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Copyright (c) 2025 Ahmad Nabil Amir, Tasnim Abdul Rahman
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Hamka’s Reformist Epistemology: Modernist Genealogies, Hermeneutical Strategies, and the Making of Islamic Renewal in the Malay-Indonesian World
Corresponding Author(s) : Ahmad Nabil Amir
KURIOSITAS: Media Komunikasi Sosial dan Keagamaan, Vol. 18 No. 2 (2025): Kuriositas: Komunikasi Sosial dan Keagamaan
Abstract
This study investigates Hamka’s reformist epistemology by examining the modernist genealogies and hermeneutical strategies that shaped his intellectual project in the Malay Indonesian world. While previous scholarship has highlighted Hamka as a literary figure, nationalist thinker, or religious leader, limited attention has been given to the systematic ways in which he internalized, adapted, and transformed the rational modernism of Muhammad Abduh into a distinct framework of Islamic renewal. Addressing this gap, the study aims to identify the intellectual transmission of Abduh’s ideas into Hamka’s corpus, analyze the interpretive principles embedded in Tafsir al Azhar and related writings, and explain how these principles contributed to the emergence of a localized yet cosmopolitan modernist discourse. Methodologically, the research employs qualitative textual analysis, intellectual genealogy, and historical contextualization using primary sources from Hamka’s tafsir, essays, speeches, and archival materials, complemented by secondary analyses of Southeast Asian reform movements. The findings reveal that Hamka developed a reformist epistemology grounded in rational inquiry, ethical intentionality, and the rejection of uncritical conformity, while simultaneously constructing a vernacularized model of Islamic modernity attuned to Malay Indonesian socio cultural realities. This synthesis produced a transformative religious discourse that reshaped educational, doctrinal, and public life across the region. The study contributes theoretically by repositioning Hamka within the global trajectory of Islamic modernism and demonstrating how peripheral intellectual spaces generate original models of reform. Its implications extend to contemporary debates on Islamic hermeneutics, religious authority, and the ongoing negotiation of modernity in Muslim Southeast Asia.
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- Education in Tafsir Al-Azhar to Education in Indonesia. QALAMUNA: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, Dan Agama, 16(2), 881–892.
- Aljunied, S. M. K. (2017). In defense of guided reason: Hamka and the reconstruction of Southeast Asian Islam. History of Religions, 57(2), 107–128.
- Azra, A. (2006). Islam in the Indonesian world: An account of institutional formation. Mizan Pustaka.
- Azra, A. (2021). Transregional Islam in the Malay-Indonesian World: Legacies and New Dynamics. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and-National Studies of Southeast Asia, 9(2), 163–166.
- Fata, A. K., Fauzan, P. I., & Izzuddin, I. (2024). From Integration of Islam-State to Integration of Ummah-State: The Biography of Buya Hamka. Journal of Al-Tamaddun, 19(2), 141–154.
- Gabsi, Z. (2024). Islam, Reason, and Modernity. In Muslim Perspectives on Islamophobia: From Misconceptions to Reason (pp. 155–188). Springer.
- Hanafi, I., & Maulana, M. (n.d.). Peripheral Islam: A Critique of the Epistemic Marginalization of Southeast Asian Islam. Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society, 8(1), 15–25.
- Hanafi, M. (2006). A deconstructive reading of Nurcholish Madjid’s thought on religious reform.
- Haririe, M. R. (2024). Resonance Of Reformist-Modernist Islamic Thought in Interpretation and Its Influence on The Development of Interpretation in Indonesia. Madinah: Jurnal Studi Islam, 11(2), 313–336.
- Hidayati, T., & Hidayatullah, M. S. (2021). Investigating the Construction of Ijma in The Study of Islamic Law through Sociological and Historical Approach. Media Syari’ah: Wahana Kajian Hukum Islam Dan Pranata Sosial, 23(2), 127–150.
- Hojet, S. S. (2025). Al-Afghani and Islamic Modernism in Response to Western Encroachment. Available at SSRN 5753384.
