Written while the author worked in Medan as the editor of an Islamic weekly magazine, the novel follows the doomed romance of a young Minang couple from different social backgrounds.

Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known as simply Hamka, was the Sumatran-born son of a devout Muslim who viewed local traditions as hindering the progress of religion[1] – his father's opinions influenced his.

[5] In 1935 he left Makassar for Medan, North Sumatra, where he became the editor of an Islamic weekly magazine,[2] during which time he wrote Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah, his first novel.

Two years after his father dies, the six-year-old Hamid and his mother move in with Haji Ja'far and his wife Asiah, members of the Minang nobility.

The socialist Indonesian literary critic Bakri Siregar suggested that this may have been an effort by Balai Pustaka, the state publisher of the Dutch East Indies, to impose its own style on Hamka's writing.

[a][5] The literary critics Maman S. Mahayana, Oyon Sofyan, and Achmad Dian view the novel's language as reflecting the works of al-Manfaluti.

[4] Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah does not touch on polygyny, a topic much debated in Indonesian literature in the early 20th century; this is a trend found throughout Hamka's works.

The first, directed by Asrul Sani, was released in 1977 as Para Perintis Kemerdekaan (Pioneers for Independence) and starred dangdut singer Camelia Malik as Zainab.

[12] The second adaptation, released in 2011 as Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah, was directed by Hanny R. Saputra and starred Herjunot Ali as Hamid and Laudya Cynthia Bella as Zainab.