, the owner of the house affected by the leprosy was treated by him and healed. As gratitude, the homeowner then marry off his niece with Habib Muhammad. After surviving in Tarim for some time, Habib Muhammad then continued his journey to Aden until he reached Batavia.^[1]

In Batavia, he visited his maternal uncle, Habib Abu Bakar bin Thahir. After continuing his journey to Surabaya, in Boto Putih he studied religion to Habib Shaykh Bafaqih. In addition, he also met his cousin named Habib Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdurrahman bin Thahir who was in Ambon.^[5]

Habib Muhammad bin Yahya arrived at Tenggarong in 1877.^[9] In Tenggarong, he married the daughter of Sultan Aji Muhammad Alimuddin (19th Sultan of Kutai) named Aji Aisyah gelar Aji Raden Resminingpuri.^[10]