Hamka
| Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah | |
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Hamka | |
| Born |
17 February 1908 Batang River, Tanjung Raya, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies |
| Died |
24 July 1981 (aged 73) Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Indonesia |
| Notable work |
Al-Azhar Exegesis Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah |
Main interests | Al-Qur'an Exegesis, Islamic law, and Islamic history |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Prof. Dr. Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known by the nickname Hamka (born in Batang River, Tanjung Raya, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies on 17 February 1908 and died in Jakarta, Indonesia on 24 July 1981 at the age of 73 years) was an Indonesian ulama, novelist, philosopher and political activist.
Early life
Hamka was born on 17 February 1908 (Hijri Calendar: 13th of Muharram 1362AH)in Minangkabau, West Sumatra, as the first child of seven brothers. He was raised in a family of devout Muslims. His father was Abdul Karim Amrullah, a clerical reformer of Islam in Minangkabau who was known as Haji Rasul, while his mother, Sitti Shafiyah, came from artists of Minangkabau descent. The father of Abdul Karim, Hamka's grandfather, namely Muhammad Amrullah was known as a follower of cleric Congregation Naqsyabandiyah.
Prior to education in formal schools, Hamka lived with his grandmother in a house south of Maninjau. When he was six years old, he moved with his father to Padang Panjang, West Sumatera. Following common tradition in Minang, as a child he studied the Quran and slept in a mosque which is near the place where he lives, because Minang boys did not have a place to sleep in the house. In the mosque, he studied the Quran and silek, while outside it, he likes to listen to kaba, the stories which are sung along with traditional Minangkabau music. Interaction with these storyteller artists gave him knowledge of the art of storytelling and word processing. Later, through his novels, Hamka often plucks vocabulary and Minang terms. Like the writer who was born in the realm of Minang, rhymes and proverbs adorn his works.
Education
In 1915, even after the age of seven, he enrolled in a village school (Sekolah SMKA Sultan Muhammad) and studied general science such as numeracy and literacy. Those times, as considered by Hamka himself, were one of the beautiful eras in his life. In the morning, he rushed off to school so that he can play before class started. Then after school, he would go play again with his friends, such as hide and seek, wrestling, chasing after one another, like the other kids his age played. Two years later, while still learning every morning at the village school, he also studied in Diniyah School every afternoon. But since his father enrolled him in Sumatera Thawalib in 1918, he could no longer attend classes at the village school. He quit after graduating two classes. After that, he studied at the Diniyah School every morning, while in the afternoon and evening studying in Thawalib back at the mosque. Those are young Hamka's activities everyday, something which, as he admitted, was not fun and curbed the freedom of his childhood.
While studying in Helmi Talib, he was not considered as a smart child, he even often did not attend in a few days because he felt bored and chose to seek knowledge in his own way. He preferred to be in a library owned by his public teacher, Afiq Aimon Zainuddin 5 Sains Teknikal rather than messing around with lessons that he must memorise in class. In the library, he was free to read a variety of books, even some he borrowed to be taken home. However, because of the books he had borrowed have nothing to do with lessons in Thawalib, he was scolded by his father when he was caught busy reading Kaba Cindua Mato. His father said, "Are you going to be a pious person or become a storyteller?"
In an effort to prove himself to his father and as a result of his contact with the books he was reading about the appeal of Central Java, causing Hamka to be very interested to migrate to the island of Java. At the same time, he was no longer interested in completing education at Thawalib. After studying for four years, he decided to get out of Thawalib, while the school's educational program is designed for seven years. He came out without obtaining a diploma. In those days after that, Hamka was taken to Parabek, about 5 km from the Pengkalan Batu in 1922 to learn with Aiman Ibrahim Wong, but did not last long. He preferred to follow his heart to seek knowledge and experience in his own way. He decided to leave for Java. However, the first attempt was discovered by his father.
Migrating to Java
Hamka has ventured into a number of places in Minangkabau since he was a teenager, he was nicknamed by his father as "The Faraway Kid" (Si Bujang Jauh). At the age of 15, after experiencing an event that shook his soul, the divorce of his parents, Hamka decided to go to Java after learning that Islam in Java is more advanced than in Minangkabau, especially in terms of movement and organisation. But when he was in Bengkulu, smallpox stroke him, so that after about two months of being in the bed, he decided to return to Padang Panjang. Even so, his intention to go to Java was not diminished. In 1924, a year after recovering from smallpox, he departed to Java.
