IN detention from 1964 to 1966, Hamka read and wrote a lot. A Masyumi Party functionary, he was detained by the Sukarno government at a police station in Mega Mendung near Bogor for being anti-Nasakom. Later when his health deteriorated, he was warded at the Persahabatan Hospital in Rawamangun in Jakarta. During his 17 months in detention, Hamka managed to write a monumental work, Tafsir Al-Azhar, a voluminous commentary on the Holy Book.

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