Makam Tok Soh di Kedah dan kaitannya dengan Merong Mahawangsa (The tomb of Tok Soh in Kedah and its relation to Merong Mahawangsa)...

OK... Malam ini kita pergi menziarahi satu tempat tertentu di Kedah... Mari!

OK... Tonight we pay a visit to a certain place in Kedah... Come!

Dalam perjalanan dari Sungai Petani ke Kulim, ada sebuah tempat bernama Pinang Tunggal. Masuk ke sana dan akan terpapar papantanda ini...

On the way from Sungai Petani to Kulim, there's a place called Pinang Tunggal. Enter there and there appears this signboard...

Lalu kelihatanlah sebuah makam lama yang mempunyai sejarahnya yang tersendiri, makam milik seseorang yang cuma dikenali sebagai Tok Soh...

And so could be seen an old tomb with its own history, a tomb of someone known only as Tok Soh...

Batu nesannya yang terukir cantik termasuk dalam kategori batu-batu nesan lama yang dikenali sebagai batu nesan Aceh. Apakah ini bermakna pemilik makam ini ada kena-mengena dengan Aceh? Mungkin ya...

The beautifully engraved tombstones are among those included in the category of old tombstones known as the Aceh gravestones. Does this mean the person buried here has something to do with Aceh? Maybe yes...

Ada pula pihak mendakwa makam ini milik seseorang bernama Sharifah Mariam Al-Jefri, iaitu seorang wanita daripada keturunan Nabi Muhammad SAW. Jika ini benar maka kemungkinan besar ia ada kaitan dengan Aceh kerana boleh kata semua keturunan Rasulullah SAW yang masuk ke Nusantara atau Tanah Melayu ini berbuat begitu melalui Aceh... Walaupun ketika ia belum bernama Aceh.

There are parties who claim the tomb belongs to someone named Sharifah Mariam Al-Jefri, that is a woman from the lineage of Prophet Muhammad SAW. If this is true then most probably it has links to Aceh as it could be said all descendants of the Prophet who came to Nusantara or the Malay Archipelago did so through Aceh... Eventhough when Aceh is yet to be known by that name.

Ini adalah disebabkan kedudukan Aceh itu sendiri merupakan tempat pertama masuk laluan kapal daripada belah Barat terutama Tanah Arab ke Nusantara. Kata orang, sebab itu juga Aceh dikenali sebagai bumi Serambi Mekah. Dan ia juga tempat terakhir di Tanah Melayu untuk berlepas menunaikan haji di Mekah!

This is because Aceh's location itself is the first place for ships from the West especially that from the Arab lands to pass to get to Nusantara. Some people said, that's why Aceh is also known as the Veranda of Mekah. And that's also the Malay Archipelago's last embarkation point to do the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mekah!

Yang menjadi kemusykilan ialah apabila ada pihak mendakwa Sharifah Mariam ini adalah permaisuri kepada watak legenda bernama Merong Mahawangsa yang dikatakan telah membuka kerajaan Kedah Tua. Ini kerana tarikh kemunculan Merong Mahawangsa itu sendiri boleh menimbulkan pelbagai pertikaian.

What is perplexing is when certain parties claimed Sharifah Mariam was the queen to a legendary figure named Merong Mahawangsa who was said to have opened the ancient kingdom of old Kedah. This is because the date when Merong Mahawangsa showed up itself is open to speculations.

Cuba baca kitab lama Melayu bertajuk Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Menurut kitab itu, Merong Mahawangsa sampai ke Kedah ketika Gunung Jerai, gunung tertinggi di Kedah masih lagi dikelilingi air lalu dikenali sebagai Pulau Serai! Pada zaman manakah ini agaknya berlaku? Dan kitab itu menambah, ketika itu Nabi Sulaiman AS masih hidup dan memerintah dunia! Zaman manakah ini?

