Islam Embedded: Historial development of the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party PAS (1951-2003)
Farish A Noor
Malaysian Sociological Research Institute 2004; RM320 (Vol I & II)

Despite the typo on the cover, this two-volume tome is good. Though it can't be considered good historical writing, it is good writing, and thus it has a wider appeal than an academic chronicle. Contrary to what one might expect in a 750-page political exegesis, this book is not boring, it is accessible and understandable (Farish only briefly lapses into a discussion of "subaltern discourses"). Sometimes the author's goal seems confused; is he creating a reference or a commentary?

In his own words, though, this book "is an attempt to explain and understand the phenomenal emergence, rise and development of a political party that has been on the scene in Malaysia for more than five decades and which was the first Islamist party in Asia to come to power via constitutional means." At over RM300, however, this book will find its way mainly to libraries and the shelves of academics, which is a pity as Islam Embedded is something of a monument.

The book is very good at describing the cultural, religious and intellectual influences on the various actors. Farish is at his best when elucidating the genealogies of ideology and conflict. If not already acquainted with the Aligarh and Deobandi schools, the reader learns a great deal about these institutions and the influence they have had on Islamic political discourse. From the beginning the author weaves a tale of idealism and hope that motivated the early PAS activists. The early PAS activists and their ideological forebears formulated their ideas in a milieu of change and with the assumption that they were charting a course to a better future, to something new.

The Islam present these days

This is a very different kind of Islamism that exists today, and the author does a good job of contrasting the two, and in describing the processes that transformed the former into the latter. He describes comprehensively the family and educational background of each of the prime movers in detail, and it becomes easy for the reader to understand why certain people behaved in certain ways, why they felt and thought certain things. He describes a rational process: "The panacea for the ills of the Muslims lay in coming to terms with their lot in the present, trying to understand the causes of their decline and to work out rational, systematic and practical programmes of action."

Farish is able to divine order from ideological chaos; he rightly begins his history years before the founding of PAS with the Malay-Muslim modernization movement of the 1920s and 30s. He contrasts the "neo-feudalism" of Umno with the idealism of the earlier Islamists, which finally coalesced in the foundation of PAS. The book describes the early days of PAS as "a time of crisis for the fledgling Islamic party [which] was almost entirely without funds and material resources". It is actually exciting to read how the early activists got the party off the ground and built its resources, to feel the energy in the new movement.

The author also adroitly depicts the reactive nature of the Islamization race throughout the course of Malaysia's post-colonial history. His keenest of observations stem from his analysis of the competition between Umno and the perpetual underdog of PAS. Farish's summaries are brilliant:

Umno's brand of modernist and moderate Islam was based on a chain of equivalences that equated Islam with all that was positive in its eyes. Islam was equated with modernity, economic development, material progress, rationality and liberalism. (It is interesting to note that other values like democracy and human rights were no part of this chain of equivalences.)

In the same way that PAS's oppositional dialectics framed a reversed chain of equivalences as its mirror opposite, Umno's understanding of Islam was also framed against a negative chain of equivalences which equated PAS's Islam with obscurantism, extremism, fanaticism, intolerance, backwardness and militancy. This was the 'wrong' version of Islam, to which Umno's Islam was the answer. The aim of the state's islamisation policy was to normalize and institutionalize the 'right' version of Islam against the 'wrong' version promoted by PAS, in terms of both ortho-practic behavior and state policy.

He also shows the process of melding politics and religion; the development of PAS in the northern quarters of Malaysia shows how an interest group can wield religion to gain political and social credibility. The author makes good use of the numerous interviews he conducted with principles and individuals close to the events depicted in the book. It's good primary source history and important documentation in these regards.

The writer's preferences

It is easy to see Farish's preferences, though, which is one of the pitfalls of pop-history, and one of the dangers resulting when the chronicler is too close to the subject. He is an admirer of Burhanuddin al-Helmy, the third president of PAS. Burhanuddin's idealistic and open interpretation of the Islamic faith appeals much more to the author than the racially-based Islamic politics of his successor, Asri Muda. It seems that the author feels that PAS has strayed from the course plotted by Pak Doktor, the visionary genius of the nascent movement:

The political philosophy of Dr Burhanuddin stands in stark contrast to the position held by the current PAS leaders. The PAS leadership had openly committed the party to the struggle for an Islamic state, but the party's president grafted together elements of Islamist, nationalist, socialist and reformist thought in keeping with the intellectual current in the post-colonial world. Unlike the conservative ulama, Pak Doktor did not resort to the use of sanctimonious religious phrases or obscure esoteric terms to beguile his followers and opponents alike.

