Kamal Hassan, the pearl of Malay world

• Main Authors: Abdul Razak, Mohd Abbas, Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Communication, Kulliyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS), IIUM 2023
• Subjects: AS Academies and learned societies (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/107716/7/107716_Kamal%20Hassan%2C%20the%20pearl%20of%20Malay%20world.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/107716/; https://news.iium.edu.my/?p=176018

Malay intellectuals who became known after independence of Malaysia were either critical to Western education or Westernized in every aspect of their life. Very few stood on neutral ground appreciating the goodness that comes from the West and East. Among the few, the late Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Kamal Hassan (1942-2023) was one of them. He was born in Kelantan in the year 1942. From 1950-1960 he studied at Sultan Ismail School in Kota Bharu and later went to join Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur (1961-1962). He completed his undergraduate program in Islamic Studies at Universiti Malaya (1965). Upon completing his undergraduate studies, he travelled to the United States of America to undertake his postgraduate programs. As a student enrolled at Columbia University, New York, he managed to get his MA degree in 1970, his M. Phil in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1976, specialising in Contemporary Islamic Thought in Southeast Asia.