Try reading the old Malay text titled Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (the annals of Merong Mahawangsa). According to the text, Merong Mahawangsa arrived in Kedah when Gunung (mount) Jerai, the highest peak in Kedah was still surrounded by water and was known as Pulau (the island of) Serai! In which period did this happen? And the text added, at the time the Prophet Solomon was still alive and ruled the world! In which time was this?

Menurut ahli sejarah, Nabi Sulaiman bersemayam di Baitul Muqaddis lebih 900 tahun Sebelum Masihi. Jika Merong Mahawangsa hidup di zaman ini, maka tentulah mustahil baginda boleh berkahwin dengan Sharifah Mariam yang dikatakan berketurunan Nabi Muhammad SAW. Bagaimana mungkin sedangkan Nabi Muhammad lahir tahun 570 Masihi iaitu 1,600 tahun selepas zaman Nabi Sulaiman yang diketahui mangkat agak awal?

According to historians, the Prophet Sulaiman ruled in Jerusalem more than 900 years before Christ. If Merong Mahawangsa had lived then, surely it is impossible that he could have married the Sharifah Mariam said to be a descendant of Prophet Muhammad SAW. How could this be when Prophet Muhammad was born in the year 570 AD which is 1,600 years after the time of Prophet Solomon who is known to have died quite early?

Catatan rasmi yang terdapat pada Makam Tok Soh ini tidak dapat mengenal pasti identiti sebenarnya. Ia cuma dapat menyebut pemilik makam ini mestilah seorang orang besar atau ternama zaman dahulu. Tak mengapa, mari kita cuba mengupas dahulu akan identiti Merong Mahawangsa.

The official statement at the tomb of Tok Soh could not tell its identity for sure. It could only say the owner of the tomb must be someone high-ranking or famous a long time ago. Doesn't matter, let us try to delve into the identity of Merong Mahawangsa first.

Ada sebuah legenda lama kaum Minang di Sumatera yang menyebut bahawa 3 orang anak Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain telah belayar ke bumi sebelah sini. Mereka adalah Maharaja Alif, Maharaja Diraja dan Maharaja Dipang. Ada yang menyebut Maharaja Alif yang tua diikuti Maharaja Diraja seterusnya Maharaja Dipang. Apapun, menurut ceritanya mereka bertiga telah berebut sebuah mahkota peninggalan ayahanda mereka lalu mahkota itu terjatuh dan hilang di dalam air.

There's an old Minang (a Malay stock) legend in Sumatera saying the 3 children of Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain ( a legendary king said by some to be Alexander the Great of Macedonia) set sail for this part of the world. They are Maharaja (emperor) Alif, Maharaja Diraja and Maharaja Dipang. Some said Maharaja Alif was the eldest followed by Maharaja Diraja and then Maharaja Dipang. Whatever, the story said they were squabbling over the crown left by their father and the crown fell down the waters and got lost.

Menurut cerita ini lagi, Maharaja Alif lalu pulang ke Rum di sebelah Barat sementara Maharaja Dipang terus belayar ke Timur lalu merajai China dan Jepun. Maharaja Diraja pula membuka negeri di Tanah Melayu... Maka legenda rakyat Minang menyebut baginda mendarat di Gunung Merapi ketika ia masih lagi sebuah pulau, dan daripada anak cucunya terbitlah raja-raja di sebelah sini sampai sekarang.

According to this story too, Maharaja Alif returned to Rome which is in the West while Maharaja Dipang sailed further on to the East to rule over China and Japan. Maharaja Diraja opened a new kingdom in the Malay Archipelago... And so the Minang people's legend said he landed at Gunung (mount) Merapi when it was still an island, and from his descendants came the rulers in this part of the world until now.