After Burhanuddin leaves the picture, Farish shows the decline of PAS due to the mismanagement of the forgotten (at least in the party annals) Asri Muda. At the same time he describes the rise of Anwar Ibrahim and Abim; as one star rises, the curtain seems to fall on another. PAS was not able to keep up with the changing times, and its brief but disastrous flirtation with Barisan Nasional is chronicled in detail: "PAS's entry into the Alliance created the impression that the party has settled back into its niche as the Islamic affairs bureau of Umno." As a result Muda's political machine fell apart, and in its placed emerged the ulama faction of PAS, an incarnation that is more or less intact today.

The nationalist brand of politics of Muda was quickly replaced by an undistilled brand of Islamism as a blueprint for society politics. Farish describes this metamorphosis as a reflection of events transpiring in the world at large: "the mood had changed and the concerns of Malay nationalism had given way to other, broader concerns related to the ideology of pan-Islamism." The ulama, led by Ustaz Yusof Rawa, were able to place PAS in a global context and hence were able to give local politics worldwide implications. This new brew, however, cheapened the struggle that the original visionaries of PAS were waging.

The common man

This book is extremely instructive because throughout it portrays the politics of fundamentalism and the various faces of the Islamist movement, faces that coincide with the personages leading PAS at various stages of its development. From the esoteric beginnings of PAS through the corrupt middle years up to the present day under the leadership of Nik Aziz, the stump preacher with the ability to "bring Islam home" to the common man.

Some of the most important lessons of Farish's work maybe serendipitous. What one finds is that PAS and parties like it have become a convenient labeling mechanism for the west. PAS passively contributes to the "us-vesus-them" dilemma by its mere existence.

To the Western worldview, as it is portrayed by the author, the fundamentalists have their fiefdoms in places like Kelantan; the puppeteers of the secular world are content to allow PAS and the islamists to remain in the closet, tucked away from the true locus of power. The robes, fiery literature, and skullcaps serve all the better to distinguish the paradigms. The author, probably unwittingly, leads the reader to understand that PAS is no threat: "to demonise PAS as some sort of 'fundamentalist menace' or, worse, still, to link it to international terror networks and militant movements would be both factually inaccurate as well as politically counterproductive."

This is true, but not for the reasons Farish forwards. It is true because there is no such thing as a fundamentalist menace, at least not to society as a whole or the global order. The "menace" is more of an individual one. Farish shows this in his book, in the campaign of the seemingly cyclical events that contribute to the risings and fallings of PAS throughout Malaysia's history; PAS has a populist appeal at certain points, but at other times it is widely recognized that "these guys aren't playing by the same rules as everyone else," and their fortunes fall. Farish partially understands this, at least, and is able to incorporate it into his Islamization race thesis:

Related to the demonisation of PAS's image is the misunderstanding of its message and demands. Thus far, the Umno-led government has assumed that the vote-swing in PAS's favour has been a genuine swing in favour of Islamisation and the Islamic state. As a result, the other arm of UMNO's strategy is to out-Islamise PAS by creating an Islamisation programme of its own. This has led to the introduction of Islamic laws and regulations, expansion of the Islamic bureaucracy and empowerment of religious authorities in Malaysiaall of which have contributed to the narrowing of discursive space in the country in general and the Malay-Muslim community in particular.

What's Farish's game?

The substantial downside of the book, though, is the author's determination to proselytize the Gospel of Farish. Farish has an agenda, and anyone familiar with his writings knows that he doesn't attempt to hide it. Having an agenda is not necessarily a bad thing, and this book is consistent with that agenda, but in a work of this scope it is somewhat irritating. The author's ambitions betray his mission in the book; at times he is able to adeptly provide a global context for the events unfolding in Malaysia, but at other times his attempts fall victim to the minute details related within. Anyone willing to read 750 pages of Farish is more than likely familiar with the rudiments; his editorial take is better suited for his columns.

In the last quarter of the book, when historical research gives way to the author's empiricism, the editorializing becomes predictable. It dilutes the value of the book and threatens to lump it into the 'current events' category with the rest of the pulp politics that are forgotten after a year. That would be an injustice to this work, though, because it is important. The failing is that the book does not suggest anything significantly new, no new interpretations or support for the interpretations forwarded, leaving the reader unsatisfied. Farish's disaffection with the current state of affairs is obvious, and so while this monograph comments at length on those issues, true lessons are sparse. One would expect more from so storied a scholar.

In the end, though, he wishes to portray the world unfolding through his lens, and so the reader is forced to accept the Farish interpretation of the world to derive any use from this work. I would estimate that 30 percent of the text of the book is footnotes, and these are all over the mark, ranging from lengthy editorializing to a book review in one instance. The extensive biographical information on every person featured in the book should be in an appendix for reference, instead of being in footnotes.

