マレーシア研究第３号（2014 年）【Summary】

Introduction: The Importance of Qalam Studies
TSUBOI Yuji
（Tokyo University of Foreign Studies）

Qalam, a monthly magazine written in Jawi (the Arabic alphabet for the Malaylanguage), was published in Singapore from 1950-1969. Qalam appealed exclusively toMuslims and represented the thoughts of intellectuals who were oriented to Islam.
The magazine had many Muslim writers of non-Malay origins, including its editor
Edrus, who was of Arab ancestry and born in Banjarmasin, Kalimantan. These
contributors often severely criticized mainstream Malay nationalists, such as theUMNO (United Malays National Organization), and offered alternative visions toMalay Muslims. Unfortunately, Qalam’s lucid view of Islamic thought and movementsin the 1950s and 1960s has not been fully explored.
Therefore, the Jawi Research Society in Japan and the Centre for Integrated
Area Studies of Kyoto University, have conducted a joint research project on Qalam.
One of its main activities is to digitalize the contents of the journal and construct adatabase. Almost entire volumes have been digitalized and are now open to the publicthrough a website. In addition, the transliteration of articles from Jawi to Romanized
Malay is taking place in cooperation with Malaysian counterparts, thus making
possible various ways of searching the database. The other main activity of the projectis to further research on Qalam. The following four articles are written by the project’s
joint researchers in their respective fields: Islamic thought, politics, education, andlegislation.

Qalam is unique for two reasons. First, Qalam stressed the unity of Muslims,
regardless of their nationalities. The magazine’s content suggests that Muslim
intellectuals tried to organize transnational Islamic movements, even after new nation
states, such as Indonesia and Malaya, had taken shape. Second, Qalam had a modernperspective. It tried to modernize and strengthen the Muslim community and toincorporate it into modern state institutions, although the magazine sometimes
criticized secular nationalists as being excessively Westernized.
During the age of Qalam, various activists from several nations expressed theiropinions with the pen (qalam). The relations of Islam with Western modernity invarious fields, such as politics, administration, and social institutions, are still
discussed by contemporary Muslims in Southeast Asia. In this sense, Qalam studies
offer a wider perspective on the historical development of Islamism, Malay journalism,
multi-ethnic relations, and other important themes.

103マレーシア研究第３号（2014 年）【Summary】

Islam and Modernity:
Modernist Thought in the Serial Column “The Secrets of the Qur’an”
KUNIYA Toru
（Sophia University）
This article explores an aspect of modernist Islam in 20th-century Southeast
Asia through the analysis of a serial column, “Secret of the Qur’an: from perspectivesof knowledge and philosophy”, that “Qalam” published from 1951-53. This serial
column, which was written by an ulama from Singapore, Abdullah Basmeh,
propagates modernist thought by introducing the Qur’an interpretation of an
Egyptian ulama of the early 20th century, Tantawi Jawhari.
I take up four important topics of the serial column. The first is the explanationof the contents of the Qur’an itself. Abdullah Basmeh emphasizes that the Qur’an has
guided the development of human society in many ways, including language, society
and ethics, and that modern Western civilization matured through the inheritance ofIslamic civilization.
The second topic is the development of science. For Basmeh, science andscholarship are the human endeavours that permit the discovery of the secret of theQur’an; they are thus indispensable for the development of society. Referring toIslamic scholarship in the past and contemporary Western science, he asserts that
Muslim society should introduce and build on the achievements of the latter for its
future development.
However, Basmeh does not simply promote the acceptance of modern Westerncivilization. Thus, in his third topic, he stresses the importance of the Qur’an as a moral
guide in the modern world. Basmeh points to moral and ethical problems of the British
Malaya society at that time, such as drinking alcohol, gambling, and the weakening ties ofhusbands and wives. He considers these phenomena as the negative aspects ofmodernization, and presents the teachings of the Qur’an as the only remedy for them.
Similarly, Basmeh discusses the problems of Islamic Law as his fourth topic. As
an ulama, he takes it for granted that the administration of Malaya afterindependence should be based on Islamic Law. At the same time, he accepts that anindependent Malaya should be led by elites who have received Western educations.
According to him, since the modern values such as liberty, equality, and democracy are
already indicated in the Qur’an, Islamic Law is consistent with modern society.
Basmeh promotes the acceptance of Western science, technology and politicalinstitutions, but he also criticizes the moral decline of society as a negative
consequence of modernization. Thus, he points to the need for the Qur’an as a moral
guide in modern society.
104マレーシア研究第３号（2014 年）【Summary】

