Abstract :
Shaykh Abu Bakr aI-Ash arl was a leading and respected scholar of the islah (reform) movement in the state of Perlis, Malaysia, especially in the 1960 s. With the spirit as a graduate of al-Azhiir University in 1932, Chairman of Malay Student Organization at the university in 1349-1351/1930-1932, as well as a follower ofthe well-known reformer, Muhammad Rashid Ridii (d. 1354/1935), he initiated a reform movement in his village, Kampung Makam, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia, to spread the idea ofisliih. On the other hand, as an associate writer ofa newspaper, he blamed those who forced the society to follow their fatawa and teaching. Although hefa ced a strong critique. he refused to give up, and with the full support ofthe Perlis leaders, he furth ered the isliih cause in Perlis from 1355/1936. Assigned as the First Imiim of Alawiyyah Mosque in Kangar, he expressed his views and called people to do right and consistently act according to al-Sunnah. He also prepared speeches and gave fatawa for the Perlis leaders to help them widen the teaching of the Sunnites as well as challenged the standpoint of the traditionalists. He publi shed some books. one of them entitled Kemerdekaan Berfikir Dalam Islam (The Freedom of Thought in Islam) in 1374/1954 to ensure that his majorfocus in combating taqlld would reach as many people as possible as well as for the sake of the Malay struggle for independence. For the leaders of the reform movement, his migration to Perlis brought new ideas for the benefit of the people and established the movement as a respectable one
