Finding the Identity of Kaum Tua Ulama Amid the Kaum Muda Ulama’s Islamic Reform Movement in Pre-Independence Malaya

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The spread of Islamic reformism in the Malay world during the early twentieth century gave rise to the Kaum Muda ulama, who promoted Islamic purification and social progress but faced opposition from the Kaum Tua ulama, who maintained traditional interpretations of Islam. This study analyses Kaum Tua responses to the Kaum Muda reform movement using qualitative historical research and inductive thematic analysis. The findings identify three responses: (1) control and restriction of Kaum Muda ideology, (2) counter-critiques in Islamic literary works, and (3) publication of reform-oriented Islamic materials. The analysis shows that the Kaum Tua combined doctrinal conservatism with selective openness to progressive ideas that could advance Malay society. This dual orientation complicates portrayals of the Kaum Tua as uniformly resistant to reform and highlights their role in negotiating religious continuity and social change in pre-independence Malaya.