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| Hamka | |
|---|---|
| Name | Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah |
| Pen name | Hamka |
| Birth date | 17 February 1908 |
| Birth place | Maninjau, Agam, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies |
| Death date | 24 July 1981 |
| Death place | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Occupations | Author, ulama, philosopher, politician, judge |
| Notable works | Tafsir al-Azhar, Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah, Mencari Tuhan |
| Religion | Islam (Sunni, Shafi'i) |
| Awards | National Hero of Indonesia (posthumous) |
Hamka Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, known by his pen name, was an influential Indonesian ulama, novelist, philosopher, and judge whose work shaped 20th-century Indonesiaan religious thought and literature. He produced major works in tafsir, fiction, history, and biography while participating in religious organizations and national politics during the late colonial and post-independence eras. His writings engaged with figures and movements across Sumatra, Java, Middle East, and the broader Muslim world.
Born in Maninjau in the Dutch East Indies, he descended from a prominent Minangkabau line connected to regional leaders and Islamic scholars. He studied classical Islamic law and theology under local Sufi teachers and reformist ulama associated with movements in Padang, Bukittinggi, and the culturally rich Minangkabau milieu. He later traveled to Padang Panjang and received influences from reformists active in organizations like Muhammadiyah and Sarekat Islam, while corresponding with intellectuals in Cairo, Mecca, and Medina. During his youth he encountered texts by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, and Indonesian thinkers who were active in networks linking Peranakan Chinese merchants, Minangkabau clerics, and Malay-language print cultures centered in Batavia.
He authored a prolific corpus spanning tafsir, novels, essays, and travelogues, engaging literary traditions of Malay literature, Jawi script publishing, and modern Indonesian prose. His major tafsir, Tafsir al-Azhar, entered dialogue with exegeses by Ibn Kathir, Al-Tabari, and modern commentators such as Muhammad Rashid Rida and Taha Husayn. His novels, including Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah, Mencari Tuhan, and Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, interacted with narrative forms used by contemporaries like Marah Roesli, Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, and NH Dini. He contributed essays to periodicals linked to Balai Pustaka, Medan Merdeka, and magazines aligned with Persatuan Ulama networks. He translated and critiqued works by Leo Tolstoy, Rumi, and modernist writers while engaging with historiography exemplified by R. O. Winstedt and Hans Ras.
His theological approach combined Ashʿari and Sufi elements mediated through Shafi'i jurisprudence, dialoguing with reformers such as Ahmad Dahlan, Haji Agus Salim, and Said Naum. He developed exegetical methods attentive to both classical authorities like Ibn Taymiyyah and modern reformist hermeneutics found in the writings of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. He presided over debates with conservative clerics in Padang and intellectuals in Jakarta, addressing issues raised by colonial-era legal institutions like the Volksraad and later national bodies such as the Majelis Ulama Indonesia. His sermons and fatwas were circulated alongside communiqués from groups including Nahdlatul Ulama and reformist platforms, generating responses from scholars associated with Al-Azhar University and Indonesian pesantren networks.
Active in socio-political life, he served in roles that linked religious leadership with the emergent Indonesian state, interacting with politicians like Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, and ministers from early cabinets. He was appointed to positions within judicial institutions and participated in advisory councils during transitions from the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies through the revolutionary period and into the Guided Democracy era. He engaged with organizations such as Masyumi Party, Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia, and later participated in cultural debates involving institutions like DPR and national academies. His public interventions addressed land disputes in Minangkabau, educational reforms debated in Universitas Indonesia forums, and legal-political questions raised by drafts of national legislation.
He married into families with clerical and intellectual prominence connected to Minangkabau elites and produced students who became leaders in Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya. His death in Jakarta prompted memorials attended by figures from religious organizations, state institutions, and publishing houses including Balai Pustaka. Posthumously honored by state and civil society, his corpus is studied at universities such as Universitas Islam Negeri, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and Universitas Andalas. His influence persists in contemporary debates among scholars affiliated with Majelis Ulama Indonesia, literary critics referencing the Indonesiaan modernist canon, and translators working with Indonesian and Malay texts. Collections of his manuscripts reside in archives linked to Perpustakaan Nasional and cultural centers in West Sumatra.
Category:Indonesian writers Category:Indonesian Islamic scholars