IntroductionIn the 1980s, the understanding and practice of Islam in Malaysiaentered a new phase. The global Islamic resurgence coupled with localMalaysian factors saw numerous important events talcing place. First, in1981 Dr. Mahathir Mohamed became Malaysia's fourth prime minister.Second, in 1982 the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) wastaken over by new leadership that claimed total commitment to settingup an Islamic state and rejecting nationalism and ethnic politics. Also, inthe same year, Anwar Ibrahim, then the president of the MalaysianIslamic Youth Movement (ABIM), joined Dr. Mohamed's government,winning the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) youthmovement's presidency and joining the UMNO-led cabinet as a juniorminister.The Mohamed administration, unlike its predecessors, openly supportedIslamic reform at all levels of society. Islam's role became more thanceremonial; it became a source of values for development, facilitatedthrough the Inculcation of Islamic Values Policy (in 1981) and the establishment of numerous Islamic institutions such as the Islamic Bank ofMalaysia and the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) in1983. Although many see these developments as being merely politicallymotivated to counter the influence of PAS, it is without doubt that Dr.Mohamed was quite consistent with his earlier Views which he expressedin The Malay Dilemma. In his book he described Islam as the “greatestsingle influence on Malay value concepts and ethical codes,” thus beinga positive factor to develop the Malays ...
