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e Battle of Bangi 203

places that do not re ect an ‘Islamic lifestyle’, such as casinos, bars, nightclubs,
and karaoke outlets ( eldnotes, 11 April 2018).
PH organised two talks entitled ‘Bicara Ummah: Menjawab Persoalan Agama
dan Isu Semasa tentang Pakatan Harapan’ (Ummah Talk: Answering Questions
on Religion and Current Issues of Pakatan Harapan) to reassure Sungai
Ramal voters that the party is committed to upholding Islam, albeit in a more
inclusive way. I attended the rst talk, on 18 April 2018, featuring Amanah
candidate Mazwan Johar; its timbalan penasihat umum (deputy general advisor)
Ustaz Abdul Ghani Samsuddin (who had issued a statement that same day
entitled ‘Mengundi Pakatan Harapan dari Perspektif Siasah Syar’iyah’, Voting
Pakatan Harapan from a Perspective of Sharia Politics); Bersatu local leader
Azita Amrin; PKR Perak chief and ABIM’s fourth president, Muhammad Nur
Manuty; as well as ABIM’s rst president, Razali Nawawi. Both Nur Manuty
and Razali Nawawi are long-term residents of Bangi. As the line-up of speakers
for this event suggests, given the lack of Malay grassroots members in PH
after PAS left PR, IKRAM and ABIM activists played important roles in PH’s
campaigns in Bangi and many other constituencies. e PH campaign team in
Bangi included many youth activists from IKRAM, while a local PKR leader
who ran one of the campaign o ces there was from an ABIM background.
One of the highlights of PH’s campaign was a dialogue with Nik Omar
entitled, Legasi TGNA di Bandar Baru Bangi (Legacy of Tok Guru Nik Aziz
in Bangi New Town). After being nominated as a PH candidate in Kelantan,
Nik Omar spent a few days in the Klang Valley. He gave talks in places such
as Bangi, Shah Alam, and Putrajaya—places with high concentrations of
middle-class Malay voters. Nik Omar’s sharing the same stage with Mahathir
Mohamad and other PH leaders in Putrajaya was meant to reassure Malay
voters that PH would not abandon Islamic causes if it took over the federal
government. Educated in religious studies in Egypt and Jordan, soft-spoken
Nik Omar has in-depth Islamic knowledge that he is able to communicate
to public audiences in a humble way. ese appearances were reminiscent of
his father, Nik Aziz; PH promoted that image to convince Malay voters that
Amanah, not PAS, is the party that continues the struggle of Nik Aziz. By
capitalising on the aura of the late Nik Aziz and hailing him as an exemplary
Muslim leader, PH emphasised social inclusiveness and working with people
from all walks of life, including non-Muslims. Yet, at the same time, it
maintained conservative religious and moral viewpoints.
During the dialogue in Bangi, Nik Omar suggested that his father was not
only ghting for his party (PAS) per se, but more importantly, for Islam and
for dakwah. For him, dakwah was ‘Islamic outreach’ towards both the broader

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