Major Trends in the Historiography of Muslim Reformism in Pre-Independent Malaysia

Abstract

Muslim reformism, which emerged in West Asia during the closing
years of the nineteenth century, and the early twentieth, was spearheaded by
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad ‘Abduh. It responded to the socioeconomic
and political challenges confronting the Muslim society. Muslim
reformism was not only influential in West Asia but also in Southeast Asia.
However, most studies on Muslim reform have privileged the “central Islāmic
lands” at the expense of its “periphery”. As a result, Muslim reform in
Malaysia has been marginalised. Thus, this article, discusses the historiography
of Muslim reform in Malaya. An analysis of the major writings in English
and Malay identified the major trends, issues, and gaps. It argues that the
existing studies tend to focus on the intellectual history of reform, while the
social history of the diffusion of reformism has not been adequately analysed.
Similarly, most works on reform in Malaysia focus on its development in the
country alone without embarking upon comparative analysis with other areas
such as West Sumatra, Aceh and Java. Existing biographies of reformists
focusing on prominent figures such as Syed Sheikh al-Hadi and Sheikh Tahir
have been thoroughly examined while other reformists such as Abu Bakar
Ashaari, Abdullah Maghribi, and Abu Bakar Bakir have not been adequately
studied.