On the flat, dusty, northern coast of central Java, in the mid nineteenth century, someone wrote a few books. He was Haji Mohammad Rifangi.

At the time, he was certainly already well on in years. Born in 1786 in the Kendal area not far from Semarang, he was also certainly a knowledgeable man with many followers. He himself was the son of a village Muslim official, which meant he was not just any run-of-the-mill small-town Muslim student. At one