Revisiting the Life and Thought of Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy

Abstract

History had recorded many famous people struggling to achieve the independent of Malaya. Among them, the name Burhanuddin al-Helmy was the least known. Therefore, the objectives of this paper is to revisit the life and thought of this charismatic man as not many references were attributed to him, especially the ideology that he has faith in. What most books highlighted is his participation in the political arena. Even in the political arena, people knew more about Dato' Onn Ja'far although both of them belonged to the same time. The difference is that Dato' Onn belonged to the right wing (UMNO) while Dr. Burhanuddin is said to have belonged to the leftwing or the anti-establishment. Dr. Burhanuddin was probably among the early Malays who managed to attain his doctorate at times when his country was still colonized. He strongly advocates that Malaya and the Malay World should be independent from foreign encroachment. He experienced many ups and downs in the political field but he stand firmly with his own conviction. His leadership was particularly clear during his participation in Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) and Parti Islam seTanah Melayu (PAS). One thing that is clear, he was more of a nationalist than a reformist although the essence of his struggle was to reform the Malay's societies based in the mould of Islam, and especially using Tasawwuf.His LifeDr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy was born on 29 August 1911 in Cangkat Tualang, Perak, and died on 25 October 1969. His father is Haji Muhammad Nor who was well known by his friends as Melayu Jati (true Malays) and had studied under several famous Makkan scholars during his time (Saliha 1997). The name al-Helmy was derived from the recognition of people towards his father's personality by calling him Abi Halim. In his struggle and idealism, he tried to adapt to what he called as the Malay Personality (Keperibadian Melayu) which was prevalent in his attitude towards the foreigners. From his early childhood, Dr. Burhanuddin received his first education of al-Qur'an from his own father whom is belonging to the Naqshabandiyya Tariqat. Later on, he was sent to Sumatra to further his education but changed to another school in Padang Serai, Kedah, and finally to Madrasah al-Masyhor in Pulau Pinang. It was in this school that he was influenced by the Middle Eastern magazine; mainly al-Manar which had eventually gives him the progressive interpretation of Islam (Ramlah 1999).In 1928, he went to India to travel, as well as to further his education. Among his personal experience was observing the movement of Mahatma Gandhi, and meeting famous individuals such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, and other notable Indian leaders (Kamarudin 1980). Dr. Burhanuddin furthered his studies on homeopathy and was awarded a degree of homeopathy by Ismaeliah Medical College, New Delhi. Later on, he pursued his other degree of Philosophy in Aligarh Muslim University (Kamarudin 1980). It was in India that he was exposed to the struggle of the Indian from the British rule, and also witnessing the tensions between Hindus and Muslims (Ramlah 1999). This experience had ignited the idea of liberating Malaya from the British and was deeply entrenched in his heart. Apart from that, his conviction became even stronger when he witnessed the British policy in Palestine in which he was a volunteer aide to the Palestinian refugee driven out from their homeland (Ramlah 1999).Upon his return in 1935, Dr. Burhanuddin taught Arabic language in al-Juned Arabic School in Singapore. He was also active in the Islamic movement in the island (Kamarudin 1980). In 1937, he published a magazine known as Taman Bahagia. One of his articles highlighted the misery of the Palestinian refugee as a result of British imperialism. After only one hour of its circulation, the British had him arrested, accusing him of threatening their importance in Malaya (Kamarudin 1980). After that incident, he opened a homeopathy clinic, having its branch in both Singapore and Johor. …