Sharifah Halimah Alaydrus
Sharifah Halimah Alaydrus was born in Indramayu, West Java on 2 April 1979 as 5th of 6 children of Usman Alaydrus and Nur Assegaf. She acquired her religious knowledge from some well-known NU (Nahdlatul ‘Ulama) pondok pesantren (Islamic boarding schools or Islamic seminary): Darullughagh Wadda’wah in Bangil-Pasuruan, East Java; Pondok Pesantren at-Tauhidiyah in Tegal, Central Java; and Pondok Pesantren al-Anwar in Rembang, Central Java; then continued her study in Daruz Zahro, Tarim, Ḥaḍramawt. After graduating from Daruz Zahro Sharifah Halimah Alaydrus went back to Indonesia in 2002 and married in the same year. After her marriage, she start her da’wa to some pondok pesantren in East Java. Since then, she has become very active in da’wa not only in Jakarta, but also in other parts of Indonesia and abroad. Sharifah Halimah Alaydrus developing Ahbabuzzahro, that was opened in 2004, to share the expertise with the younger generation, which she and her juniors in Daruz Zahro are mentors, as part of her responsibility to equip young muslimāt with religious knowledge and to bring them closer to their religion. Her talent and achievement in becoming students of Habib Umar bin Hafiz have made them authoritative voices both locally and transnationally. The case of Sharifah Halimah Alaydrus demonstrates not only the new visibility of such women in Indonesian public Islam, but also illuminates the significant role played by female Indonesian preachers in the global Muslim world.