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.