Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan (born as Muhammad Darwis;‎ Arabic: أحمد دحلان;‎ 1 August 1868 – 23 February 1923), often abbreviated to K.H.

Born in Kauman, Yogyakarta, he was the son of an imam of a local mosque and traced his origins from the lineage of Muhammad.

In 1923, following the advice of his doctor, he took some time to rest at Mount Tretes, Malang, East Java, before finally returning to Yogyakarta, to attend an annual Muhammadiyah meeting.

[3] His father was a palace courtier of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and served as an imam and a preacher at the Kauman Great Mosque.

He was the 12th generation descendant of Maulana Ibrahim, better known as Sunan Gresik, a member of the Wali Sanga, a group of revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, with a lineage tracing back to Muhammad himself.

The night before his departure, the community gathered at his father's house to pray for Darwis' safety during the pilgrimage.

His arrival in Semarang was greeted by other relatives who had prepared a boarding house to rest while he waited for his departure by boat.

Darwis' arrival there was greeted by Sheikh Abdul Kahar, who then invited him to stay at the Kampung Jawa lodge for five days.

In the case of the Dutch East Indies, every city in the archipelago had a sheikh in Mecca who was in charge of guiding the prospective pilgrims.

[8] Towards the end of his time in Mecca, he met with Imam Syafi'i Sayid Bakri Syatha to change his name from Muhammad Darwis to Ahmad Dahlan.

He joined Budi Utomo in 1909, hoping to preach reform to its members, but his supporters urged him to create his organization.

Today, with 20 million members, Muhammadiyah is the second largest Muslim organisation in Indonesia after Nahdlatul Ulama.