Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain (fantasy novels to read .TXT) 📕

and the daily lives of Muslims, especially after PAS proved a serious contender for Malay political allegiance. Formed in 1951 by the defection of UMNO's religious department, PAS attracted members with varied interests, including Malay nationalists demanding independence and conservatives from the ranks of the religious elite.[9] PAS captured two states, Kelantan and Trengganu, in the first post-independence general election, held in 1959, surprising UMNO and permanently splitting the Malay community on political lines. Although its fortunes in terms of legislative representation fluctuated over the years, PAS always won between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the Malay vote.[10]

With religion falling under the jurisdiction of the states and their sultans, the federal government initially had only a limited involvement in Islamic affairs. In 1968, however, the Council of Rulers, consisting of the sultans of the nine Malay states, formed the Malaysian National Council for Islamic Affairs, chaired by the prime minister with a secretariat in his department. Expanding quickly in the early 1970s, the council became one of the major institutions for formulating policy on Islamic matters. Operating alongside the civil court system, the sharia courts — which deal with marriage, divorce and death and hear cases against Muslims accused of religious offences — were taken over from the states and reorganized on a federal basis in 1998.[11] Still, the individual states retained the exclusive right to enact laws on Islam, giving rise to different versions throughout the country.

After the 1969 election, which threatened Malay political supremacy and precipitated racial riots, UMNO sought to recoup political losses by polishing its Islamic credentials. In addition to reinforcing affirmative action for the Malays in the form of the New Economic Policy (NEP), UMNO announced a new cultural policy centered on Islam and beefed up the religious bureaucracy in the Prime Minister's Department. When the three-party Alliance was expanded in 1974 into the much larger National Front coalition, it included four former opposition parties, among them PAS.

As the worldwide tide of Islamic revivalism lapped Malaysian shores in the early 1970s, the government offered other gestures to show its commitment to the religion — introducing the azan, the call to prayer, over state-run radio and TV, publishing Islamic literature and establishing an Islamic Research Centre and an Islamic Missionary Foundation. With its quest to re-establish Islamic values, practices and laws, the resurgence took the form of numerous dakwah missionary, groups. They found fertile ground especially among Malaysia's young, educated, urban middle class. Malay women took to covering their heads with various versions of the veil, some adding an ankle-length, long-sleeved robe that left only the face and hands visible. Many men grew beards and some also wore robes, to emulate the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. They sprinkled their conversation with Arabic terms, regarded as authentically Islamic. Muslims not only avoided pork, specifically prohibited in the Qur'an, but became sensitive to the presence of gelatin in chocolates, cakes and tomato sauce.[12] The more devout were no longer willing to dine with non-Malay friends, or with lax fellow Malays for that matter. They insisted that their food be strictly halal, prepared in accordance with Islamic prescriptions.

The dakwah groups concentrated not on converting non-Muslims but on creating conditions that allowed Islam a larger role in the personal lives of adherents and in the conduct of public affairs. Rural-born Malays who migrated to the cities under rapid industrialization were prospective members of organizations that could give them a sense of belonging, and where they would renew their commitment to an Islamic way of life. The groups — tolerant and liberal at first, though some became more militant later — looked to Islam for what its teachings could offer as solutions for Malay problems, such as poverty, lack of education and corruption.

The "intellectual powerhouse" of the resurgence was the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, known by its Malay acronym as ABIM, co-founded by Anwar Ibrahim in 1971 after he graduated with honours in Malay studies from the University of Malaya.[13] A former student leader and fiery political orator, Anwar led non-partisan ABIM through a period of spectacular growth, finishing the decade with a membership of 35,000 in 86 branches. ABIM published its own monthly journal, produced and marketed Islamic books, maintained a library, ran an economic cooperative and organized leadership training courses and Islamic study groups. Ever-ready to back its demands with direct action, ABIM argued that the Malaysian economy benefited only a small group of local and foreign capitalists and was in need of reform. ABIM also spearheaded complaints against Harun Idris, the chief minister of Selangor,[14] which eventually led to his conviction on several corruption charges.

As a fresh graduate, Anwar declined an invitation to join UMNO as well as offers of plum jobs in order to continue addressing questions of Malay backwardness. He opened a school under ABIM's auspices for Malay-medium dropouts from the government education system, collecting a monthly subsistence salary of RM350, as principal and board chairman, for the next ten years. Arrested in December 1974 after backing mass student demonstrations in support of Malay peasants who were suffering acute economic hardship in Kedah, Anwar spent almost two years in prison. Accused of anti-government activities going back five years, he was never charged with a crime and continued to guide ABIM from detention. On his release, he picked up from where he had left off, sometimes working with the government, more often a thorn in its side.[15]

A number of other ABIM leaders left in the late 1970s to join PAS, which after four years had broken with UMNO and departed from the National Front, and many expected Anwar to follow. A visit to Iran soon after Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution in 1979 sharpened Anwar's radical image. In 1981, he linked up with non-Malay groups to head a broad public campaign against government amendments to the Societies Act, which were designed to limit the political activities of non-governmental organizations. Then, in March 1982, in the middle of this campaign, Anwar stunned the country by