The passing of Fadzil Noor, President of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has come as a major shock to thousands of Malaysians and Islamist activists abroad.

As the president of PAS and a committed Islamist activist who stood for numerous causes related to Muslim concerns, he was known and respected in Islamist circles across the world.

Like the previous president, Ustaz Yusof Rawa, Fadzil Noor did not leave behind him a copious body of writing or works of Islamic scholarship (1), but his deeds spoke louder than words and it is for that that he will be remembered by many.

Ustaz Fadzil Mohamad Noor was born o­n March 13, 1937 in the village of Seberang Pumpung, near Alor Setar, Kedah. Although he lost his parents while he was still very young, he received extensive religious education thanks to his grandfather Tuan Guru Haji Idris Al-Jarumi who was a respected and well-known Ulama from Patani, Southern Thailand.

His early schooling began at the Malay School of Derga and lasted up to 1949. He then continued his studies at the Maktab Mahmud until 1958. In 1963 he was sent abroad to study at the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo under a scholarship offered by the state government of Kedah. There he studied syariah law until he graduated in 1967.

While studying at Al-Azhar, he was appointed to the post of deputy president of the Malay Students Association of Al-Azhar. Upon his return to Malaysia in 1967 he first taught at the Maktab Mahmud. He then proceeded to teach in the Faculty of Islamic Studies at the Technical University of Malaysia (UTM) until 1978.

Rise in PAS

During the 1970s Fadzil Noor also became a member of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) and the Malaysian Muslim Scholars Association (PUM). Between 1973 to 1974 he served as the secretary to the information bureau of Abim and he took part in the protests in support of the farmers of Baling that were organised by the students. Later when the president of the Abim movement Anwar Ibrahim was put under detention, it was Fadzil Noor who took over as president of Abim for a while. In 1974 he was also elected to the post of secretary-general to the PUM.

By then Fadzil Noor had already become a member of PAS. He had risen to the post of executive committee member in Kedah and was put in charge of the information bureau in the state. Because he chose to run for the 1978 elections at the constituencies of Alor Merah and Kuala Kedah, his contract with the university was terminated temporarily.

PAS was then under the leadership of the radical Malay ethno-nationalist Asri Muda, who was well known for his strident defence of Malay communitarian rights. During the era of Asri Muda, PAS underwent a major transformation to become the most Malay-centric party in the country. So strong was Asri's defence of Malay cultural and political supremacy that it even 'out-Umnoed' Umno. For a brief period PAS was a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional and as a component party of the BN, PAS under Asri Muda became the most vocal defender of the Malay language and Malay cultural and political dominance in the country.

Although a number of PAS leaders at the time accepted Asri Muda's decision to bring PAS into the BN and enjoyed the benefits of this short-lived alliance (PAS leaders like Asri Muda, Yusof Rawa and Nik Aziz were promptly given key positions in various government departments and institutions) there remained a significant number of PAS members who were opposed to the move. Fadzil Noor was o­ne of them. They argued that PAS' entry into the BN would dilute the party's ideological standing and they also opposed Asri's defence of Malay communitarianism o­n the grounds that such ethnocentric leanings were contrary to the universalist spirit of Islam.

In time, rumblings within the party led to the move to oust Asri Muda from the post of party president. The dissenters were marginalised at first, but circumstances soon turned in their favour when PAS' experiment with the BN failed in 1978-79. After the Kelantan crisis of 1979, PAS was out in the political wilderness o­nce again. By then Asri Muda was weakened and discredited within his own party, and his opponents began to mobilise against him. Their opportunity came in 1982, when the federal elections proved to be in their favour.

Ulama faction

The internal leadership struggle within the party itself led to the rise of the so-called 'ulama faction' within the party. It is important to note that during the elections of 1982 many of the PAS candidates who managed to win or retain their seats were aligned to the ulama of the party. While the PAS candidates who were identified with Asri Muda were defeated, a significant number of those who won were of ulama background.

This was clearly the case in Terengganu, where all five of the PAS state assembly representatives happened to be prominent ulama who enjoyed a considerable following in the state. Leading the pack was Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang who would later become o­ne of the vice-presidents of the party in 1989 (2). In Kedah the old guard of PAS led by men like Abu Bakar Umar and Sudin Wahab were also defeated by the new guard ulama made up of men like Ustaz Nakhaie Ahmad and Ustaz Fadzil Noor.

In the same year (1982) Asri Muda was ousted from his own party. This opened the way for the rise of the 'ulama faction' who have led the party till today. In 1983 Fadzil Noor was elected to the post of deputy president of PAS when Ustaz Yusuf Rawa was elected as its president.

As Yusof Rawa's right-hand man Fadzil Noor supported the internal structural reforms within the party which helped to elevate the ulama (Islamic scholars) to a higher level. This, for him, was in keeping with PAS' new image as an Islamist party led by the ulama and religious functionaries. Later in 1989 Fadzil was elected to the post of president of PAS after Ustaz Yusuf Rawa was forced to retire due to reasons of ill health.

Endearing qualities

Under the leadership of Fadzil Noor, PAS would continue to make more gains in the Malay-Muslim heartland of the north. Years later he would grant Yusof Rawa the credit of single-handedly moulding the Islamist party anew and bringing it 'back to the right track' along with other Islamist parties and movements that were part of the global resurgence of political Islam worldwide.

But Fadzil Noor was always the quiet and unassuming leader, and these were the qualities that endeared him to the rank and file of PAS and earned him the respect of his political opponents. Though the man was now the leader of the biggest Malay-Muslim opposition party in the country, he eschewed the politics of emotionalism and was never a man who was greedy for publicity.

