The Intellectual Genealogy of Indonesian-Malay Qur’an Interpreters: A Historical Tracking

Abstract

This article aims to trace the intellectual genealogy of Qur’an interpreters of Indonesia and Malaysia. The term ‘genealogy’ here refers to the origins of the interpreters in terms of their master-pupil relationships and their intellectual networks. Employing a historical approach to the issue, this article concludes that in the 17th century, Shaikh Abd al-Ra’uf of Singkil of Aceh became the first link from whom many early generations of Malay interpreters transmitted knowledge on Qur’anic interpretation. Tok Pulau Manis, the first Malay interpreter, developed the Qurànic interpretation in the 18th century from this figure. In the subsequent era, Tok Kenali became the common link under whom many Malay interpreters studied, namely Muhammad Idris al-Marbawī, Haji Abdullah Abbas Nasution, Shaikh Uthman Jalaluddin al-Kalantani, and Shaikh Muhammad Salleh Tok Kenali