The aura and influence of Haji Abdul Karim Amrullah could not be contained in remote and isolated Maninjau. He then was invited to Padang to continue his larger struggle. This was upon the insistence of his companions and students. When Hamka’s father moved to Padang, some of his students followed suit, fearing separation from their teacher. Among them  was Abdulhamid Hakim, who was later known as Angku Mudo, and A.R. Sutan Mansur, who later was married to H. Abdul Karim’s daughter, Fathimah.

According to Hamka, beside resuming his teaching activities, his father led the editorial of Al-Munir, especially in managing the column on questions and answers on Islam,  a popular genre then that has “shaken the world of thinking among Muslims at that time” (menggoncangkan alam fikiran Islam pada masa itu). Al-Munir was circulated widely throughout Sumatera, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Malaya. The periodical was consumed amongst the intelligentsia  throughout the Archipelago. Together with Al-Munir pioneer Haji Abdullah Ahmad in Padang, apart from writing and editorializing for periodical,  they were also active in teaching and dakwah.

The task of organizing the question and answer column in al-Munir was Haji Abdul Karim and H.M. Thaib Sungayang. Some of the issues raised were on the expression of niat (intention) before prayers; holding a kenduri (feast) at the house of the deceased, meratap (lamenting) over person who has died, and the practice of the counting the days as is in the words of Hamka “mentiga hari, mengempat hari, menujuh hari, mengampat puluh hari and meneratus hari” (third day, fourth day, seventh day, fourtieth day and one hundredth days). His father replied that the practice be abolished.

Another issue is on talqin (literally to teach or explain a point to the deceased). We would see this practice immediately after a burial at the site of the grave. Haji Abdul Karim through the al-Munir column urged the practice  be stopped. He said it was better to whisper to the ears of the person about to leave this world the syahadah, La ilaha illal Lah (There is no God but God).  It seems that the people in what is now West Sumatra were much concerned with problems of  dressing and attire.  In the 1920s, Padang was stormed with debates on being similar in appearance to the non-Muslim (Hamka phrases it as “…apa yang menyerupai orang kafir). The educated younger generation, advocated and defended the use of the samping, described by Hamka as “kain sarung diluar seluar panjang dilipatkan sebagai tanda orang Islam” (a piece of cloth folded around long pants as a sign of a Muslim). According to Hamka, even when travelling by train, not wearing a samping was deemed as a foreigner, and be charged the same price as a European or Chinese.  

The larger concerns asked by al-Munir’s readers was on tasyabbuh (mimicking or resembling). To this, Haji Abdul Karim opined that tasyabbuh referred to using or putting religious signs, such as the Christian cross. The issue of attire and fashion, such as the use of caps and other headgears, did not come under tasyabbuh. Haji Abdul Karim was also of the view that hisab (calculations) was preferred to rukyah (observing the moon for Ramadan). Al-Munir would also raised issues on  tombstones, blind following, and celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, the Maulid. According to Hamka, opinions on Islam, erstwhile feared and tabooed were spewed, “tersembur” as Hamka describes it, from the mouths of the editors of al-Munir. The editors were accused of blasphemy, not conforming to the  of jurisprudential school (mazhab) Ahli Sunnah Wal Jemaah. They were labelled as Mu’tazilah, Wahabi, Khawarij, also as zindiq (generally heretics and extreme religious infidelity to Islam). 

Apart from al-Munir, a similar  periodical was  Al-Akhbar, led by  a young skillful writer by the name of Zainuddin Labai. Hamka reveals that the peak of debates and polemics on Islam occurred between 1914 and 1918.  Al-Munir had many followers, a large number comprised students of renowned ulama Syeikh Ahmad Khatib. Under him was Syeikh Ibrahim Musa Parabek,  Syekh Abbas and his relative Syeikh Mustafa at Padang Panjang. There was also Syeikh Rasyid Maninjau.  On the other side was Syeikh Khatjib Ali Padang, Syeikh Saad Munka, and Syeikh Bayang.  The latter was slighted because their tariqat was interrupted.

It was the conflict between the Kaum Muda (Young Faction) and Kaum Tua (Old Faction). The sentiments opposing al-Munir led to the publication of Suluh Melayu, to defend conventional thinking and to allay accusations against Islam and its rituals. Hamka did not describe further on Suluh Melayu in Ayahku.It must be remembered that al-Munir was not localized to Padang, or to Padang Panjang and Bukittinggi in the Minangkabau heartland. It was circulated and read throughout most of the Archipelago. The legacy of al-Munir, and similar Kaum Muda periodicals published in Singapura and Pulau Pinang during the first half of the last century, are still felt to this day.

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