Suchergebnisse

The shattering defeat of PAS in the 2004 general elections, while holding on to the reins of government in the state of Kelantan by a tiny majority, heralded an era of introspection for party leaders and strategists. PAS had misread popular sentiment for justice and good governance, which had propelled it into recording massive gains at the expense of its arch-rival UMNO in 1999, as an endorsement of its Islamic state agenda. Its adamant retention of this agenda, costing it an alliance with the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition, was most vividly displayed by its revelation of the Islamic State Document (ISD) in late 2003. While PAS does not claim to have disavowed the ISD, deliberations on the ISD seem to have stalled in preference for internal party reforms. Prodding for the reforms are the young professionals whose influx into the party in the mid-1990s transformed the landscape of PAS which in the 1960s was closely identified with the Malay peasantry class. Clearly, the impact of globalization and the rise of the middle class during the era of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's Premiership have not eluded PAS. This paper traces such changes, focusing on the realms of political economy and ideological modernization. Internal pressures for changes have accelerated since the electoral setback of 2004 and a string of by-election defeats, at the risk of alienating grassroots party activists who hold the conservative ulama leadership in high esteem. This paper contends that any structural transformation in PAS will necessarily take a long time. Internal fissures are not automatically solved by electoral success, as experienced by PAS in the March 2008 elections, when PAS not only retained the state of Kelantan, but also shared the spoils of power in Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Penang as a component party of the newly assembled People's Pact (PR: Pakatan Rakyat) coalition.

This article argues that the strong relationship between Malaysia and Japan is also stimulated by symbiotic ties binding together both countries' respective major political parties, i.e., the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). UMNO, especially under the leadership of Mahathir Mohamad (1981–2003), derived political lessons from developments affecting LDP in Japan. First, emulation of Japan's success in economic development became the basis for the Look East Policy launched in 1981. Second, which is the focus of this article, lessons were drawn from the failure of LDP to retain power twice, in 1993 and in 2009. Although LDP's reversal of fortunes served as a landmark for UMNO in situating changes to its trajectory since 1993, the analogical reasoning and political lessons applied by UMNO leaders were, to a large extent, flawed. Arguably, politicians frequently do misjudge in analogizing between different situations which at a glance seem to be comparable.

This article discusses the role played by neo-conservative intellectuals during the tenure of Malaysia's fifth prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003-2009). Abdullah's leadership was distinguished by two qualities which arguably qualify it as "neo-conservative," in terms of revival of policies from a bygone era and the launching of political reforms within the framework of a conservative regime led by the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party. Using the theoretical experiences of dominant conservative regimes in the Soviet Union, Japan, China and Taiwan, the present authors are of the view that the policies and approach undertaken by Abdullah constitute a sharp departure from those of his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, for twenty-two years (1981-2003). Particularly eliciting controversy was the trust Abdullah put into a team of young advisors led by his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin. In this article, we look at how these young neo-conservative intellectuals, together with several identifiable individuals, brought about reforms in Abdullah's leadership and impacted on UMNO politics. We discover that, notwithstanding their enthusiasm for progressive reforms, these intellectuals had underestimated the strength of reactionary and conservative elements existing within an UMNO-based interlocking system, hence reducing them to an anomaly amongst these forces. The perception deficit befalling these reformists was aggravated by their encroachment into the political economy of the UMNO rentiers and prevailing weaknesses in Abdullah's support system. The article seeks to contribute to the discourse on intra-elite conflicts in dominant conservatives regimes, such as have taken place in dominant parties like the UMNO. Adapted from the source document.

This article argues that calls for the reassertion of royal power in Malaysia pre-dated the historic twelfth general elections of 2008. The erosion of UMNO's hegemony accelerated the revival of the monarchy. Ironically, an institution strongly identified with the feudal order found itself reinvigorated in an age of new politics.

This article traces the stellar accomplishments of the Sayyids, as descendants of the Prophet Muhammad are known in the field of Islamic da'wah. For the many Sayyids who excelled as torchbearers of Islam in the Malay world, propagating Islam was a lifetime vocation that passed without the stress that we find in the modern world. Their da'wah efforts encompassed such diverse undertakings as employing business acumen in confronting the challenges of colonialism and Malay court culture, immersing themselves in native communities via intermarriages and adoption of local customs, and carving a niche for themselves in local and international politics as advisors and emissaries. At grassroots level, da'wah for them was inseparable from daily chores and mundane affairs. That Western colonialism hardly made any impact in directly desacralizing the Malays is a tribute to the success of the Sayyids' da'wah efforts, which served as a buffer against the religious implications of colonial encroachment into autochthonous institutions and lifestyle. By looking at some examples of how the Sayyids interacted with local communities in selected regions of the Malay world, this article traces part of this glittering history of da'wah in the easternmost parts of the Islamic commonwealth. Most importantly, the Malay world's Islamization was distinguished by lack of violence and emphasis on educational progress more than anything else.

Frontmatter -- FOREWORD -- Middle Eastern Influences on Islamist Organizations in Malaysia: The Cases of ISMA, IRF and HTM / Abdul Hamid, Ahmad Fauzi / Mohd Razali, Che Hamdan Che -- Middle Eastern Influences on Islamist Organizations in Malaysia: The Cases of ISMA, IRF and HTM / Abdul Hamid, Ahmad Fauzi / Mohd Razali, Che Hamdan Che -- REFERENCES

Crouch, Harold: The recent resurgence of political Islam in Indonesia. Abdul Hamid, Ahmad Fauzi: An Islamist's view of an Islamic state and its relevance to a multi-racial society. Abubakar, Carmen A.: Domestic and external factors influencing the Islamic movement in Mindanao. Kassim, Yang Razali: The relationship between Singapore's Muslim community and international events