Hamka

Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah (17 February 1908 – 24 July 1981), better known by his pen name Hamka — an acronym of his full name — was an Indonesian Minangkabau ʿālim, philosopher, writer, novelist, lecturer, politician and journalist. ^{1 2}

He was the first chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council and a leader of Muhammadiyah until his death. He wrote more than one hundred books, most famously the thirty-volume Qur'an commentary Tafsir Al-Azhar and the novel Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck (The Sinking of the van der Wijck, 1938). ^{1 2}

He was born in Agam, West Sumatra, the eldest of four siblings. His father, Abdul Karim Amrullah, known as "Haji Rasul", was a clerical reformer of Islam in Minangkabau; his mother, Sitti Shafiyah, came from a lineage of Minangkabau artists; and his paternal grandfather, Muhammad Amrullah, was a member of the Naqshbandiyah. ¹

Before formal schooling he lived with his grandmother south of Maninjau. At four the family moved to Padang Panjang, where he learned to read the Qur'an and recite prayers; at seven he entered the Village School in the mornings and took afternoon classes at Zainuddin Labay El Yunusy's Diniyah School, and in 1918 he enrolled at a Thawalib school built on memorising classical books and the rules of grammar. ¹

Hungry for reading, he worked at Bagindo Sinaro's printing house — cutting cardboard, making glue and coffee — in exchange for reading the rental library's books, and hid story books when his father watched, pretending to read a religious book. ¹

His parents divorced when he was twelve. He skipped school for fifteen consecutive days, wandering around Padang Panjang, and at fourteen was sent to recite the Qur'an to Sheikh Ibrahim Musa in Parabek, where he lived independently for the first time. ¹

He travelled all over Minangkabau as a teenager, gaining from his father the nickname Si Bujang Jauh, "the Boy from Afar". ¹

At fifteen, hearing that Islam in Java was more advanced in structure and organisation, he ran away from home to go there; smallpox forced him back, and after two months bedridden he departed again in July 1924. ¹

In Yogyakarta he studied under Bagoes Hadikoesoemo, Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, Abdul Rozak Fachruddin and Suryopranoto, and joined Sarekat Islam under Hadikoesoemo. He visited Bandung, met the Masyumi leaders Ahmad Hassan and Mohammad Natsir, and wrote in the magazine Pembela Islam; in 1925 he went to Pekalongan, learned from Sutan Mansur Ahmad Rashid, chairman of Muhammadiyah's Pekalongan branch, and began giving religious talks for Muhammadiyah. ¹

In February 1927 he sailed to Mecca to deepen his knowledge, learn Arabic and perform his first Hajj. He worked as a correspondent for the daily Pelita Andalas and at a printing company, helped found the East Indian Association to instruct Dutch Indies pilgrims, and stayed seven months. Agus Salim advised him to go home — "you can do a lot more work in your own homeland" — and he returned, settling in Medan, where his ship had anchored. ¹

In Medan he wrote for many magazines, taught religion for several months in Tebing Tinggi, and corresponded for Pelita Andalas. In 1928 he wrote the first story in Minangkabau, Sabariyah, and became editor of the magazine Kemajuan Zaman ("Progress Era"); the next year he wrote several books, some of which were confiscated as seditious by the Dutch colonial government. ¹

He returned to Medan in 1936 and became editor, then editor-in-chief, of the magazine Pedoman Masyarakat, which he founded with the cleric M. Yunan Nasution. It was there that he first used the pen name "Hamka". He wrote the novel Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah (Beneath the Aegis of the Ka'bah), inspired by his 1927 journey and published in 1938, and serialised Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck in the same magazine; the parent magazine was shut down in 1943 during the Japanese occupation. ^{1 2}

The Arabic article adds that he also supervised the magazine Panji Masyarakat ("Banner of Society"), one of the most influential Islamic religious magazines in Indonesia. ²