Menurut cerita lain pula, daripada keturunan Maharaja Alif muncullah Merong Mahawangsa yang kemudian membuka kerajaan Kedah Tua. Daripada Maharaja Diraja, muncul Raja Suran yang dikatakan pernah menguasai benua Hindi dan kemudian dan daripada keturunannya muncullah raja-raja yang pernah memerintah Melaka. Ada pihak lain pula menambah, daripada Maharaja Dipang, muncul Shi Huang Ti, Maharaja China yang dikatakan pertama sekali menyatukan seluruh negeri-negeri di China lalu mendirikan Tembok Besar China. Wallahualam.

According to another story, from the lineage of Maharaja Alif then came Merong Mahawangsa who then opened the kingdom of old Kedah. From Maharaja Diraja, came Raja Suran who is said to have conquered the whole of Hindi and then from his lineage came the kings who have ruled Melaka. Other parties added, from Maharaja Dipang, came Shi Huang Ti, the emperor who is said to be the first to have unified all of China and then build the Great Wall of China. God knows best.

Sekarang, cerita yang dikemukakan ini mungkin kelihatan mustahil jika dilihat daripada sudut kajian Barat yang berlandaskan logik akal semata. Tetapi ia tidak mustahil jika dilihat daripada sudut pemikiran Al-Quran yang mengiyakan perkara-perkara ghaib. Maka untuk mengupas perkara ini, biar kita lihat daripada sudut Al-Quran ya di mana Nabi Sulaiman AS dikatakan pernah memerintah dunia sementara Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain juga diberi kekuasaan yang hampir serupa.

Now, the story featured here might look impossible if seen from the angle of Western research based on pure logic alone. But it is not impossible if seen from angle of thinking of the Al-Quran which supports matters unseen. Thus to delve into the subject, let us see this from the Quranic point of view ya where Prophet Solomon is said to have ruled the world while King Iskandar Zulkarnain was also given a similar dominion.

Ada kajian Melayu lama menyebut Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain berasal daripada keturunan Nabi Sulaiman. Oleh kerana Nabi Sulaiman pernah memerintah dunia, maka tidak begitu pelik jika Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain mewarisi pemerintahan yang meliputi seluruh mukabumi Timur dan Barat. Soalnya siapakah dia Iskandar Zulkarnain ini...

There's old Malay research saying that King Iskandar Zulkarnain originated from the descendants of Prophet Solomon. Since Prophet Solomon once ruled the world, it is not so strange if King Iskandar Zulkarnain inherited the rule covering all of the East and West. The question is who is Iskandar Zulkarnain...

Pendapat popular menyebut Raja Iskandar Zulkarnain adalah Alexander the Great yang terkenal di Barat sebagai pemerintah kerajaan Macedonia di Greece yang kemudian mengalahkan empayar Parsi dan Hindi. Ini berlaku sekitar 300 tahun Sebelum Masihi. Pendapat kedua popular pula adalah Iskandar Zulkarnain adalah Raja Cyrus (dikenali di Barat sebagai Cyrus the Great) yang pernah memerintah Empayar Achaemeniad yang berpusat di Parsi. Ini pula berlaku 200 tahun lebih awal iaitu sekitar 500 tahun sebelum Masihi.

Popular opinion said King Iskandar Zulkarnain is Alexander the Great known in the West as the ruler of Macedonia in Greece who then defeated the empires of Persia and Hindi. This happened sometime 300 years before Christ. The second popular opinion is that Iskandar Zulkarnain is King Cyrus (known in the West as Cyrus the Great) who ruled the Achaemeniad empire centred in Persia. This happened 200 years earlier, that is around 500 years before Christ.

Pada saya pula, mungkin gelaran Iskandar Zulkarnain yang kata sesetengah orang bermakna wira yang memakai mahkota bertanduk dua (untuk menunjukkan kekuasaan ke atas Timur dan Barat) itu sesuai untuk kedua-keduanya. Malah saya percaya, Alexander the Great sebenarnya adalah keturunan Cyrus the Great daripada cabang keluarga yang terpinggir daripada kekuasaan di Parsi lalu terbawa ke pinggir Empayar Achaemeniad di sebelah Greece... Kemudian muncul untuk mengambil kembali empayar warisan nenek-moyangnya!

