Blood, Sweat and Jihad: The Radicalization of the Political Discourse of the Pan‑Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) from 1982 Onwards

Abstract

How Islamist politics in Malaysia leapt to a different register Kemenangan Islam tidak akan datang dengan sendirinya. Allah telah menentukan bahawa kejayaan dalam kehidupan dunia adalah hasil yang berterusan. (1) Ustaz Yusof Rawa, President of PAS, 29 April 1983 After the Malaysian elections of December 1999, PAS emerged as the strongest opposition party in the country with the largest number of opposition seats in Parliament (27). For the first time, the Islamist opposition party had come to the forefront of the combined opposition forces in Malaysia, reducing the secular-leftist Democratic Action Party (DAP) to secondary position. It was also the first time that the discourse of the opposition front had shifted to a religio-political register--with the debate on the issue and the implementation of shariah law being high on the list of priorities--whereas opposition politics prior to 1999 was marked by a lack of consensus and a variety of positions (minority rights, the national language issue) taken up by the respective parties outside the ruling coalition. PAS had managed to stage a spectacular victory, though the overall 1999 election results were still in keeping with previous victories won by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. PAS's hold on the north of the Malay peninsula seemed permanent, with two states, Kelantan and Trengganu, under its control. PAS had also won major victories in the states of Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Selangor, and speculation was rife about the possibility of the Islamist party breaking UMNO's hegemonic hold on the Malay-Muslim constituency and coming to power in the next elections (scheduled for late 2003 or early 2004). However, PAS was not allowed the time and opportunity to enjoy the fruit of its victory. Soon after, the country was gripped by the fear of militant Islamist terror as the UMNO/BN-led federal government began to crack down on a number of alleged militant networks and cells operating all over the country. In 2000, federal authorities apprehended members of an obscure and little-known cult group calling itself the al-Maunah movement, which it claimed was set up with the intention of toppling the government and introducing an Islamic state in Malaysia. Shortly after, members of the so-called jihad gang were also rounded up by the Malaysian police. Though PAS was not directly blamed for any of the actions of these organizations, the mainstream media did present a somewhat sensationalized picture of PAS (or some of its members at least) working hand-in-glove with these underground movements. The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 altered the political fortunes of PAS for good. Worldwide the fear of militancy was used by a number of governments to demonize Islamist movements and parties in their own countries, and PAS was caught in the net as well. During the American-led attacks on Afghanistan that followed, PAS responded by calling for a against the West. (2) Some PAS leaders even went as far as saying that they would not stop their followers from going to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban troops opposed to the United States. PAS support for Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and the Taliban regime incurred a heavy political cost. Unaware of (or oblivious to) the negative image that it would create for itself at home and abroad, PAS's decision to declare a against the West was the biggest own-goal scored by the party in the past few years. By publicly voicing its stand in favour of bin Laden and the Taliban, the party alienated itself from vast sections of the local and international community, and pushed itself back to the margins of the local political scene. The situation was exploited to the full by the Mahathir administration, which saw it as the best justification for its own policies vis-a-vis the local Islamist opposition. …