Kajian Malaysia, Vol. XXI, Nos. 1&2, 2003 THE TAQWA VERSUS QUWII/AH DICHOTOMY

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KajianM alaysia,V ol. XXI, Nos.1 &2, 2003
THE TAQWA VERSUS QUWII/AH DICHOTOMY: AN ISLAMIC
CRITIQUE OF DEVELOPMENT VIA THE MALAYSIAN
BAMIPUTERA POLICY
AhmadF auziA bdul Hamid
Schooolf DistanceE ducation
UniversiStia insM alaysia
Penang
One will not dispute the contribution made by various planks oJ' the
BumiputeraP olicy to the improvementi n Malay economic conditions,
and the consequents hift oJ'a portion oJ'the Malays to what may be
termed as the'middle class'. The rapid industrialisation and
modernisation oJ- a developing country have conventionqlly been
associatewd ith classs hifts involving the expansionr tf'a dynamic middle
classT. he emergenceo fa Malay middle cla,ssh ecomeo bservablew ith
'New
thep opularisation of'the term Malay' in the national prtlitical'
economicle xicon o/'the 1990s.B ut it is questionablew hether the so-
called| [ew Malay is comparable to the middle class who,sed ynamism
historically. /uetted economic expansion' In the Malaltsian case' it is
arguedt hat under the aegis o.f the state, the New Malay has .failed to
nurture competitive characteristics essentiql to withstQnd external
pressuresa, s shown in the debacle befalling Malay businessesi n 1997-
1998T. his hes been in part, due to the.focuso n materiul acquisition of
wealtha s the end in the whole package of'the Bumiputera Policy, to the
neglecot f other issuesw hich are neverthelessim portant in building an
honourablec iviliscttion.T he issueso J'attitudes,m otivation and mrtralit.y
ares omee xamples.I t is pertinent here to cctnsidera n Islamic critique o.f
the Bumiputera Policy. The scope of investigation narrows dou'n
towqrds unraveling the /actors for the success of the bqnned Darul
Arqammovemenat nd itsd efacto successorR, uJaqa'Corporation. Their
successs hows that, through.faith in God and religious solidarity, it is
possiblef or Bumiputeras to assume middle class credentials without
relyingo n statep atronage.D arul Arqam and Rufaqa'formed part of the
informat sector of the Malal' middle class, by which is meant the sector
which elfected advancements in socio-economic terms without
depending on state-conditioned networks rt' the Bumiputera Policl'.
Theseg roups, which invariablyJbcused on small and medium industries
(SMIs),w ere criticctt of the Bumiputero Policy.for its inculcation qmong
123
,AhnadF au:i Abdul Hamid
the Melavs o/' .financial dependencv on the state and its detrimentql
e/jects on Molat,attitttdes and motivation.
INTRODUCTION
This paper examinest he dichotomy that has emergedb etwecnt wo
scemingly competing approaches in the efforts to fostcr Muslim
development.T hese are, the quwwah-baseda pproach and the taqwa'
baseda pproach.O n one hand, quww'ahr ef-erst o material strength,s uch
that prevails in fields with tangible output such as in sciencea nd
technologyi,n military capacity,i n politicsa nd in the economy.rO n the
other hancl,t oqttct refers primarily to the strength of one's soul in its
relationshipto God, as indicatedb y one's instinctivef ear of God, to the
extent that one is afraid of cornmitting even the slightest sin.2 Hence,
while rTrrn'r.raefnt compassems ental and physicald imensionst.a qu'ai s
usuallys eena s a spiritually-ladenc oncept,a lthought his doesn ot mean
that the attainmento f taqv'a deniest he improvemento f the mental and
physical facultics.T he importanceo f taqwu is indicatedb y the fact that
reminding about it is one of the requirementsi n Friday sermons,
meaning that at worst, Muslims will listen to the significanceo f
attainingl aq\Naa t least once a week. Quranic versese njoining taqwa
and praising the muttaqin,i .e. thosew ho attain taqwa, abound.S omea re
given here( the direct translationso f taqwa andm uttaqiria re in bold):
Hold firmly to what We have given you, and bring (ever) to
remembrancwc hat is therein,p erchancey ou may fear Allah. (Al-
Baqarah2 :63)
So fear Altah, for it is Allah that teachcsy ou. And Allah is well
acquaintedw ith all things. (Al-Baqarah2 :282)
Nay, thoset hat keept heir plightedf aith and act aright.V erily Allah
lovest hosew ho act aright. (Al-i-'hnran3 :76)
It is frorn the Arabic Eru'wah that we dcrive the Malay word kuul, meantng
'strong'.