For me though, maybe the name Iskandar Zulkarnain which some says means the warrior wearing the crown with two horns (to signify dominion over the East and West) fits them both. In fact, I believe, Alexander the Great is actually a descendant of Cyrus the Great from a branch of family sidelined from the throne in Persia and so was pushed to the rims of the Achaemeniad empire on the Greece side... Then appearing to claim back the empire of his ancestors!

Allah... Saya sudah pergi begitu jauh pula... Berbalik pada soal Merong Mahawangsa. Jika baginda adalah keturunan Maharaja Alif anak Iskandar Zulkarnian (tak kiralah samada Alexander ataupun Cyrus) yang berasal daripada keturunan Nabi Sulaiman, maka mustahil baginda boleh berjumpa dengan Nabi Allah itu seperti yang tersebut dalam Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Ini kerana perbezaan jarak masa era kehidupan Iskandar Zulkarnain dengan Nabi Sulaiman sendiri adalah lebih 400 tahun dan setahu saya Nabi Sulaiman tidak berumur panjang.

Allah... I have gone too far now... Coming back to the question of Merong Mahawangsa. If he is a descendant of Maharaja Alif son of Iskandar Zulkarnain (never mind if he is Alexander or Cyrus) who came from the blood of Prophet Solomon, than it's impossible he have met the Prophet as told in Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. This is because the difference between the era of Iskandar Zulkarnain and Prophet Solomon itself is over 400 years and as far as I know, Prophet Solomon didn't live long.

Sekarang, berbalik pula pada dakwaan sesetengah pihak bahawa Merong Mahawangsa beristerikan Sharifah Mariam Al-Jefri yang dikatakan identiti sebenar Tok Soh yang dimakamkan di Pinang Tunggal, Kedah. Menurut pihak ini, Merong Mahawangsa yang sebenar, bukan yang dongeng seperti dalam hikayat datang ke Tanah Melayu pada Abad ke 8 Masihi. Maka tidak timbul persoalan baginda berjumpa dengan Nabi Sulaiman...

Now, back to the claim by some parties that Merong Mahawangsa wedded a Sharifah Mariam Al-Jefri who is said to the real identity of the Tok Soh buried at Pinang Tunggal, Kedah. According to these parties, the real Merong Mahawangsa, not the mythical one told in old text came to the Malay Archipelago during 8th century AD. So the question of him having met Prophet Solomon does not arise...

Baiklah... Jika ini benar maka saya cuba ingin bertanya satu soalan sahaja. Pada Abad ke 8 Masihi, apakah sudah wujud keluarga Al-Jefri? Setahu saya dan rasanya semua orang yang pernah mengkaji nasab keluarga Ba' Alawi iaitu keturunan Nabi Muhammad SAW yang beranak-pinak di Hadramaut, Yaman memulakan nasab di sebelah sana dengan seorang moyang yang dikenali sebagai Ahmad Al-Muhajir (dipanggil Muhajir sebagai orang yang berhijrah, dalam kes ini ke Hadramaut). Ahmad adalah anak kepada Isa bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq, ulamak besar dunia Islam yang dicatitkan hidup tahun 703 hingga 765 Masihi.

Good... If this is true, I would like to ask just one question. During 8th century AD, has the Al-Jefri family existed yet? As far as I know and I think everyone who have studied the Ba' Alawi genealogy, that is Prophet Muhammad's descendants who thrived in Hadramaut, Yaman knows that the genealogy there was started by a forefather known as Ahmad Al-Muhajir (called Muhajir as the person who moved far, in this case to Hadramaut). Ahmad is a son to Isa bin (son of) Muhammad bin Ali bin Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq, the big time Islamic world scholar noted as having lived from 703 till 765 AD.

