Despite vocal support for the Taliban by several PAS leaders, such rhetoric is highly unlikely to translate into any actions beyond the permissible.
Political Islam
Amidst the current Timah Whiskey controversy and Syariah-related developments such as that in Kelantan, rationality must prevail in multi-religious Malaysia.
The pace of Islamisation in Malaysia has undoubtedly increase in the past decade. Spiritual Hijrah by the masses towards greater piety is of course commendable – until it is used by celebrities, entrepreneurs, and politicians for their personal gain.
Islamic populism is currently a go-to strategy for Malay-based political parties vying for support form the same pool of electorates. This has been detrimental to the rights and liberties of non-Muslims in Malaysia with the possibility of extremism.
Article is a preamble to Dina Zaman’s new book on Malay(sia), Malayness. Her book is scheduled for sale in Q3 of 2021.
This is an exclusive statement by FPI lawyer, Aziz Yanuar, sought after its disbandment. The following statement was translated verbatim into English from Bahasa Indonesia.
After 22 years of existence and rife with controversies, the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) has finally collapsed during the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration. Was the government right in unilaterally disbanding FPI without warning, much less court proceedings?
The popularity of figures such as FPI leader Rizieq Shihab signals a worrying trend of growing hardline conservatism among Indonesian Muslims.