The Birthplace of Boria：Ashrakanah in Jalan Mesjid, off Chulia Street
Ashrakan, burial ground and kramat, Jalan Mesjid, Chulia Street
This property is part of the Shaik Nathersah Waqf, which includes the Ashrakan, a small cemetery and a kramat. The Ashrakan is not a mosque (inspite of the name Jalan Mesjid) but an imambarah which features in the Awal Muharram celebrations.
Shaik Nathersah alias Shaik Nather Sahib died in 1845, At the turn of the cenutry, Shaik Sathuck Ally Shah Meah, a descendant of Shaik Nathersah, gave a deposition that "Shaik Nathersah's waqf in Chulia Street" consisted of "a building which is used every year to celebrate the name of Imam Hassan Hussain, Kenduri and read the Koran (and) a building for the poor who go there, a sort of rest-house for strangers and way-farers." He added that the waqf provided for an annual feast on the 13th Muharram and other Muharram celebrations.
From the 1840s onwards, the Awal Muharram. celebrations in Penang were revitalized by the arrival of the 21st Regiment of the Indian army from Madras. This regiment began performing Boria in Penang, and they were soon imitated by the local Jawi-Pekans. The starting point for these Boria celebrations was the Ashrakan at Jalan Mesjid, off Chulia Street.
Haji Fathil Basheer, writing to the "Postbag" column of a local English-language newspaper under the pseudonym "Malay Realist" recorded the oral tradition handed down from his grandfather Shaikh Omar Basheer and his father Zachariah Basheer. Giving his family version of "The Origin of Boria", Haji Fathil identified the place where it all began. "The birth place was at a city mukim (now defunct) called Asrakan, in the heart of the city itself, now known as Masjid Road, opposite the junction of Rope Walk and Chulia Street, Penang. ?At the place then known as Asrakan, these Shaiah Muslims erected a mosque-like edifice, in about 1842". This building was called "Asrakhanah, from which the name Asrakan had been derived."
Many latter-day historians have presumed that the Muslims who took part Muharram processions in 19th century Penang were Shia. The British view on the matter was probably derived from the Malay view, which might be traceable to the Hadhrami Arabs. However, it was the Sunni Muslims of Tamil Nadu who celebrated the tradition of Awal Muharram in India and also observed the celebrations in Penang. With the advent of modernist Islam, many Sunnis turned away from Muharram celebrations, as these were regarded as being of Shia origin. In other parts of the world, the asrakanah is called an Imambarah, a large building where the implements for Muharram celebrations are kept. In Tamilnadu, an ashur khana was an enclosure used by Mohurram celebrants, consisting of both Sunni and Shias. A famous Imambarah was built next to the "Thousand Lights" mosque in Madras.
Sheikh Nathersah's Ashrakanah in Penang, dating from the early 19th century (before 1845) is of great historical value, being unique in Malaysia, being the landmark of the 19th century Awal Muharram celebrations and also the birthplace of Penang Boria.
Compiled by Khoo Salma Nasution, May 2004
槟城Boria发源地：Ashrakanah责任编辑： |
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