For comparativcd efinitionso f taqwa,s eeA shaariM uhammad( l98tta: I l2)
andM awdud(i1 991I: l6 ll9).
124
TheT aqv'uv ersusQ uw'--oDh ic'hotom.v
o you who believelP ersevcreim patiencea nd constancyv; ie in such
perseverances; trengthene ach other; and fear Allah; that you may
prosper. (Al-i-'lmran3 : 200)
Be just, that is next to Piety, and fear Atlah. For Allah is well-
acquaintedw ith all thaty ou do. (Al-Maidah5 : t3)
If the peopleo f the towns had but believeda nd feared Allah, We
shouldi ndeedh aveo penedo ut to them (all kinds ot) blessingsfr om
heavena nd earth.B ut thcy rejected( thc truth) and we brouglrtt hem
to book for their misdeeds. (Al-A'raf 7: 96)
And he who bringst he Truth, and he who confirms( ands upports)it
- sucha ret he men who do right. (Az-Zunar3 9: 33)
Of Allah: it is only wrongdoers( that stand as) protcctors,o ne to
another.B ut Allah is the Protectoro f the Righteous. (Al-Jathiya
45:1 9)
O mankindl We createdy ou from a single (pair) of a male and a
female, and rnade you into nations and tribes, that ye may know
each other (not that ye may despisee ach othcr). verily the most
honouredo f you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most
Righteouso f you. (Al-Hujurat4 9: l3)
And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) preparesa way out, and
He providesf or him from (sources)h e never could expect"" And
for thosew ho fear Allah, He will maket hingsc asyf br thern' (At-
Talaq65:2-4)
while the dichotomy per-vadetsh e thinking of Muslim policy-makcrs
globally,t his paperf ocuseso n Muslimsi n Malaysiaa s an cxampleo f an
environment in which approaches to Islamic dcvelopment are
concomitantly pursued by different movements and organisations,
whethers tate-basedo r independentlys tructured.E ventually, the scope
of investigationn arrows down to one selectedm ovement,v iz. thc sutl-
revivalistD arul Arqam and its de. facto stlccessorR, ufaqa' Corporation.
The findings show how this movement'su nconventionaal nd as some
may claim, undue emphasiso n taqwa at the expenseo f quwwah, have
yleidedi nterestingre sultsw hich may be takena s a lessonb y all aspiring
125
AhmadF auziA bdulH ctmid
Muslims.T he positive and negativei mplicationso f sucha n approacha re
assessedto, wardsa formulation of a strategicp lan for the ummah'
TAQWA VERSUS QI]WWAH IN MUSLIM DTSCOURSE
In Muslirn discourseso n the stateo f contemporaryI slam' whethera t the
scholarly or the popular level, it has been fashionablet o detcct at least
'decline
three f-actorsr esponsiblef or the so-called of Islam', viz.
Muslims' own deviation from the true path, the intransigenceo f lslam
against accepting any form of reformation or compromise with
modernity; and the West and its pervasive influence within Muslim
nation-statesm, any of whom had themselvesb een victims of Western
colonialisrn (Piscatori 1986: 24 26). As a result of the different
diagnoseso ffered, different schools of thought have emerged among
H,luilim studentso f the global phenomenonv ariously known as Islamic
resurgenceI,s lamic revival, Islamic reawakeninga nd Islamic renewal.
This is without yet mentioning the countlessw orks and opinions that
Western scholarsa nd observersh ave produced and fonnulated on the
subject.l Of practical interest to us here is not these abundantW estern
analyses,w hich Muslims are bound to reject as deriving from non-
Muslim sources and having vested interests,b ut rather the panacea
offeredb y Muslim analystss eeingt he world from a Muslim angle'
Discussionsp ertainingt o Muslim-centrics olutionsh avem arkedlyr isen
since the new pressuresp ut on the ummtth by the West since the late
1980s.W hile antagonismb etweent he Westerna nd Islamic worlds had
arguablyb eeni n existences incet he medievald ays,t he presentp ressures
are unpreceilentedi n thc post-second World War intemational order.