Arriving in Java, Hamka went to Yogyakarta and settled in the house of his father's younger brother, Amrullah Ja'far. Through his uncle, he got the opportunity to follow the discussions and trainings organised by Islamic movements, Muhammadiyah and Sarekat Islam. In addition of studying with the Islamic movements, he also expanded his views in the disruption of Islam's progress by Christianization and communism. While in Java, he was active in various social and religious activities. On many occasions, he studied to Bagoes Hadikoesoemo, HOS Tjokroaminoto, Abdul Rozak Fachruddin, and Suryopranoto. Before returning to Minangkabau, he had wandered into Bandung and met with Masjumi leaders such as Ahmad Hassan and Mohammad Natsir, which gave him the opportunity to learn to write in the magazine Islam Defenders (Pembela Islam). Subsequently in 1925, he went to Pekalongan, East Java to meet Sutan Mansur Ahmad Rashid, who was the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Pekalongan branch at the time, and learn Islam to him. While in Pekalongan, he stayed at his brother's house and started giving religious talk in some places.
In his first wandering in Java, he claimed to have a new spirit in studying Islam. He also saw no difference between Islamic reformation mission in Minangkabau and Java. The reformation in Minangkabau is aimed at the purification of Islam who is considered one of the practices, such as congregation, imitation, and khurafat, while in Java is more focused to the effort of combat of backwardness, ignorance and poverty.
Perform the pilgrimage
After a year in Java, in July 1925 Hamka was going back to Padang Panjang. In Padang Panjang, he wrote his first magazine titled Chatibul Ummah, which contains a collection of speeches that he listened on Iron Bridge Mosque (Surau Jembatan Besi), and Tabligh Muhammadiyah. Between the business of his activity in the field of Dawah through writing, he took speech in several places in Padang Panjang. But at that moment, everything is precisely sharply criticised by his father, "Speeches alone are useless, fill yourself with knowledge, then those speeches would be meaningful and useful." On the other hand, he did not get a good reception from the public. He was often derided as "uncertified Islam orator", even he had received criticism from some scholars because he did not master Arabic language well. Criticism he received in his native land, he made it as a whip to make himself more mature.
In February 1927, he took the decision to go to Mecca to extend his knowledge in Islam, including learning the Arabic language and performing his first hajj pilgrimage. He left without saying goodbye to his father and went with his own expenses. While in Mecca, he became correspondent of the daily "Andalas Light" (Pelita Andalas) and also worked at a printing company owned by Mr. Hamid, son of Majid Kurdish, which is the father-in-law of Ahmad Al-Khatib Minangkabawi. At his work place, he could read classic Islamic kitab, books, and Islam newsletters in Arabic, the only foreign language he mastered.
Towards the pilgrimage, Hamka with several other pilgrims candidate founded the East Indian Association (Persatuan Hindia Timur), an organisation that gives lessons to the candidate of Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia. After the pilgrimage, and for some time lived in the Holy Land, he met with Agus Salim and had expressed his desire to settle in Mecca, but Agus Salim instead advised him to go home. "A lot of more important works regarding the movement, study, and struggle that you can do. Therefore, it would be better to develop yourself in any of your own homeland", Agus Salim said. He soon returned to his homeland after seven months of living in Mecca. However, instead of going home to Padang Panjang, Hamka instead settled in Medan, the city where the ship bringing him home anchored.
Career in Medan
While in Medan, he wrote many articles in various magazines and had become a religion teacher for several months in Tebing Tinggi. He sent his writings to the newspaper Pembela Islam in Bandung and Voice of Muhammadiyah led by Abdul Rozak Fachruddin in Yogyakarta. In addition, he also worked as a correspondent for the daily Pelita Andalas and wrote trip reports, especially about his journey to Mecca in 1927. In 1928, he wrote the first story in Minangkabau titled Sabariyah. In the same year, he was appointed as editor of the "Era Progress" (Kemajuan Zaman) magazine, which is based on the results of the Muhammadiyah conference in Padang Panjang. The next year, he wrote several books, among others : Religion and Women, Islamic Defenders, Minangkabau Tradition, Islam Defender, Dawah Importance, and Mi'raj Verses. However, some of his writings were confiscated because they were considered as dangerous by the colonial government in power that time.
When in the field, the people in the village have repeatedly asked him to send some letters home, but was turned down by Hamka. Therefore, his father asked Sutan Mansur Ahmad Rashid to pick him up and persuade him home. His persuasion finally melted him, and then he returned to his hometown in Maninjau, while his father's house in Padang Panjang lantah yield due to 1926 earthquake. Arriving in his hometown, he hoped to meet his father with great emotion until he shed tear. Hamka was shocked to learn his father leaving for Hajj and paid with his own. His father even said, "Why do not you let me know that so noble and sacred mean? Abuya (father) when it is being difficult and impoverished. If that's the case, no wooden ladder dikeping, honed not gold nugget. "Got a welcome as warm as it was, he began to realise how much his father's love for him. Since then, the view Hamka against his father began to change. However, after about a year settling in Sungai Batang, he again left his hometown.
