Colonialism and the Dialectics of Islamic Reform in a Malay State: “Pengasoh” and the Making of a Muslim Public Sphere in Kelantan, 1915 - 1925. By Khaldun Malek July 2018 Acknowledgements: Bismillahirahmannirahim I first wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Tim Winter, who, despite much difficulty, continue to provide me with his unflailing support and guidance through this journey. Professor David Ford – as always, an intellectual and moral inspiration To Professor Daniel Hardy who remains a source of inspiration both in life and scholarship. With eternal gratitude to Professors Yahya Michot and Keith Ward for all that you have taught me and all that I have learnt from you. Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin – sahabat, guru dan inspirasi. Terima kasih keatas segala-galanya. Jasa dan budi baik tuan sentiasa saya sanjungi. Imran Shamsul – a brethren in deed and spirit. Thank you, my friend. To Dr Sean Foley – Thank you so very for all your support over the years. Your friendship was and remains a source of much inspiration and strength. To ayahanda dan bonda yang dikasihi, Abdul Malek Munip and Puteh Mohamed, your unconditional love and support makes all things possible. I love you both with all my heart. Kepada Atok Chor and Atok Chik, Allayarham Haji Mohamed bin Abdullah dan Allayarhamah Hajah Juriah binti Junid, I will always love the both of you with all my heart. You have always been and always be at the heart of what I am and will be. I miss you both so very much. To my brothers, Adine, Shazli and Ayman. Thank you for everything. To my children, Muhammad, Alif, Aqeel and Khadijah. You are and will always be the greatest source of joy, pride and inspiration for your father. Having all of you have taught me so many things, not least about the meaning of love and happiness. Regardless of what happens in life, know that my love for each and everyone of you can never ever fade, and will always be there for you and with you. I love you with all my heart and soul. Kepada isteri dan kekasih hatiku yang ku sanjungi, Suraya Ismail. All of this is only possible because of you. You are all that I am and I could ever be. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. There are of course, in all honesty, too many people to thank for the completion of this work. I must apologise to those I have forgotten to mention. To all of you, my deepest thanks. 1 This dissertation is for Suraya Ismail. The light of my life and heart of my heart. 2 Colonialism and the Dialectics of Islamic Reform in a Malay State: “Pengasoh” and the Making of a Muslim Public Sphere in Kelantan, 1915 - 1925. By Khaldun Malek Thesis Abstract This dissertation focuses on an important Muslim periodical "Pengasoh" and the role it has played in the Muslim ‘reform’ discourses in early 20th century Malaya. The periodical was first published by the Majlis Agama Islam Kelantan (Kelantan’s State Islamic Council) in 1918. Within the context of Malay-Muslim society, Kelantan was, and in some ways remain, a particularly important centre for Islamic culture and learning, attracting teachers and students from across the region. The Majlis itself was established by some of the leading ulama on the Peninsula at the time. Many were educated in the Middle East and had close associations with some of the major Muslim reformists in Egypt and the Haramayn. The standing of the Kelantanese 'ulama' within Malay-Muslim Southeast Asia, and the role of "Pengasoh" within that community meant that the periodical gives a unique glimpse into the world of these intellectual-theocrats. In this sense, the study of “Pengasoh” is a prism which could further our understanding of the dynamics of Islamic intellectual culture in Kelantan – as well as the surrounding region – during the early decades of the 20th century. 3 What this dissertation attempts to show is how the ideational aspects of this community may be better understood if two important factors are taken into account - the linkages throughout the Indian Ocean littoral which form the cultural and religious milieu which shaped the thinking within the Kelantanese ‘ulama’; and how this sits in a wider conversation between "Islam" and "modernity". This moves away from existing studies which sought to clearly demarcate these Islamicate discourses as one between ‘Modernist’ Muslims and their ‘traditionalist’ counterparts. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 1: The Backdrop: Islamic Society in Kelantan ................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Kaum Muda vs Kaum Tua: Between “Tradition(s)” and Contesting Ideological Hegemonies? ...................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 3: Shaykh Ahmad Muhammad Zain al-Patani (1856-1906) and Islamic Reform in Kelantan and Patani: Transition and Transmission in Islamic Culture and Learning ......................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 4: Reforming the Modern: The Rise of the Majlis Ugama Islam dan Adat Istiadat Melayu Kelantan (MAIK), 1900-1915 .................................................................. 112 Chapter 5: Pengasoh and the Emergence of a Public Discourse in Kelantan .............. 127 Chapter 6: Shaping the Present and the Past – The Early Years of Pengasoh, 1918-1925 ............................................................................................................................. 142 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 179 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 190 5 INTRODUCTION This dissertation focuses on an important Muslim periodical "Pengasoh" and the role it has played in the Muslim "modernist - traditionalist" discourses in early 20th century Malaya. The periodical was published by the Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Isti’adat Melayu Kelantan (Kelantan’s State Islamic Council). It was both an important part of the emerging public discourses on Islam during the period and provides a significant resource for understanding the intellectual developments taking place within Islamicate society in Malaya before the Second World War. Islam on the Malay Peninsula remains a much understudied subject.1 The emphasis of earlier works on the topic have tended to either view it as part of the emerging nation building discourses amongst the Malays (Roff: 1967), or as institutional developments forming part of the larger process of colonial political and administrative reform (Yegar: 1979). More recently, this has been supplemented by the works of Milner (1995; 1986) which sought to locate cultural shifts and ideological change within Malay Muslim society by a close reading of particular texts, and examining how the use of language changes through the introduction of new terminologies and concepts over time. By tracking these shifts, a more subtle and dynamic account of intellectual, religious and cultural transformation among the Malays emerges, where 1 Earlier studies of Islam in Southeast Asia have generally focused on either a regional perspective with limited emphasis on the Islamicate developments on the Peninsula (Azra, 2004; Nathan and Kamali eds., 2005; Johns and Israeli eds., 1984; Osman ed., 1997; al-Attas (1969; 1986 et al); or on the social and political dynamics of specific areas (Roff ed., 1974; Kessler, 1978) or on the processes of nation-formation (Roff, 1967) – though the earlier works of Winstedt (1925; 1950) attempted to outline the general characteristics of Muslim belief in Malaya. Other historical or social scientific studies, though noting the Islamic character of Malay society, makes limited attempts to explore the theological and ideational dimensions of the different trajectories of Malay Muslim belief. This dissertation, while drawing on from each of these approaches, attempts to locate the cultural and intellectual changes taking place in early 20th century Kelantan within broader developments taking place in Malaya and the wider Islamic world. This approach follows the works of Laffan (2003; 2011), later Roff (1985) and Azra (2004) which emphasizes the importance of the trans-national linkages of the reformist networks across the Indian Ocean littoral in the shaping of Muslim thought in the region and the Peninsula. We examine the spread of the broad intellectual themes propagated through the networks and how this is then interpreted and reformulated within the context of Kelantan and the Peninsula. 6 colonial culture, Islam, local politics and intellectual change play a crucial role in this new, highly contested Malay public sphere. Milner’s analysis, however, (in a way not dis-similar to Roff’s early work) relies on the assumption that these discourses were shaped largely by disagreements between the rational, ‘sharia-minded’ modernists (denoted by the term “kaum muda”) and their traditionalist opponents, the “kaum tua” (older generation) – dogmatic and resistant to change. By focusing primarily on the way in which “Islamic” ideas were precursors to larger discourses of the politics of identity and nation building, both works underplayed the complex and dynamic nature of wider Islamic discourses which accompanied these developments on the Peninsula.2 They also suggest that these intellectual