Sumatera Thawalib was one of the earliest Islamic mass organizations in Indonesia, based in West Sumatra. Sumatera Thawalib represented the modernist school of Islam in Indonesia, an Islamic reform with heavy emphasis on the Qur'an, hadith, a modern scientific education, and abolishing of non-orthodoxy. Islamic Modernism was promoted by Muhammad Abduh.[1] The term Sumatera Thawalib literally means "Students of Sumatra", and it was founded on January 15, 1919 as a result of meeting between the Muslim students of Padang Panjang, Parabek and Padang Japang. The aim of the organization was deepening of Islamic knowledge among the Muslim students. The organization had contributed substantially to the development of Islam in West Sumatra in the early 20th century.[2]