Faisal as Abim’s president: A retrospective

Everyone will be talking about the new cabinet.

However, another transition of leadership happened over the weekend that will be much less hyped up, but in my humble view, is also of national significance.

This weekend saw a transition in leadership for the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), from outgoing president Muhammad Faisal Aziz to the new president Ahmad Fahmi Samsuddin.

I have worked closely with both individuals over the past four years of Faisal’s term as president. It has personally been a very meaningful journey for me and hopefully for the nation as well.

About four years ago, when I first started becoming more interested in building bridges between the many segments of civil society that used to be divided along the lines of race and religion, I became quite interested in the things I had read about Abim.

I heard that they were having a muktamar so I decided to attend, sitting quietly at the back, listening to the then-president Raimi Rahim give a speech about Bangsa Malaysia.

I was quite impressed. Around that time, the people who would champion Bangsa Malaysia were usually more along the lines of the political party DAP or slightly more non-Malay NGOs like Pusat Komas.

Of course, we all wish for a Malaysia that wouldn’t care who is championing the concept of Bangsa Malaysia.

At the grassroots level however, it was hard to deny that there’s a significant difference in public response and reception when hearing about Bangsa Malaysia from a group like DAP, compared to a group like Abim.

Bangsa Malaysia

Had someone asked me about Bangsa Malaysia at the time, I might have said: “It’s not worth the trouble, there will be too much pushback from Malays who feel that such a concept dilutes the Malay identity.”

It surprised me to hear that this was a cause that Abim and its then-newly appointed president (Faisal) wanted to champion.

I remember the first time I managed to talk to him about it. We were both attending some event in Subang Jaya and went to a coffee shop afterwards.

It was the first of many conversations regarding what is needed to improve Malaysia - especially when it came to questions of bridge-building, inclusive identity, and building common ground across Malaysia’s different communities.

It turned out we had met before in the mid-2000s when I worked in Anwar Ibrahim’s office, and Faisal was active in the Anwar Ibrahim Club (we all have our pasts!).

Through Faisal, I came to meet many other people in Abim - including then-vice presidents Adli Zakuan, Zairuddin Hashim, Fahmi and secretary-general Fazril Saleh.

The long and short of it is that in nearly 20 years of involvement in civil society, these became some of my most cherished colleagues.

To me, they embody the type of people who most sincerely, passionately and genuinely want to work for a country where we all feel more like a united nation, filled with a common purpose and zeal to build a better Malaysia for all.

It’s hard to describe in words how it feels to be around such good-hearted people.

I worked with Faisal and the rest of the team, bringing together some of the nicest, most dynamic and most sincere people in the civil society space, to try and increase dialogue and more importantly, collaboration - eventually forming Projek #BangsaMalaysia.

I don’t think we can say we succeeded beyond our wildest imagination or anything, but hopefully, we’ve at least made a small mark and planted the seeds of a network that may have long-term potential.

One of Abim’s taglines is “Gerakan Ilmu dan Bakti”, which means a movement of wisdom and service.

I was most attracted to Abim because of their dedication to service. I remember during the times of the Covid-19 pandemic, they even delivered aid to communities other Islamist groups might shy away from like the transgender community.

I’m not much of an intellectual myself, but I was impressed by how serious Abim members were about expanding their intellectual horizons and contributing to public discourse.

‘Breath of fresh air’

Within four policy speeches throughout his term, Faisal spoke consistently about inclusive, universalist themes like Bangsa Malaysia and Cosmopolitan Islam.

Abim’s views on Bangsa Malaysia were, to me, groundbreaking and game-changing. A movement that is rooted in Malay-Muslim identity championing such an inclusive, national identity was truly inspiring.

In writing about Cosmopolitan Islam, Faisal emphasised the diverse and inclusive nature of Islam that stretches back centuries and spoke at length about the unique ways in which Islam developed in this region.

All of these views were a breath of incredibly fresh air, given how news headlines are dominated by more “ultra” views from each side - where we’ve always painted a picture of some zero-sum war between various communities in Malaysia.

I have always felt that if more people took the approach that Abim did to the Malay and Muslim identity, we’d live in a very different country.

Of course, the very essence of Projek #BangsaMalaysia is that non-Malays have a pivotal role to play here, in perhaps not being too adamant or defensive (or aggressive) about certain issues and doing what we can to heal things like Islamaphobia or racism against Malays.

These efforts are only meaningful if they take place on a two-way street.

Newly appointed Abim president Ahmad Fahmi Samsuddin

New leadership

Fahmi was an important part of Faisal’s team and has been providing great leadership to the Global Peace Movement, which is an Abim-affiliated arm that organises the delivery of humanitarian aid all over the world.

He is an articulate, energetic, well-connected, and very personable gentleman who I am sure will continue the great work that Faisal has done. I am excited to see where he will take Abim next.

To the outgoing leadership of Abim and all our many friends in Projek #BangsaMalaysia, thank you again so much for all that you’ve done to better Malaysia - thank you for showing us what a united Malaysia might look like one day.

And to my friend Faisal, let me just say what an amazing job you did in carrying this awesome responsibility for four great years, and how meaningful and inspiring your friendship has been to me personally.

May the Malaysia we all strive for be just over the horizon! - Mkini

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NATHANIEL TAN is trying his hand at corporate communications and works with Projek #BangsaMalaysia. He can be reached at nat@engage.my.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.