Hamka

1908–1981 · Indonesia · Scholar, novelist, Qur'an commentator, Muhammadiyah leader, first chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council

Hamka, a pen name made from the initials of Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, was born in 1908 in the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra, the son of the reformist cleric Abdul Karim Amrullah. He studied in religious schools in Padang Panjang. At fifteen he travelled to Java, where he met leaders of Sarekat Islam and Muhammadiyah, and in 1927 he went on pilgrimage to Mecca, spending several months there before settling in Medan as a writer and editor.

In the 1930s he edited the magazine Pedoman Masyarakat and published his best-known novels, while rising in the Muhammadiyah reform movement. He sat on its central leadership from 1953 to 1971 and remained an adviser until his death. A senior figure in the Masyumi party, he was imprisoned for two years from 1962 on suspicion of involvement with the PRRI rebellion, and in the 1970s he became the first chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council.

Hamka wrote well over a hundred books in Indonesian: novels, travel writing and memoirs, studies of Sufism and ethics, essays on Islamic history, women, human rights and the state, and his thirty-volume Qur’anic commentary Tafsir al-Azhar, regarded as his major work. He died in Jakarta in 1981 and was declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 2011.

Photo: Vedolique, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Archived 19 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · openlibrary.org

Works

Books 12

NOVEL 1938 · Indonesian

Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah

A short novel of unrequited love among the Minangkabau that ends at the Ka'ba in Mecca.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Hamka. Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah. 1938. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/DiBawahLindunganKabah. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-di-bawah-lindungan-ka-bah

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NOVEL 1938 · Indonesian

Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck

A novel of two lovers kept apart by Minangkabau custom and class, set in the 1930s.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Hamka. Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck. 1938. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/TenggelamnyaKapalVanDerWijck_201801. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-tenggelamnya-kapal-van-der-wijck

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BOOK 1939 · Indonesian

Tasawuf Modern

A reading of Sufism as practical ethics and the search for contentment, aimed at a modern audience.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Tasawuf Modern. 1939. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-tasawuf-modern

No free copy online

NOVEL 1939 · Indonesian

Tuan Direktur

A novel from his late-1930s fiction.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Tuan Direktur. 1939. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-tuan-direktur

No free copy online

NOVEL 1940 · Indonesian

Merantau ke Deli

A novel of a Minangkabau migrant and the marriage tensions that follow his move to Deli in Sumatra.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Merantau ke Deli. 1940. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-merantau-ke-deli

No free copy online

MEMOIR 1950 · Indonesian

Kenang-Kenangan Hidup

His autobiographical recollections, covering childhood, travels and early career.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: en.wikipedia.org

Cite

Hamka. Kenang-Kenangan Hidup. 1950. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-kenang-kenangan-hidup

No free copy online

BOOK 1962 · Indonesian

Perkembangan Tasauf dari Abad ke Abad

A historical survey of the development of Sufism through the centuries.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Perkembangan Tasauf dari Abad ke Abad. 1962. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-perkembangan-tasauf-dari-abad-ke-abad

No free copy online

BOOK Indonesian

Keadilan Sosial dalam Islam

A study of social justice in Islamic teaching.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Keadilan Sosial dalam Islam. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-keadilan-sosial-dalam-islam

No free copy online

BOOK Indonesian

Kedudukan Perempuan dalam Islam

A book on the position of women in Islam.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Kedudukan Perempuan dalam Islam. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-kedudukan-perempuan-dalam-islam

No free copy online

BOOK Indonesian

Pandangan Hidup Muslim

An essay-length statement of the Muslim outlook on life and conduct.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Pandangan Hidup Muslim. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-pandangan-hidup-muslim

No free copy online

BOOK Indonesian

Sejarah Umat Islam

A general history of the Muslim community.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Hamka. Sejarah Umat Islam. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-sejarah-umat-islam

No free copy online

BOOK Indonesian

Tafsir al-Azhar تفسير الأزهر

His thirty-volume Indonesian commentary on the whole Qur'an, regarded as his major scholarly work.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Hamka. Tafsir al-Azhar. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/tafsir-al-azhar. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/hamka/#hamka-tafsir-al-azhar

READ AT SOURCE ↗