The Penang Riot involved thousands of members of two local Muslim triads – the White Flag and the Red Flag. Both groups consisted of mostly Jawi Peranakanan and Indian Muslim members.

The Red Flag triad was aligned with the largely Hokkien Thian Teik Kongsi gang, while the White Flag was aligned with the Ghee Hin gang that was mostly Cantonese.

The two gangs were always brawling in the streets of George Town with weapons ranging from sticks and stones to knives, and even firearms. Some contemporary reports say cannons were also involved.

The Riot started over disagreements that flared up quickly during the Awal Muharram Islamic New Year celebration and rapidly spiralled out of control.

Lieutenant-Governor of Penang, Archibald Anson ordered the few soldiers he had to be stationed on the streets of George Town, blocking all roads to keep the warring sides apart, but to little avail.

The British didn’t have the men to restore peace to the streets since most of their Indian troops had been deployed to the Nicobar Islands far away in the Indian Ocean. Fort Cornwallis was virtually unmanned as its troops had been sent to Burma and their replacements had not yet arrived.

George Town was on the verge of full-blown gang warfare.

As clashes became more violent and Anson’s meagre forces were losing control, in desperation the British authorities appealed to the Penang state mufti Sheikh Omar for help to calm the situation.

FMT spoke with Zakaria Basheer Ahmad Basheer, 54, Sheikh Omar’s great-great-grandson in Penang, and he took up the story.

He began by saying, “Back then, Muslim triad members pledged their oath to the triads in front of Chinese deities, and they also consumed copious amounts of alcohol.”

Sheikh Omar was aware of this haram behaviour and issued a fatwa on August 4.

“He announced that all Muslim triad members would be deemed apostate, and whoever died fighting as an apostate would not be buried according to Islamic rituals,” said Zakaria.

At a stroke, this had the desired effect and the following day, 7,000 Muslim triad members from both sides gathered in the compound of the Acheen Street Mosque to meet Omar and pledge their repentance in front of him and sign truce documents that ended the riots.”

Sheikh Omar then took further measures to unify the former triad members.

White Flag Muslims traditionally prayed at the Kapitan Keling Mosque, while Red Flag members attended the Acheen Street Mosque.

“Omar announced a new ruling whereby both gangs had to conduct their Friday prayers together in each mosque on alternate weeks,” said Zakaria. “The British police helped Omar enforce the rule by arresting anyone found praying in the wrong mosque.”

The Friday prayer practice, according to Zakaria, is still in use.

Anson was relieved and thankful to Omar for his quick thinking, which also earned the sheikh respect from the local Chinese communities.

Zakaria gave FMT a summary of how his forefather came to prominence.

Omar was born in 1811 in Georgetown, a third-generation Yemeni. He was educated in Mecca and then became a religious teacher in Java.

He married a Semarang woman and had four children. Tragedy struck when his whole family died of cholera.

He returned to Penang, where he married a woman from Sumatra and had an estimated 5 children.

He later became an imam of the Acheen Street Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Penang.

After his retirement, he lived at his madrasa in Air Itam, Penang, until his death in 1884, at the age of 73.

His Naqshabandiah Sufi disciples built a mausoleum for him, using builders from India. The mausoleum is still the largest Muslim mausoleum in Penang.

Despite Omar’s vital role in ending the Penang riot, Zakaria is still disappointed with the lack of significant recognition given to his memory by the state.

Penang Museum keeps the truce documents themselves and many of Sheikh Omar’s personal items.

“When the museum was renovated in the 2000s, some of these personal items were for some reason newly labelled as not belonging to him,” said Zakaria.

“Back in the 80s, there were rumours that the state wanted to rename Carnarvon Street, a major thoroughfare in the central business district of George Town, after Sheikh Omar.

Zakaria told FMT that although that would have been progress, he had mixed feelings about the idea.

“He deserves more significant recognition than just a street name,” he said. “People need to know more about him. He is an important part of Penang’s history.”