Unlike other Islamists of the time, Fadzil Noor was never a man of slogans and quick solutions. His approach was pragmatic and calculated, indicating the mind of a strategist and planner at work whose own political project was always framed in the long-term.

Following PAS's victory in Kelantan in 1990, the party had to decide o­n a suitable candidate for the position of chief minister. The honour was bestowed upon Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who became the first ulama in Malaysia to hold such a high position in government. Fadzil Noor supported the decision to select the Tuan Guru as the chief minister o­n the grounds that it would bring PAS o­ne step closer to realising its ultimate political goal: to create an Islamic state under the rule of the Alim Ulama.

Though he was the president of PAS, Fadzil Noor never projected himself in the quest for power. Despite the fact that he failed to win a parliamentary seat during the elections of the 1980s, he did not attempt to manoeuvre himself into a position of power and authority within the party.

Fadzil Noor preferred to concentrate his attention o­n strengthening the institutional framework of PAS itself and building for the party a solid organic base of support via its membership and education networks. Himself an educator and pedagogue, Fadzil understood the need for gradual change through political and religious education.

In 1997, he helped to set up the Kolej Islam Darul Ulum (KIDU or Darul Ulum Islamic College) that was based at the Kompleks Pendidikan Islam Muassasah Darul Ulum at Pokok Sena, Kedah and he served as its first director (3). The fruits of his quiet efforts were soon to follow: By 2001 PAS' Kolej Islam Darul Ulum was sending its graduates for further studies at the prestigious al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.

Abiding concern

The other feature of Fadzil Noor's character was his sincere and abiding concern for Muslim causes worldwide. Under his leadership PAS played an active role in promoting and defending Muslim interests in the entire Muslim world. Fadzil ensured that the plight of Muslims suffering in countries like Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Mindanao, Kashmir and other troubled places were mentioned time and again at every PAS general assembly. Often his speeches would be combined with a direct critique o­n the nefarious machinations of the Western powers, and the various strategies they employed to persecute Muslims and undermine their political and economic endeavours.

The American bombing of Afghanistan in the wake of Sept 11 was Fadzil's last major political issue. While he lamented the attacks o­n the United States that took place o­n Sept 11, he also called o­n the American government to question its own conscience and to consider how the attacks could have been prompted by America's own skewered foreign policy abroad (in particular America's lopsided campaign to promote a selective interpretation of human rights and its constant support of Israel.)

When the US began its bombing of Afghanistan, Fadzil Noor stated that the attacks were not o­nly against Afghanistan's Taliban regime but that they constituted a direct assault o­n Muslims the world over.

Speaking to local and foreign journalists, Fadzil Noor said that "America has attacked a small and defenceless country like Afghanistan without showing the world strong reason or proof, (and) they are war criminals"(4). He added that "If the Americans are really waging a war against terrorism, why don't they attack Israel, who are terrorists against the Palestinians?" The president of the Islamist party ended the interview with a clarion call to arms when he stated that: "all Muslims must oppose these criminals this time, there is no denying a call for jihad".

End of gentlemanly politics era

All in all, Fadzil Noor's achievements must be set in the context of Malaysia's convoluted politics and the tenor of Islamist politics worldwide. At a time when many Muslim countries had experienced political turmoil and civil strife, Fadzil Noor's quiet and gradualist approach to the question of political Islam demonstrated a sense of personal conviction and singular purpose which did not distract the man from the issues at hand. His aim was to pave the way for the creation of an Islamic state, but he did not sanction the use of violence and never resorted to the use of a radical discourse that might have dislocated the political system and civic culture of society as a whole.

A pragmatist, realist and technocrat at heart, he was PAS' moderate and rational face, giving PAS the credibility and respectability it needed at the time. By holding back the more radical elements within the party, Fadzil Noor performed an invaluable service to both PAS and Malaysia as a whole. Thanks to his efforts, the contestation between PAS and its nemesis Umno was conducted with relative moderation and finesse.

Politics tends to favour the loud and the brash. Those quiet and unassuming leaders are often overlooked in favour of the slogan-mongers and pulpit-bashers. Fadzil Noor entered the tumultuous arena of Malaysian politics with an air of quiet reservation and composure, and his silent exit was in keeping with his dignified and urbane character. His passing marks the end of an era of gentlemanly politics, and he will be sorely missed for that. Qalu inna lillahi wa inna illahi raji'un.

Dr FARISH A NOOR is a Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist. 'The Other Malaysia' tries to unearth aspects of Malaysia's history and culture that have been erased or relegated to the margins in order to remind us that there remains another Malaysia that is often forgotten.

Endnotes:

1. One of his better known writings is Aqidah dan Perjuangan where he discussed, among other things, the relationship between Islam and nationalism and the role of Muslim women in politics. (See: Fadzil Mohd. Noor, Aqidah dan Perjuangan , Dewan Pustaka Fajar, Shah Alam, 1986.)
2. Apart from Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, the other four PAS state assembly representatives were Ustaz Harun Taib, Ustaz Abu Bakar Chik, Wan Abdul Mutalib and Mustafa Ali. Abdul Hadi Awang described the five of them as the 'five fingers' which when put together formed the 'fist' of PAS that would break down the hegemonic hold of Umno in the state of Terengganu.
3. The other director of the college was Ustaz Abdul Aziz Hanafi.
4. Malaysiakini.com, "US embassy under guard, PAS labels Americans 'war criminals'." (Oct 8, 2001).