- Ismail, M. A., Hilmi, A. B. A., Mohamad, M., Ali, M. Z., & Amir, S. (2025). HAMKA and Contemporary Da’wah Approach in the Interpretation of Verses Related to the Prophetic Biography. QURANICA-International Journal of Quranic Research, 17(1), 117–141.
- Jannah, N., Soebahar, H., Chotib, M., Harisudin, M. N., & Amukune, S. (2025). Analisis Perkembangan Local Wisdom Di Bumi Nusantara Pada Era Disrupsi Tekhnologi. Al Qodiri: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial Dan Keagamaan, 23(1), 156–167.
- Laffan, M. (2011). The makings of Indonesian Islam: Orientalism and the narration of a Sufi past. In The Makings of Indonesian Islam. Princeton University Press.
- Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2023). Hegemony and inequality in global science: Problems of the center-periphery model. Comparative Education Review, 67(1), 31–52.
- Martín Alcoff, L. (2011). An epistemology for the next revolution. Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(2).
- McManus, M. (2019). The rise of post-modern conservatism: neoliberalism, post-modern culture, and reactionary politics. Springer Nature.
- Mohiuddin, A. (2023). Mapping the Terrain of Islamism and Religious Authority: Insights from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia. In Navigating Religious Authority in Muslim Societies: Islamist Movements and the Challenge of Globalisation (pp. 165–202). Springer.
- Mujahidin, A., Itmam, M. S., & Rofiq, A. C. (2024). The Dynamic of Contextualization in Indonesian Qur’anic Tafsirs: A Comparative Study of Tafsir Al-Azhar and Tafsir Al-Mishbāh on The Story of The Prophet Moses. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 25(2), 221–246.
- Noer, D. (1978). The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia: 1900-1942. oxford university press.
- Pervez, S. (2023). Muslim intellectual history: A survey. American Journal of Islam and Society, 39(3–4), 206–272.
- Rizvi, S. (2012). Cosmopolitans and Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam. Taylor & Francis.
- Rozi, S., & Zubir, M. (2024). The Reception of Hamka’s Tafsir Al-Azhar within Social Religious Issues in the Malay World. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 25(2), 247–272.
- Safa, P. M., Ichwan, M. N., & Salisu, A. (2025). Hermeneutics of Religious Freedom in Modern and Contemporary Interpretation: A Comparative Analysis between Tafsir al-Manar and Fazlur Rahman. Millati: Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities, 10(1), 83–101.
- Tzfadya, E. (2022). Retrieving the Foundations and Future of Islamic Modernism: Rahman and Shabestari on Hermeneutics, Prophetic Epistemology, and the Modern Islamic State. In Philosophical Hermeneutics and Islamic Thought (pp. 133–144). Springer.
- Zuhaidi, N., & Lubis, F.-A. (2021). [Hamka: The Notable Malay Archipelago Scholar] Hamka: Tokoh Ulama Nusantara. Jurnal Islam Dan Masyarakat Kontemporari, 22(1), 74–82.
References
Education in Tafsir Al-Azhar to Education in Indonesia. QALAMUNA: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, Dan Agama, 16(2), 881–892.
Aljunied, S. M. K. (2017). In defense of guided reason: Hamka and the reconstruction of Southeast Asian Islam. History of Religions, 57(2), 107–128.
Azra, A. (2006). Islam in the Indonesian world: An account of institutional formation. Mizan Pustaka.
Azra, A. (2021). Transregional Islam in the Malay-Indonesian World: Legacies and New Dynamics. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and-National Studies of Southeast Asia, 9(2), 163–166.
Fata, A. K., Fauzan, P. I., & Izzuddin, I. (2024). From Integration of Islam-State to Integration of Ummah-State: The Biography of Buya Hamka. Journal of Al-Tamaddun, 19(2), 141–154.
Gabsi, Z. (2024). Islam, Reason, and Modernity. In Muslim Perspectives on Islamophobia: From Misconceptions to Reason (pp. 155–188). Springer.