Setahu saya, pecahan-pecahan keluarga Ba' Alawi seperti Al-Attas, Al-Haddad, Al-Saggaf juga Al-Jefri mendapat nama-nama keluarga ini cuma setelah beberapa keturunan Ahmad Al-Muhajir bercambah lalu meluas di Hadramaut. Saya tidak pasti bilakah Ahmad ini sampai ke Hadramaut tapi biar kita cuba buat perbandingan dengan kemunculan seorang lagi anak cucu Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq iaitu Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'afar al-Sadiq yang muncul bersama rombongan 100 orang pendakwah diketuai seseorang yang dikenali sebagai Nakhoda Khalifah ke Perlak tahun 804 Masihi. Ali adalah cucu kepada Imam Jaafar sementara Ahmad Al-Muhajir adalah cucu kepada cucu Imam Jaafar. Maka secara logiknya, Ahmad Al-Muhajir yang hidup 2 generasi kemudian harus sampai ke Hadramaut pertengahan abad ke 9 Masihi.

As far as I know, the branches of the Ba' Alawi family such as Al-Attas, Al-Haddad, Al-Saggaf also Al-Jefri got their family names only after many generations of Ahmad Al-Muhajir's descendants have flourished in Hadramaut. I'm not sure when did Ahmad arrived in Hadramaut but let us make a comparison with the appearence of another descendant of Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq that is Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'afar al-Sadiq who came with a party of 100 religious scholars lead by someone known as Nakhodah Khalifah to Perlak in the year 804 AD. Ali is the grandson of Imam Jaafar while Ahmad Al-Muhajir is the grandson to a grandson of Imam Jaafar. Thus logically, Ahmad Al-Muhajir who lived 2 generations after Ali could have arrived in Hadramaut in the middle of 9th century AD.

Hmm... Kita boleh juga bandingkan zamannya dengan Ali al-Hadi bin Muhammad al-Jawad bin Ali al-Ridha bin Musa al-Kazim bin Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq. Ali al Hadi yang juga adalah cucu kepada cucu Imam Ja'afar telah diabadikan sebagai salah seorang Imam-imam Syiah. Maka tidak susah untuk mencari tahun hidupnya iaitu 827 hingga 868 Masihi. Sekarang, daripada keturunan Ahmad Al-Muhajir sekurang-kurangnya 2 generasi kemudian barulah terbit nama-nama keluarga seperti Al-Saggaf dan sebagainya. Maka mustahil, sudah ada seorang ahli keluarga Al-Jefri yang berkahwin dengan Merong Mahawangsa awal abad ke 9 Masihi!

Hmm... We can also compare the period to that of Ali al-Hadi bin Muhammad al-Jawad bin Ali al-Ridha bin Musa al-Kazim bin Imam Ja'afar al-Sadiq. Ali al Hadi who is also a grandson of a grandson of Imam Ja'afar have been immortalised as one of the Syiah Imams (infallible leaders of the sect). So it's not hard to find his living period which is 827 till 868 AD. Now, from the descendants of Ahmad Al-Muhajir at least 2 generations later, then only came the family names like as Al-Saggaf and such. Thus it is impossible that there existed a member of the Al-Jefri family who married Merong Mahawangsa in the early 9th century AD!

Maka siapakah Merong Mahawangsa? Zaman mana sebenarnya baginda hidup? Yang pasti, tidak mungkin Merong Mahawangsa boleh berkahwin dengan Sharifah Mariam al-Jefri... Kecuali mereka ada melompat masa dan melawan hukum aturan dan turutan masa seperti yang diketahui sekarang. Hmm... Itu sahaja yang nak diluahkan kot. Cukuplah! :]

So who is Merong Mahawangsa? In which period does he actually lived? What is sure, there is no way Merong Mahawangsa could have married Sharifah Mariam al-Jefri... Unless they jumped across time and go against the rule and chronological order as we know it now. Hmm... That's all I want to let out methinks. That should be enough! :]