Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir: A Biography and Overview of Major literary works.

• Name: Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir
• Gender: Male
• Year of Birth: 1796
• Year of Death: 1854(aged 57 years old)
• Place of Birth: Kampung Pali, Malacca
• Place of Death: Jeddah
• Occupation: Author, translator, teacher(Munshi), functionary, scribe, copyist.

Abdullah Abdul Kadir or more commonly known as Munshi Abdullah was a Malayan writer of Tamil and Yemen descent. Born in Kampung Pali, Malacca, Abdullah was the youngest of five sons and the only one who reaches adulthood as all of his siblings died in infancy. His early childhood was plagued by him being sick most of the time and as such led to his parents taking great care of him. Furthermore, he was taken care of by various individuals besides his parents as it was customary in Malay society at that time to exert such practices with a child that is deemed to have low body immunity. Abdullah despises such acts though, later describing it as stupid in his work, Hikayat Abdullah.

He later became a Munshi, a title bestowed upon individuals whom the British Empire hired to teach the local native language for their benefit. He taught the Malay language to the Indian soldiers of the Malaccan Garrison and also British and American missionaries and businessmen.He became a functionary in the Straits Settlements next. He became a scribe and copyist for Sir Stamford Raffles, followed by, in 1815, becoming translator of the Gospels and other text for the London Missionary Society. He also worked with the American Board of Missions.

His writing career took off after a missionary, Alfred North, encouraged him to write an autobiography after reading an Abdullah's account of a voyage along the east coast of Malaya. Abdullah was known as an ardent critic of the Malay political system of Kerajaan ("kingdom"). His work, Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Kelantan contained his advice to Malay rulers and comparisons he made between the British system of governing and that of Malay rulers.

Abdullah argued that the system of Kerajaan was detrimental to the Malay individual, as it was an impediment to the social improvement of the Malays. The Malay Sultan was deemed to be someone who was selfish, with no concern toward his subjects, to the extent they were treated like animals rather than humans.

The idea of modernity and striving for excellence within the Malay community stemmed from his ideas and stinging criticisms of the ancient Malay polity of the Kerajaan. Under the Kerajaan, the Malays were deprived of education and hence they were easily oppressed. Without education, they did not have the ability to question the injustice meted out to them and could not take the initiative to institute changes in order to improve their lives.

He is regarded by many to be the first Malayan journalist, taking Malay literature out of its preoccupation with folk-stories and legends into accurate historical descriptions.

Abdullah died in Jeddah in October 1854 at the age of 57, before he reached Mecca

Major literary works:

Hikayat Abdullah

Completed in 1845 and published in 1849, Hikayat Abdullah was the first Malay literary text to be published commercially.  Unlike typical classical Malay literary works that contains fantasies and legendary stories, the Abdullah’s work dealt with realism.

The work has been described as Abdullah’s autobiography and contains his personal but perceptive view of Singapore and Malacca society at the beginning of 19th century. It recounts a glimpse of his early childhood in Malacca, his own experiences like an operation performed upon him by an English surgeon or his visit to an encampment of Tiandihui, a Chinese secret society in the interior of Singapore, and about events like the founding of Singapore Institution, the demolition of the old A Famosa fort in Malacca, and the visit of Lord Minto, the Governor-General of India to Malacca. Most of the work also contains his personal observations of the personalities of his time, the officials of the British East India Company like Sir Stamford Raffles, Colonel Farquhar and John Crawfurd, Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor Sultanate, European and American missionaries and traders, and the Chinese merchants of the early Singapore days. The book was published in Roman script in 1915 by William Shellabear.

Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Kelantan

It was first published in 1838 in Singapore, and like Hikayat Abdullah, it was one of the first Malay literary text being published commercially.

The work recounts Abdullah’s voyage from Singapore to Kelantan with his companions, Grandpre and Baba Ko An to submit a letter from Sir George Bonham, Governor of Straits Settlements to Sultan of Kelantan. His writing includes his experiences during his stops in Pahang and Terengganu as well as what he experienced in Kelantan. This work also contains his advises to Malay rulers and comparisons he made between the British system of governing with that of Malay rulers.

The first edition of the story was written both in Latin and Jawi, while the second edition (1852) was printed only in Jawi script. In 1855 the Dutch scholar J. Pijnappel later published special editions for students of Malay language. All these editions became references to H.C. Klinkert for his own edition intended for students in Dutch East Indies.

In Malaysia, the story was re-published in 1960 by the editor Kassim Ahmad. In 2005, it was edited by Amin Sweeney and published as part of a collection of complete works of Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir.

Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Mekah

In this piece, Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir recounts his voyage from Singapore to Jeddah on his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The summarized three parts of the story was first published by the Cermin Mata magazine in Singapore in 1858-1859.

Abdullah set sail from Singapore by a ship named Subulus Salam in February 1854. Along his voyage, he sketched the images of places he saw from onboard and wrote his personal experiences meeting different groups of people in places he visited like Calicut. Abdullah died in Jeddah the following October 1854 at the age of 58 before he reaches Mecca.

The version of Cermin Mata magazine that was published by the Protestant missionary agencies, only contains Abdullah’s voyage up to the coast of Jeddah. H.C. Klinkert, a Dutch scholar, published a Dutch translation which was more complete based on manuscript copies obtained from publishers in Singapore. He later published the Malay edition in 1889 with the title Kisah pelayaran Abdullah ke Judah (“The story of Abdullah’s voyage to Judah”), but this time based on the issue of Cermin Mata.

In 1964, the version edited by Kassim Ahmad was published in Kuala Lumpur. Amin Sweeney also edited a new edition of Karya Lengkap Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munsyi: Jilid 1 (“The Complete Works Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munsyi: Volume 1”) published in Jakarta in 2005.