Hanafi, I., & Maulana, M. (n.d.). Peripheral Islam: A Critique of the Epistemic Marginalization of Southeast Asian Islam. Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society, 8(1), 15–25.
Hanafi, M. (2006). A deconstructive reading of Nurcholish Madjid’s thought on religious reform.
Haririe, M. R. (2024). Resonance Of Reformist-Modernist Islamic Thought in Interpretation and Its Influence on The Development of Interpretation in Indonesia. Madinah: Jurnal Studi Islam, 11(2), 313–336.
Hidayati, T., & Hidayatullah, M. S. (2021). Investigating the Construction of Ijma in The Study of Islamic Law through Sociological and Historical Approach. Media Syari’ah: Wahana Kajian Hukum Islam Dan Pranata Sosial, 23(2), 127–150.
Hojet, S. S. (2025). Al-Afghani and Islamic Modernism in Response to Western Encroachment. Available at SSRN 5753384.
Ismail, M. A., Hilmi, A. B. A., Mohamad, M., Ali, M. Z., & Amir, S. (2025). HAMKA and Contemporary Da’wah Approach in the Interpretation of Verses Related to the Prophetic Biography. QURANICA-International Journal of Quranic Research, 17(1), 117–141.
Jannah, N., Soebahar, H., Chotib, M., Harisudin, M. N., & Amukune, S. (2025). Analisis Perkembangan Local Wisdom Di Bumi Nusantara Pada Era Disrupsi Tekhnologi. Al Qodiri: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial Dan Keagamaan, 23(1), 156–167.
Laffan, M. (2011). The makings of Indonesian Islam: Orientalism and the narration of a Sufi past. In The Makings of Indonesian Islam. Princeton University Press.
Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2023). Hegemony and inequality in global science: Problems of the center-periphery model. Comparative Education Review, 67(1), 31–52.
Martín Alcoff, L. (2011). An epistemology for the next revolution. Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(2).
McManus, M. (2019). The rise of post-modern conservatism: neoliberalism, post-modern culture, and reactionary politics. Springer Nature.
Mohiuddin, A. (2023). Mapping the Terrain of Islamism and Religious Authority: Insights from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia. In Navigating Religious Authority in Muslim Societies: Islamist Movements and the Challenge of Globalisation (pp. 165–202). Springer.
Mujahidin, A., Itmam, M. S., & Rofiq, A. C. (2024). The Dynamic of Contextualization in Indonesian Qur’anic Tafsirs: A Comparative Study of Tafsir Al-Azhar and Tafsir Al-Mishbāh on The Story of The Prophet Moses. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 25(2), 221–246.
Noer, D. (1978). The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia: 1900-1942. oxford university press.
Pervez, S. (2023). Muslim intellectual history: A survey. American Journal of Islam and Society, 39(3–4), 206–272.
Rizvi, S. (2012). Cosmopolitans and Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam. Taylor & Francis.
Rozi, S., & Zubir, M. (2024). The Reception of Hamka’s Tafsir Al-Azhar within Social Religious Issues in the Malay World. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 25(2), 247–272.
Safa, P. M., Ichwan, M. N., & Salisu, A. (2025). Hermeneutics of Religious Freedom in Modern and Contemporary Interpretation: A Comparative Analysis between Tafsir al-Manar and Fazlur Rahman. Millati: Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities, 10(1), 83–101.
Tzfadya, E. (2022). Retrieving the Foundations and Future of Islamic Modernism: Rahman and Shabestari on Hermeneutics, Prophetic Epistemology, and the Modern Islamic State. In Philosophical Hermeneutics and Islamic Thought (pp. 133–144). Springer.
Zuhaidi, N., & Lubis, F.-A. (2021). [Hamka: The Notable Malay Archipelago Scholar] Hamka: Tokoh Ulama Nusantara. Jurnal Islam Dan Masyarakat Kontemporari, 22(1), 74–82.