Datu Bandar Abang Haji Muhammad Kassim
DBAK was born in 1841, son of Datu Bandar Abang Haji Bolhassan bin Datu Patinggi Abang Ali and Dayang Aisah binti Abang Wahid. He inherited not only the title of Datu Bandar but a responsibility to the Malay community of Kuching in his time.
With his wife, Dayang Sahadah binti Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Ghapor (born 1845), he raised thirteen children at Rumah Batu. On 18 July 1921, while performing the Hajj, DBAK passed away in Mecca at the age of 80. Dayang Sahadah followed two days later, on 20 July 1921. Both were laid to rest in the Holy Land.
Family account
The will of 1921
On 22 Rejab 1339 — 31 March 1921 — DBAK wrote his will. In plain, wise language he provided that his estate would pass to his children in equal shares between sons and daughters, and that the shares of children who had died without issue were to "be made wakaf upon the house or the gardens, and whatever else is fitting to be endowed."
"The shares shall be equal, sons with daughters… and for any who have died leaving no child, their share shall be made wakaf upon the house or the gardens, and whatever else is fitting to be endowed. This, and only this."
Family document
Thirteen children, eight lines
From the 1921 will, the 1946 court records and the 1921 Sarawak Gazette, DBAK had thirteen children; five died within his lifetime. The eight who remained are the origin of "Waris 8" — eight lines of descent that today number thousands of heirs.
Remembered alongside them: the five siblings who went before DBAK — Dayang Malihah / Lihot · Abang Zaini · Abang Mohd Yaman · Abang Mohamad · Abang Sulhi.
Court record
The meaning of wakaf
Wakaf is a trust: property held back from sale so that its benefit endures for a stated purpose. For Rumah Batu, the declaration of the eight siblings in November 1922 made it a family wakaf, held for the benefit of all the heirs, the property of no single person.
That principle has been tested and confirmed: by the Resident Court (22 July 1946), the Supreme Court (2 September 1946), and again by the Syariah Court in 2016. Rumah Batu cannot be sold or disposed of; the duty of caring for it rests with all the heirs together. The full legal history is set out without over-simplification on the Resources page.