In the second of a five-part series on political Islam in Southeast Asia, CNA looks at how religious leaders popular among youths in Malaysia and Indonesia have at times waded into politics with their teachings and galvanised followers.
Ustaz Haikal Hassan of Indonesia and Ustaz Azhar Idrus of Malaysia. KUALA TERENGGANU/JAKARTA: With his casual style of lectures delivered in a thick Terengganu accent, Malaysian Islamic religious leader Ustaz Azhar Idrus has grown in popularity among Muslims in Southeast Asia.
It was Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who has since been declared the winner of the election by the country’s General Elections Commission . The study surveyed 13,122 adult respondents across six Asian countries between June and September 2022. As its ‘last samurai' chief battles poor health, frontmen from factions in Malaysia's Islamist party PAS are touted as successor
PAS is currently in the opposition bench in the federal government as part of the Perikatan Nasional coalition. “We are not vain desperate for more subscribers. In all my life I have never asked my viewers to please click on the bell or subscribe to my channel. If you don’t watch my videos, it’s fine. But if you do, thank you.”
In response, Mr Anwar said that “the preacher from Terengganu” - a reference to Ustaz Azhar - had taken his interpretation of the Quranic chapter out of context. Ustaz Azhar said he injects humour into his lectures to sustain followers’ attention so that the knowledge he shares gets through to them. “He brought up LGBT concerts being held in Ramadan . What should our opinion be if our leaders allow LGBT concerts to be held in the holy month?” she asked.The recent elections in Indonesia was a means for Ustaz Haikal Hassan to share with his followers his political leanings, though he told CNA he did not initially intend to use social media to preach about politics.
Identity politics marred the 2019 presidential and legislative elections and Jakarta’s 2017 gubernatorial elections, observers have previously noted. “If I preach at a mosque, there will be around 500 people. But on social media, we can reach out to millions of people,” he said.Another Jakarta-based preacher, Ustaz Bachtiar Nasir, was also not shy about expressing support for his preferred presidential candidate to his followers. On Instagram alone, he boasts some 1.1 million followers.
“Personally, I’m not too interested in politics. I think is not my stance, and some people are fed up with politics and even try to avoid talking about it. But because these preachers are not usually part of a political party, their messaging may not have much impact on their followers, he felt.“Even if they personally support candidate number one, two or three they are not supporters in terms of the political party,” Mr Ujang said.
“I don’t try to find out about Islam on social media. Because I’m Muslim from birth, of course, I was taught about Islam from a young age. Social media is just for gaining additional information,” said Ms Dila, 29.
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