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10

The Battle of Bangi: The Struggle for

Political Islam in Urban Malaysia

Hew Wai Weng

PAS is the only party that ghts for Islam.… Voting for PAS might not directly
guarantee you a ticket to heaven, but you will get pahala [rewards in the
afterlife].
– Ustaz Ahmad Dusuki, Shah Alam, 25 April 2018
PAS is only one of several vehicles for Islamic struggle and is not the religion
itself.… I am not asking the people to go against Islam. I am asking Malaysians
to vote for PH.
– Ustaz Nik Omar, Bangi, 4 May 2018

In Malaysia, religion is an important factor, although not the only one, in
determining how Malay-Muslims vote. As other chapters in this volume
explain (e.g., those by Su an and Lee or Saravanamuttu), the majority of
Malaysians voted against Najib Razak and his United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO) in Malaysia’s 14th general election (GE14) due to
such issues as rampant corruption scandals and the introduction of a goods
and services tax (GST), which contributed to rising costs of living. Yet, debates
surrounding various issues related to Islam also shaped Muslim public opinion
and contributed to Malay voters’ choice between Pakatan Harapan (Alliance
of Hope, PH) or Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS) as
an alternative to UMNO. erefore, both PH and PAS incorporated Islamic
messages in their campaigns. I focus in this chapter on these messages, through

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