Institutionalization of Islam or Institutionalization of the Nation?
Qalam’s Strategy toward Malayan Politics during the 1950s
TSUBOI Yuji
（Tokyo University of Foreign Studies）
This paper examines the strategy of Islamic intellectuals in Singapore during
the process of Malayan decolonization by reviewing the Qalam’s articles on current
affairs in the early 1950s.
The early 1950s were a historical watershed in the thinking of Malay Muslims.
Islamists, such as Edrus, wrote articles for ‘Homeland Affairs’ in 1950 and 1951, but a
new author of the column seemed to be rather a mainstream Malay nationalist after1952. This change probably reflected the setback of Islamic factions on the Nadrahissue in Singapore. The watershed was not so remarkable from a Malayan perspective,
but it must to be examined more carefully from that of intellectuals who were oriented
toward Islam.
However, Edrus continued to insist on Malay Muslim unity, even after
Islam-oriented intellectuals lost power following the Nadrah riot. His opinions in thejournal are partly radical, such as his criticism of the UMNO and Islamic officials, but
he did not hastily insist on abandoning the existing colonial framework to realize anIslamic state. He realistically proposed the strengthening of Islamic institutions in theexisting social order and of their management in order to enhance the status ofMuslims in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious public sphere. His strategy was toinsert individual Muslim networks into the framework of the modern state
institutions.
Meanwhile, Qalam adopted multiple strategies with regard to the changing
situations of Malaya and Singapore. After 1952, Edrus moved from ‘Homeland Affairs’,
which dealt with general matters, to more specific columns. Discourses of Edrus and“Homeland Affairs” were at conflict at first sight, but they shared modernist
perspective and their methodology was institutionalization. In Malaya, ethnic andreligious groups were framed into state institutions in various forms. While Edrus
sought to institutionalize Islam, the nationalists wanted to institutionalize the Malaycommunity. Qalam’s strategy contained both approaches in different columns.

Qalam reflected the strategy of Islamic intellectuals who responded to anever-changing Malayan situation. Although the writers were oriented to Islamic state,
they were realistic rather than idealistic for the interests of Muslims in their opinions.
A focus on their activities may clarify the heterogeneity of the Malay community andits dynamics at that time. An analysis on Qalam thus places the activities of its
contributors in a broader perspective.
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マレーシア研究第３号（2014 年）【Summary】

The Discussion of Education in the Malay Community
during the Establishment of National Education
KANEKO Nao（Tokyo University of Foreign Studies）
This study considers the discussion of education in the Malay community
during 1950s with special reference to Qalam. Qalam still existed when the national
education system was establishedin Malaya (after 1963, Malaysia). Theestablishment of national education has been examined by many previous studies,most of which have focused on policy making and have indicated that nationaleducation seems to have been designed to serve the interests of Malay society.
Therefore, the various viewpoints on this subject have been less examined. This study
probes these perspectives on education by focusing on the two key words, nationaleducation and Islamic education.
The articles of Qalam on the national education share the view that Malay
schools faced difficulties and that their educational standards were low. They aspire tosolutions that take two different directions. One is the argument that Malay society
should change in order for students to acquire contemporary knowledge and skills andto improve the economic and social level of the population. Based on this view, its
proponents argue that education in English has equal or more value than that inMalay. The other opinion is that the national education system should be based on theMalay language and schools. Hence, these commentators emphasize the need tomaintain the Malay school system.
The establishment of the national education system affected traditional theIslamic religious schooling of local communities. Hence, many articles express anxiety
about the future of Islamic education as secular instruction expands. Some criticise
the secular values of modern education and worry about its impact on belief andvalues. Many articles seek to secure the survival of Islamic learning within theframework of the national education system. Therefore, realistic discussions on theinstitutionalisation of Islamic Education in the modern state system are found inQalam.
During the establishment of the national education system in Malaysia, one ofintense unease and marked change, the contributors to Qalam engaged in thoughtful
and realistic discussions of the appropriate course for education in the new nation.
From diverse perspectives, they sought to ensure that the Malay community
progressed and undertook the road to sustainable development in a newly
independent modern state.

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マレーシア研究第３号（2014 年）【Summary】

Muslim Legislation and the Women’s Charter:
Muslim Marital Law Reform in Singapore
MITSUNARI Ayumi（The University of Tokyo）
Singapore’s legislation of Muslim law developed rapidly from the 1950s to the1960s.

The Muslim Ordinance was enacted in 1957 and the Administration ofMuslim Law Act, in 1966. The first law came into effect during the period ofdecolonization and the latter after the Singapore’s painful separation from Malaysia.
These pieces of legislation, which were codified in parallel with the Women’s Charterof 1961, the codes of marriage and divorce for non-Muslims, mirror the urgent
administrative task of reinforcing the status of women status in matrimonial
relationships. In other words, the two Muslim laws were integral to the social reformsof Singapore in the days before and after independence.
Muslim laws placed marriage and divorce of the Muslim population under thecontrol of newly established Shariah Court. Since the public was concerned about theprevalence of divorce among Muslims and the miserable conditions of divorced wives,
Muslim leaders at first welcomed these laws. However, opinions on this matter were
not monolithic, since the divorce was not merely a matter of social reform but touched
the core norms of Islamic law. The Qalam was one of the leaders in the debates overthe legislation. At one point, Qalam criticized the laws as an ‘intrusion’ of the Women’sCharter or Christian law. However, Ahmad Ibrahim, a lawyer trained in common law
and a drafter of the bills did not concur with such criticisms. He advocated thelegislation as a framework make the status of Muslims equal to that of non-Muslims
in Singapore.
The paper examines the debates of two Muslims who supported modernisation,Ahmad Lutfi, an editor and writer of Qalam, and Ahmad Ibrahim, the then Attorney
General of Singapore, to determine the diverse visions of and the rationales forMuslim marital reform.

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