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e Battle of Bangi 197

Often overlooked as a party with Islamic credentials is PKR. ABIM played an
important role, along with more secular forces, in establishing this multiethnic
party in 1999. e party’s key leader, Anwar Ibrahim, positions himself as a
‘Muslim democrat’ and the party includes many Malay-Muslim leaders with
strong Islamic backgrounds, many of them activists from ABIM and IKRAM.
ere are also Muslim activists in other parties, such as Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki in
UMNO and Maszlee Malik in Bersatu, both of whom were academics at the
International Islamic University of Malaysia. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki is also the
former president of Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM, the
student wing of ABIM) and now is the UMNO Youth chief. Maszlee Malik was
a central committee member of IKRAM and now is a member of Parliament for
Bersatu and the minister of Education. In short, there are elements of political
Islam in all Malay-majority political parties in Malaysia.
As I have indicated, Islamic organisations such as ABIM, IKRAM, and
Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA, Malaysian Muslim Solidarity) have played
important roles in shaping discourses and practices of political Islam in
Malaysia, including during GE14 (see also Ahmad Fauzi and Che Hamdan,
this volume). ese three urban-based tarbiyah (education) and dakwah
(preaching) organisations have, in di erent ways and to di erent extents, been
in uenced by the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Closely associated with Anwar Ibrahim, ABIM has pursued di erent
political engagements over the years. ABIM has taken a moderate approach
to political Islam, balancing global Islamic aspirations with local traditions.
Many of its politically active current and former members are with PKR, some
are in Amanah, and some, but fewer, are in PAS and UMNO. Some ABIM
leaders also play key roles in the operation of Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), a
think-tank associated with the PKR-led Selangor state government. Prior to
GE14, for instance, IDE organised a seminar entitled ‘Maqasid Sharia in the
Elections’, which included speakers from PH, ABIM, and IKRAM.
IKRAM, formerly Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM, Society for Islamic
Reform), is another key actor in political Islam. IKRAM is more ideologically
rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood than ABIM or ISMA. It has close relations
with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in Indonesia and the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) in Turkey. Yet, unlike PKS, which is perceived
in Indonesia as being exclusive of non-Muslims and more ‘secular-minded’
Muslims, IKRAM is seen in a Malaysian context as being inclusive. It has
developed close relationships with non-Muslims in social movements such as
electoral-reform group Bersih. A wing of IKRAM, Hidayah, has also organised
Chinese New Year celebrations in mosques, to promote the idea of Islam as a

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