Ahmad Hassan or Hassan bin Ahmad was born in 1887 in Singapore. His father's name is Ahmad, who is from India and has a Pandit title. His mother's name was Muznah, who came from Palekat Madras, but was born in Surabaya. His father and mother were married in Surabaya when his father went to trade in the city and then settled in Singapore.

A Hassan once asked M Natsir and his friends to establish an army called the Islamic Defenders Committee to stem the propaganda of Christian missionaries who at that time were indeed quite massive in the Dutch East Indies. A. Hassan also initiated the publication of the Islamic Defenders magazine as a media to ward off various attacks on Muslims through the mass media.

A Hassan also argued with fellow Islamic leaders such as Hasbi ash-Shiddieqy about the handshake between men and women not muhrim, with Wahab Hasbullah about imitation, with Umar Hubeis, Bey Arifin, and Husein Al-Habsyi about the school, even with Hamka about nationality, and with Sukarno related to the position of religion and the state in government. In addition, he has also debated with atheist figures from Malang, M. Ahsan.