The book should also be condensed into one volume, because as it stands, it is prohibitively expensive. The index and bibliography are included in both volumes, but the tables and charts are included only as appendices in the second volume, which is cumbersome and inconvenient. If the book was more focused, it might have fit into one volume, and the price could have been reduced. The author might have also focused on developing his ideas, some of them suffer and seem to be rhetorical propositions rather than reasoned reflection.

For example, one of the major conclusions about the true motives of PAS:

This, then is the real objective of PAS's grand political and ideological project: to bring to an end the moment of political contestation in politics itself and to create a radically new socio-political order where stability, harmony and peace are achieved at the cost of alterity, difference, and the freedom of interpretation. Like the Leviathan of Hobbes, the Islamic state that is the dream of PAS and other contemporary Islamist movements seeks to restore order to society by arresting it at the same time, on all levels social, ideological, discursive and epistemological. It is a political programme inherently anti-political in nature and intent, one that seeks to use politics as a weapon against itself.

Verbosity

At this point the reader is confronted with the question: "Is that it?" It seems so obvious and shallow, so pedestrian and clichd; this is the view of many pop-pundits on the driving force behind the Islamic movement: to change everything. Are there no deeper sociological interpretations?

There are also instances of the author "setting the record straight", as in the following passage:

Lest the reader be left with the wrong impression, I would like to point out here that takfirdespite its prevalence among so many Islamist movements and circles todayhas no basis in Islamic faith or ethics. Indeed, what the Western media has singularly failed to note over the years is the vast body of literature and speeches produced by countless respectable ulama who have condemned the culture and practice of takfir on the grounds that it ultimately distorts relations between Muslims and does a great disservice to the image and message of Islam. Numerous ulama have warned against the tendency of ghuluw (excessiveness), tanattu (meticulous religiosity), tashdid (excessive austerity) and taq'sub (blind deference to authority) that is so prevalent among the more hard-line and extremist Islamist movements.

This sort of comment, while informative, is best left on the cutting room floor, or set aside for a commentary on Islamic Politics.

Farish also tries to have it both ways; he predictably asserts that terrorism is a manifestation of anger against the west, but at the same time decries it as extremism. At times he seems to be a monolithicist, decrying the mistaken view of the "western media" or the western establishment of Islam; he seems to think that the Western interpretation of Islam is that the religion is singular and extreme while he unwittingly seems to be committing the same logical fallacy. There is no attempt to analyse, understand, or deconstruct the myriad interests and currents acting from the West, and hence he misses the mark in some places. Furthermore, Noor seems oblivious to the fact that the leaders of PAS seem to have the same dichotomous worldview he indicts the West for.

Mixed messages

The author is also groping with the problem of PAS; Farish is obviously the authority on the development of the party, there can be no argument about that. But at times he seems confused, as in the following two passages, which are separated by a few sentences:

It has to be noted that much of what has been said and written about PAS in the wake of 11 September has been ill-conceived and off the mark. While it is true that radical elements indeed existed in the rank and file of PAS in the past, it would be wrong to say that the party is committed to any form of radical Islamic politics as a matter of policy

However, PAS's open support for the Taliban, its uncompromising stand on the question of the Islamic state and its relentless campaign to introduce hudud law in Terengganu and Kelantan all helped to paint a picture of the party as an organization bent on altering the political terrain of the country for good.

If the author means to assert that PAS's performance in Kelantan is not indicative of a scheme to radically alter the political and social landscape, he should do a better job of explaining himself.

All in all the book is a noble effort and an outstanding and much needed contribution to the discourse on Islam and politics. Farish is the right person to write this type of book, but he should discipline himself better next time. Hopefully he will learn to make the leap from political commentary to lasting historical writing. The injection of the editorializing sacrifices the authoritativeness with which Farish is able to write on historical matters. When the editorializing is injected, he becomes just another political writer, presumably attempting to use history to advance an agenda. Farish has the capability, however, to make a contribution that will outlast himself or anyone that reads this book.

Farish has so much to contribute and so much to say that it is unfortunate that he tried to cram it all into this book. The work suffers as a result. His ability to analyze society through the lenses of political science, religious philosophy, and sociology give him a unique perspective and qualify Farish to comment on most issues; here, though, he tries to comment on all of them at once.

Nevertheless, this is an important contribution to literature; the historical analysis is superlative, and Farish's writing style makes the book readable. Although he admits that "to describe this book as a history of PAS itself would be misleading", his explanation that it is rather "fundamentally a history of the ideas and agents that have helped to shape the form and content of the country's main opposition party" is not apropos. The book is not a historical book because Farish is himself guilty of the failings he attributes to others: "... too often, talk of PAS and its politics in Malaysia has been distorted by the unstated biases and prejudices of the commentators and analysts themselves."