Malaysia's new premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been in the news over the past weeks. After decades of knowing only the larger-than-life Dr Mahathir Mohamad, many Malaysians are now coping with the experience of having a new premier. There is a genuine hunger for information about him.

One of the many stories told about Abdullah, is his great family tradition in Islam and politics. Thanks to the media, the names of his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah Fahim, after whom Abdullah was named, and his father Ahmad Badawi, are familiar to us now.

Sheikh Abdullah Fahim (Fahim is an abbreviation for Ibrahim) was born in Mecca in 1869 and settled in Malaya with his family, including his son Ahmad Badawi, in 1910.

(All Malaysian prime ministers have had foreign blood. Tunku Abdul Rahman's mother was Siamese. Tun Razak had some Bugis lineage. Hussien Onn some Turkish blood from his legendary grandmother. Mahathir had Indian blood. And, Pak Lah claims Arabic ancestry)

During his youth, Sheikh Abdullah was immersed in religious studies and teaching. He later became one of the greatest religious scholars in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. He was appointed as the first Mufti of Penang, when the position was created in 1951, and held the post until his death in 1961.

Much loved by grandpa

It was reported that Prime Minister Abdullah was much loved by his grandfather, who introduced the young man to al-Quran. Till this day, the late Sheikh remains as Pak Lah's role model of a pious man.

In the recent massive media coverage on Pak Lah, Sheikh Abdullah was credited for deciding the date of Merdeka. During the elections of the Federal Legislative Council in 1955, the Alliance Party promised to bring Independence to Malaya within four years, having 1959 in mind.

The Alliance's very impressive mandate (51 out of 52 seats) on a platform for Merdeka probably encouraged the then chief minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to rethink this plan. Umno Youth chief Sardon Jubir was tasked to seek the advice from Sheikh Abdullah, a renowned falak (astrologer) in the country. Ahmad Badawi, the then deputy chief of Umno Youth, joined Sardon in the meeting.

Sheikh Abdullah told the Umno Youth delegation that Merdeka should either be in 1957 or 1962. He suggested Aug 31, 1957, which was reverentially followed by the Independence elite.

Ahmad Badawi, the father of Pak Lah, was also a pious man. After settling in Penang in his teens, he went back to the Middle East to pursue religious studies. He rose to become the most senior Umno member in the Gerakan-led Penang state executive council in the 1970s. His rank was equivalent to a de facto deputy chief minister, as seen from his several appointments as acting chief minister while Lim Chong Eu was abroad.

Ahmad Badawi passed away in 1977. Pak Lah, then a senior civil servant (ministerial secretary-general), was persuaded to enter politics to inherit his father's chairmanship of the Kepala Batas Umno division. From there Abdullah rose to national prominence.

It is often mentioned that both Sheikh Abdullah and Ahmad Badawi joined Umno in 1946 at its inception. In fact, Sheikh Abdullah was instrumental in the formation of Umno's religious department in May 1946.

However, it is surprising that writings on the contribution of Sheikh Abdullah and his family towards the formation of Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS) are conspicuously absent.

It is a known fact that PAS emerged from the ranks of Umno members. (Dr Mahathir was wrong when he claimed at the Umno general assembly this year that "PAS' formation had the blessings of the British colonialists as the party's objective was to weaken the Malays who were already united under Umno at that time."

Among PAS founders

Umno sponsored two conferences of the ulama (religious scholars) in February 1950 and August 1951, in Muar and Kuala Lumpur respectively. The second ulama conference on Aug 23, 1951 at the Sultan Sulaiman Club decided to form a separate political organisation.

Persatuan Islam Se Malaya (PAS) was formed at the inaugural meeting on Nov 24, 1951 at the Butterworth Umno headquarters. Penang Mufti Sheikh Abdullah was invited to open the conference. He was later the only other candidate to contest against Ustaz Ahmad Fuad Hassan in PAS' first presidency election.

Sheikh Abdullah's sons Ahmad Badawi and Ghazali Abdullah were among the founders of PAS at that conference. At the first central committee meeting of PAS in April 1952, held at Madrasah Ad-Daariat al-Maarif al-Wathaniah, a religious school founded by Sheikh Abdullah, Ahmad Badawi was entrusted the task to form the Dewan Pemuda (Youth wing) of PAS. Ahmad Badawi set up a preparatory office of Dewan Pemuda at Madrasha Khairiyyah, Pokok Sena. He was the Mudir (governor) of the school. To this date, PAS Youth still regards Ahmad Badawi as its first founder-leader.

Members of the Abdullah family distanced themselves from PAS shortly after a ban was imposed on its executive committee members to hold office in other parties. (PAS finally moved out from the shadow of Umno in 1955 when it banned dual-membership altogether.)

To further illustrate the link between the Abdullah family and PAS, it should be noted that Kepala Batas, the home ground of the Abdullah family, was the seat of PAS' national headquarters between October 1953 and 1956.

In other words, the Abdullah family was key to the formation of PAS.

Abdullah Badawi, who was born in 1939, was only in his teens when the family was active in PAS. He has nothing to do with this part of history, just as he has nothing to do with his grandfather's role in deciding the date of Merdeka.

But if the media is prepared to go to great lengths to talk about the falak 's choice of date, then it is only fair to mention the Abdullah family's instrumental role in the early years of PAS! Mentioning this role brings to the fore a more complete historical picture rather than merely remembering details that are convenient for Umno.

LIEW CHIN TONG is a research student at the Australian National University, Canberra.

References :

Milne, R.S., and Diane K. Mauzy.(1999) Malaysian Politics under Mahathir. London: Routledge.

Funston, N.J.(1980) Malay Politics in Malaysia: A Study of the United Malays National Organisation and Party Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books p.92

Bernama 21/6/2003 "Umno Members Must Never Feel Intimidated By PAS, Says Mahathir"

PAS was registered as a political party a day before 1955 general election and its current name Parti Islam Se Malaysia was settled in 1973 when the Registrar of Societies finally accepted a 1971 amendment to its constitution. See Funston, Malay Politics in Malaysia p. 100 fn 89.

Safie Ibrahim (1981) The Islamic Party of Malaysia: Its Formative Stages and Ideology. Pasir Puteh, Kelantan: Nuawi Bin Ismail.p.27