 For five years (from 1868 - 1873), Thawil was a disciple of the Meccan cleric who also came from Banten, Sheikh Nawawi al-Bantani.One day, Sheikh Nawawi sent his work in the form of a manuscript (kitab) to Egyptian cleric, but the work was rejected and returned in code form.After the code was received, Sheikh Nawawi then replied it with the same code.