He wrote over one hundred books ranging across philosophy, politics, Minangkabau adat, history and biography, Islamic doctrine, ethics, mysticism, tafsir and fiction. ^{1 2}

His magnum opus is Tafsir Al-Azhar, a thirty-volume Qur'anic commentary. ¹

Among his books: Khatibul Ummah (in Arabic); Pembela Islam ("Defender of Islam", 1929); Tasawuf Modern ("The Modern Tasawuf", 1939); Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah (1938); Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck (1938); Tuan Direktur ("Mister Director", 1939); Merantau ke Deli (1940); Revolusi Agama ("The Revolution of Religion", 1946); Sejarah Ummat Islam ("History of the Muslims"); 1001 Soal Hidup ("1001 Questions About Life", 1950); Pelajaran Agama Islam ("Lessons in Islam", 1956); Sayid Jamaluddin Al-Afghani (1965); Keadilan Sosial Dalam Islam ("Social Justice in Islam"); Kedudukan Perempuan dalam Islam ("The Status of Women in Islam", 1973); Falsafah Hidup ("Life Philosophy"); and Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau (1975). ¹

He attended Muhammadiyah congresses without fail from Solo in 1928, chaired its Padang Panjang branch, was sent to Makassar in 1932 to prepare the twenty-first congress, became a permanent member of its council for Central Sumatra in 1934, was elected leader of its East Sumatra branch in 1942, and chaired the assembly of its West Sumatra leaders from 1946 to 1949. ¹

In 1953 he was elected to the central leadership of Muhammadiyah at its thirty-second congress in Purwokerto, holding leadership until 1971 and remaining an adviser to the central leadership until the end of his life. ¹

As a senior member of the Masyumi Party — disbanded for its connection to the PRRI rebellion — he was jailed for two years from 1962 because he refused to condemn his party members' involvement in the rebellion. ¹

He served as the inaugural chief cleric — the first chairman — of the Indonesian Ulema Council; the Arabic article dates his chairmanship from 26 July 1977 until his death in 1981. ^{1 2}

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

Under the Japanese occupation: He was appointed a religious adviser to the Japanese and a member of a makeshift assembly handling government and Islamic matters in 1944, accepting the position, the article says, believing the Japanese promise to grant Indonesia independence. After the Japanese defeat his friends regarded him as a collaborator, and the endless criticism drove him back to Minangkabau, where he joined the guerrillas fighting the returning Dutch after the Indonesian Revolution broke out in 1945. ¹

A social testimony: In 1973 he testified before the West Jakarta District Court in support of Vivian Rubiyanti Iskandar's petition for legal recognition of her gender, saying that "[her desire to transition] does not run contrary to Allah's law, but in keeping with the teachings of Islam, which holds good will to all in high esteem". ¹

The Arabic article describes his philosophical outlook as deeply influenced by Islamic Sufism, especially in social ethics. ²

Al-Azhar University and the National University of Malaysia both granted him honorary doctorates, Moestopo University of Jakarta appointed him a Distinguished Professor, and Hamka Muhammadiyah University in Jakarta is named after him. ¹

After his death the government awarded him the Mahaputra Utama Star posthumously; he has been declared a National Hero of Indonesia since 2011; and in 2016 the Indonesian Ulema Council began production of a film about his life, Buya Hamka. ^{1 3}

He was married to Siti Raham. This museum does not publish family details beyond what is needed to understand his work. ¹

His health declined after his resignation as chairman of the Ulema Council. He was hospitalised at Pertamina Central Hospital on 18 July 1981 and died on Friday, 24 July 1981, at 10:37 in the morning, aged seventy-three. ¹

President Suharto, Vice President Adam Malik and State Minister for the Environment Emil Salim were among those who paid their last respects; the Minister of Transportation Azwar Anas led the funeral prayer, and after a second prayer at Jakarta's Al-Azhar Grand Mosque he was buried in the Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery in South Jakarta. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.