The Arab Uprisings and Malaysia’s Islamist Movements Influence, Impact and Lessons Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series

This book examines the attitude of Malaysia?s Islamist movements ? The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS); The National Trust Party (AMANAH); The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity Front (ISMA) ? towards the Arab Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.

The book analyses the perceptions of Islamist movement activists, politicians and members in Malaysia towards the 2011 Arab Uprisings, popularly known as the ?Arab Spring?. A questionnaire based-survey as well as in-depth interviews with activists and leaders ranging from individuals in opposing political parties (PAS and AMANAH) to non-government Islamist organisations (ABIM and ISMA) informs the findings of the book. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the author analyses how the events impacted the activism, political approach and attitudes of the members of Islamic movements towards the issues of regime change, civil disobedience, political revolution, democracy, Islamism and political stability. The book demonstrates that Malaysian Islamists are mainly in support of free and democratic elections as a medium for political change as opposed to overthrowing the previous BN-led regime via civil disobedience, street demonstration or ?revolution?.

A novel approach in examining the connections between Islamic movements in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and Africa, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Politics, History, Social Movements, Political Islam, Middle Eastern Studies and Southeast Asian Studies.

List of tables

Preface

List of acronyms and abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Glossary of non-English terms

1 Introduction

2 The development of the Islamist movements in Malaysia

3 Knowledge and perceptions of the Islamist movements in Malaysia towards the Arab Uprisings

4 The influences and impacts of the Arab Uprisings on the Islamist movements in Malaysia

5 Revolution or political stability? Malaysia’s Islamist movements and lessons from the Arab Uprisings

6 Concluding remarks and perspectives

Bibliography

Index

Mohd Irwan Syazli Saidin is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK, and a senior lecturer in Middle East Politics in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.