Moeslim Taher

Moeslim Taher, S.H. (also written Muslim Taher,, ; September 10, 1934 – November 23, 1999) was an Indonesian educator who founded Jayabaya University on October 5, 1958.

Moeslim Taher began his education at the elementary school level in Sigli and graduated in 1947.

When he was in junior high school, from 1950–1952 he taught elementary school in Padang.

Subsequently, in 1954–1957 he had become a junior and senior high school teacher in Jakarta.

He then continued his junior and senior high school education in Padang and graduated in 1957.

A few years later he became director of a private high school and in 1959 he instead founded Jayabaya University, Jakarta.

When first founded the university, he was 24 years old.

This initiative seems to be a further development of his devotion to education, with a career that began when he became an elementary school caretaker, junior high school leader, and later high school leader.

The experience in devotion in the field of education that later encouraged him to establish Jayabaya University.

Other than that, Taher felt responsible for giving answers to the challenges faced by the Indonesian nation in the form of problems of lagging and backwardness in various fields.

Understandably, when Jayabaya University was founded, Indonesia was only 13 years old and the number of universities was still few.

At the beginning of its establishment, Jayabaya University began by managing two faculties, namely the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Economics with 11 students.

Educational and administrative activities are carried out by borrowing a place at Private Schools at Jalan Salemba Raya 12, Central Jakarta.

Classrooms in the morning and afternoon are used by elementary, junior high school, and senior high school students, therefore new lectures take place in the afternoon and evening, from 5 pm to 9 pm.

Taher led Jayabaya University as rector in 1961 to replace Prof. Mr. S. A. Hakimm who led from 1959 to 1961, during that period, Taher held the position of vice-rector and secretary.

Taher was later appointed become 2nd rector of Jayabaya University for the period 1962–1988 replacing Prof. Mr. S. A. Hakim as first rector.

His first marriage was with a woman of Hadhrami Arab descent named Nurtini binti Sjahboedin in 1962.

From his marriage to Nurtini, Taher obtained a child named Agustian Putrajaya (born on August 30, 1963).

In 1963, Taher remarried Yuyun Hindun.

From his second marriage, he had seven children, including Mustar, Mulia, Rachmat, Yulia, Kurnia, Sartika, and Citasari.

He obtained a law degree from the university he led, Jayabaya University in 1965.

Three years later, he earned a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Social and Politics, Padjadjaran University (Unpad).

In 1965, Taher remarried a Batak girl named Rosemary Siagian but on December 22, 1965, they decided to divorce.

From his marriage to Rosemary, Taher had a daughter named Dessy Musnilla.

In 1965, he obtained a law degree from the university he led.

Three years later, he obtained a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Social and Political Science, Padjadjaran University.

His fourth marriage was with Saleha Moeslim Taher in 1975.

From his fourth marriage, Taher obtained six children, including Amri, Nurfitri, Firman, Moehamad Ichsan, Firdaus, and Rasyid.

In Unpad he also became an extraordinary lecturer in 1978 and a year later earned a doctorate with cum laude.

During his life, Moeslim Taher was married five times.

In Unpad he also became an extraordinary lecturer since 1978 and a year later earned a doctorate with cum laude.

In addition, Taher was appointed by Soeharto as the Supreme Advisory Council of the Republic of Indonesia from 1983 to 1988.

Sidi Moeslim bin Mohammad Taher was born in Sigli, Pidie Regency, Aceh as the fourth of seven children from a family of Arab-Minangkabau origin.

His last name Taher is one of the Ba 'Alawi sada clans of Hadhrami Arab in Indonesia.

His father was named Haji Sidi Mohammad Tahir who was a retired head of the pawnshop, while his mother was a Minangkabau woman named Nurcahya.

In the Minangkabau custom, the honoric prefix Sidi in front of its name is an abbreviation of the Arabic word Sayyidi ("milord").

This title came from Pariaman, West Sumatra and was given to the son of an ulama who was still a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad who spread Islam in Pariaman and its surroundings.

Meanwhile, Taher's last marriage was with Fatimah in 1984 and divorced that same year.

From his marriage to Fatimah, he had a daughter named Sabrina.

Of his five wives, only three accompanied Taher until the end of his life, they were Nurtini binti Sjahboedin, Yuyun Hindun, and Saleha Moeslim Taher.