Hamka moved to Medan in 1936. On the field, he worked as an editor and became editor in chief of a magazine which he founded with Islamic knowledge M. Yunan Nasution, the magazine Community Guidelines. Through Community Guidelines, he for the first time introduced the pen name "Hamka". While in Medan, he wrote Protection Under the Kaaba, which was inspired by his trip to Mecca in 1927. After Under Protection Kaaba published in 1938, he wrote Sinking of the van der Wijck, which was written as a serialised story in Community Guidelines. In addition, he also published several novels and other books such as: Going away to Deli, Divine Justice, The Director, New Forces' ', Driven, In The Valley of Life, father, Modern Mysticism, and Life philosophy. But in 1943, People Magazine that led Guidelines banned by Japanese, who was Indonesia's ruling.
During the Japanese occupation, Hamka was appointed adviser to the Japanese in terms of Islam. He was also a member of Sangi Kai Syu (a kind of assembly) that handle government and Islamic matters in 1944. He accepted this position because he believed the Japanese's promise to grant independence to Indonesia. But after occupying this position, he was regarded as an accomplice to the invaders by his friends. When Japan was defeated and surrendered to the Allies, Hamka was subjected to endless criticism. This is what forced Hamka out of the field back to the Minangkabau after the Revolutionary War broke out in 1945. Hamka was also fighting to repel the invaders. He had joined against the return of the Dutch to Indonesian guerrillas in the jungle in Medan.
Career and later life
Muhammadiyah
After his marriage to Siti Rahm, Hamka Muhammadiyah branch is active in the management of Minangkabau, whose origin stems from the association Joints bakalnya Safe founded by his father in 1925 in Batang River. In addition, he had become the head of Tablighi School, a religious school founded Muhammadiyah on 1 January 1930.
Since attending the congress of Muhammadiyah in Solo in 1928, Hamka never missed attending congresses next Muhammadiyah. Upon his return from Solo, he began to assume various positions, until finally he was appointed as Chairman of Muhammadiyah branch of Padang Panjang. After the 19th Muhammadiyah Congress in Bukittinggi in 1930, followed by the next congress in Yogyakarta, he meets an invitation to set up a branch of Muhammadiyah in Bengkalis. Subsequently in 1932, he was sent by Muhammadiyah to Makassar to prepare and move the spirit of the people to welcome the Muhammadiyah Congress to-21 in Makassar. While in Makassar, he had published Al-Mahdi, the Islamic science magazine, published once a month. In 1934, a year after attending a congress of Muhammadiyah in Semarang, he was made a permanent member of the Council of Muhammadiyah Council for the region Central Sumatra.
Muhammadiyah increasingly uphill career when he moved to Medan. In 1942, along with the fall of the Dutch East Indies to the Japanese colonial power, Hamka was elected as leader of East Sumatra Muhammadiyah to replace H. Mohammad Said. But in December 1945, he decided to return to the Minangkabau and the release position. The following year, he was elected Chairman of the Assembly of West Sumatra Muhammadiyah leaders replace SY Sutan Mangkuto. This position he embraces until 1949.
In 1953, he was elected as the leader of the centr Muhammadyiah Muhammadiyah Congress to-32 at Purwokerto. Since then, he has always chosen the Muhammadiyah Congress further, until in 1971 he pleaded not elected because he was senile. However, he was still appointed as an adviser to the central leadership of Muhammadiyah until the end.
List of books and novels
- Khatibul Ummah (written in Arabic).
- Pembela Islam (History of Abu Bakar as-shiddiq) (1929).
- Ringkasan Tarikh Ummat Islam (1929).
- Kepentingan Melakukan Tabligh (1929).
- Tasawuf Modern (1939)
- Hikmat Isra' dan Mikraj
- Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah
- Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck
- Tuan Direktur
- Revolusi Agama (1946).
- Mandi Cahaya di Tanah Suci (1950).
- Mengembara di Lembah Nil (1950).
- Ditepi Sungai Dajlah (at the Tigris River) (1950).
- Kenangan-kenangan Hidup (4 series, Hamka's autobiography) (1950).
- Sejarah Ummat Islam /Sejarah Umat Islam edisi Baru tulisan dan kajian Prof Dr.Hamka (4 series).
- 1001 Soal Hidup (1950).
- Pelajaran Agama Islam (1956).
- Sayid Jamaluddin Al-Afghani (about Jamal-ad Din Al-Afghani) (1965).
- Ekspansi Ideologi (Alghazwul Fikri) (1963).
- Hak Asasi Manusia Dipandang dari Segi Islam (Human Rights from the Islam Perspective) (1968).
- Falsafah Ideologi Islam (1950).
- Keadilan Sosial Dalam Islam (Social Justice in Islam) (1950).
- Studi Islam (1973).
- Himpunan Khutbah-khutbah.
- Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau (Muhammadiyah in Minangkabau) (1975).
- Pandangan Hidup Muslim (1960).
- Kedudukan perempuan dalam Islam (1973).
- Tafsir Al-Azhar
- Falsafah hidup
- Falsafah ketuhanan
References
- (Indonesian) Ceramah Buya Hamka
- (Indonesian) Info lain tentang Hamka
- (Indonesian) Tafsir Hamka Online
- http://www.uhamka.ac.id/?page=info_list&id=206
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