In Isma, a portrait of political Islam driven by urban middle-class professionals
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malay Mail
With a well-organised machinery comprising urban middle-class Malay professionals and a growing base among younger Muslims, Isma does not have a stereotypical face of an organisation derided by its critics as fringe extremists and religious bigots.
Its leadership includes accountants, academics and medical doctors while its activists frequently argue its case for Malay and Muslim dominance in English-language articles.
But with its hard-line stance and uncompromising views against Malaysia’s racial and religious minorities, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has quickly risen to become the new poster child for the right-wing Malay-Muslim movement in Malaysia.
In just a year since the divisive Election 2013, Isma has been grabbing headlines with its controversial views. The group’s president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman labelled Malaysia’s non-Muslims citizens as “immigrants” with no right to object to Malaysia becoming an Islamic country, or to question the position of the Bumiputera community.
Isma, like several other Malay-Muslim non-governmental organisations in the country, contends that non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, have oppressed the Malays so much that they have become unable to assert full dominance over the country’s politics and economy.
Urging unity under Islam, Isma wants Malays to counter the “threat” posed by-non-Muslims. It has also called on Malays and Muslims to be aggressive in defending Islam.
But what separates Isma from other groups with similar goals and agendas like Perkasa? Who are Isma’s members, and how do they draw interest from their support base? Do they have any political ambitions or are they affiliated with any parties?
Tracing Isma’s roots
“Our main goal is to create and help nurture the Malay community with a specific agenda. What makes us different is our diverse membership base and our non-partisan affiliation…Our ideology is that Malays and Islam are synonymous,” Abdullah told The Malay Mail Online in an recent interview.
Formed on July 7, 1997, it was originally known as Ikatan Siswazah Muslim Malaysia before it changed its name to Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia in 2005.
According to Isma deputy president Aminuddin Yahaya, Isma’s role and target audience in 1997 was more focused towards learned, educated “middle-class Malays”, but this changed in 2005 following a stable growing support base.
“We then expanded our audience to include youths, today anyone the age of 18 and above can join. Isma fills in the void created by both Umno and PAS.
“Some Malays find it hard to accept Umno’s message, while PAS doesn’t really fight for Malays but more on Islam,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
