Hikayat Prang Sabi is a media for dakwah (Islamic religious proselytizing) as well as for indoctrinating Aceh people to go into battle with the Dutch in Aceh War. For the most part, Hikayat Prang Sabi contains teachings taken from the Quran so that it is often said that its contents are Quran`s verses transformed into poetry.

The author of the work is Teungku Tjik Pante Kulu, an ulema and war-poet that was born in 1836 in Desa Pante Kulu, Kemukiman Titeue, Kecamatan Kemalawati, Kabupaten Pidie. He wrote Hikayat Prang Sabi in the late of 1881, in the ship during his voyage from Mecca to Aceh, precisely in between Jeddah and Penang.

Hikayat Prang Sabi is a poetry containing four stories (kisah), namely: Kisah Ainul Mardliyah, Kisah Pasukan Gajah, Kisah Sa`id Salmy, and Kisah Muhammad Amin (The Resurrecting Slave). In correlation with jihad, which had been long advocated by the Aceh ulemas as the best way to fight the Dutch, the stories of Hikayat Prang Sabi was proven to be effective to keep the spirit of the soldiers high for tens of years.

Its strong motivating influence during the Aceh War draws people interest to analyze it. For instance, an analysis and Dutch translation was done by an Aceh language and literature expert who was once a controleur in Idi, East Aceh, H.T. Damste. His work was published in a book entitled Bijdragen Tot de Taak Land en Volkenkunde van Nederlanch Indie Deel 84 (launched in the Netherlands by Het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal Land en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indie). Thanks to Damste`s research, Hikayat Prang Sabi has become a compulsory reading for the students in Aceh Literature Department in various universities in the Netherlands.

(Tunggul Tauladan/ensi/01/01-2010)

Translation by Reza Daffi (terj/08/02-10)

Reference:

• Hasjmy, 1977. Apa sebab rakyat Aceh sanggup berperang puluhan tahun melawan agresi Belanda. Jakarta: Bulan Bintang.