Two major developmentsc ontributedt o this. First, an end to a bipolar
world as sparkedo ff by the crumbling of the communist empire which
had hitherto acted as a countervailing power to attempted Western
hegemony.T he scenario was given a completely new dimension by
'clash
Huntington's thesis which posited a future of civilisations'
betweent he Judeo-Christiana nd Confucian-Islamicp eoples( Huntington
1993).S econd,t he huge rise in warlike and terorist-relateda ctivities
attributed, sometimes falsely, to Muslims as representingt heir iihad
t For an overview, seeM uhammad Abu Bakar (1987: chapterl 3) and Ahmad
FauziA bdul Hamid( 2001a).
t26
TheT aqn*av ersusQ uwwahD ic:hotomy
(holyw ar) againstt he West. Events such as the bombingso f the World
TradeC entre( WTC) in New York in 1993 and of the Alfred P. Murah
FederaBl uilding in OklahomaC ity in 1995c reateda n atmospherwe ell-
preparedf or the ceaselessv ilification of Islam and Muslims in the
Westernm edia, following the devastating blows to the WTC and
Pentagonb y suicide hijackers of commercial flights on l1 September
2001.S ecurityo f Muslims becamea global concernw ith the relative
easeb y which, in their hunt for allegedly Islamic terrorists, the
American-ledA llied forces invaded and willfully determinedt he fate of
Afghanistana nd Iraq. This was the latest in a series of catastrophes
whichh ad seenM uslims being victims of exterminationin the 1990si n
Bosnia,C hechnya, India and Israel, among others. Taking all these
disastroues ventsi nto perspective,a nd acknowledgingt he existenceo f a
crisis,M uslim leadersh ave beenh ard-pressedto come up with solutions
to thep redicamento f the ttmmah.
In thea bsenceo f specificallyI slamicm odelso f nationb uilding,M uslim
leadersa nd intellectualsr esoftedt o hypothesesa nd an arbitrary reading
of historyi n coming out with propositionsa nd viewpoints.T he remedies
to ills befalling Muslims generallyt ook the position of being either
taqwa-basedo r quwwah-based.O pting for one did not mean totally
neglectinge lementso f the other. Rather, it was a question of priority.
But the less prioritised element did not feature significantly enough to
have an impact on the chosen policy. Amongst scholars with strong
trainingi n madrasah-basedtr aditional Islamic sciences,w hat seemedt o
be like taqwa-baseda pproachesw ere generally preferred, although in
reality, taqwa was seldom, if ever, mentioned in such traditionalists'
discoursesH. owever, most disappointingly,t he proposed solutions of
traditionalistsfa iled to integratet raditional Islamic sciencesw ith modern
scientific education. Most settled for a simplistic course of action
involving regenerationo f imctn (faith) via ritualistic forms of ibadah
(worship) and direct missionary effort, directed especially at lax
Muslims (cf. Ehteshamul Hasan 1989). Such thinkers espoused a
romantic view of history which lauded glorious achievements of
Muslimso f early generationsb, ut they failed to apply the fundamentals
of thosee arly generationsin a mannerw hich would harnesst he positive
valueso f modern education.S tuck in intellectual slumber,t hey opt for
traditionali nstitutionsa nd methodst o regenerateth e Muslim masses( cf.
El-Muhammady1 987:1 27 129).
t27
Ahmatl Fuuzi Abtltrl Hcrmid
Convcntionasl trandso f revivalismh avc beenh eavilyc riticiseda sb eing
engrosscdi n rhetoric, unduly simplistic in interpretingt he modern
worlcl. lacking a substantiveu nderstandingo f competing ideologies,
lackingd irectiona nd lacking a concertedp lan of actiont o realiset heir
envisionecslo ciety( cf. Babeair1 993).W hile the basiso f such critique
may be difficult to disputc,t he alternativesg,r oundedo n analysesw hich
deny explicrtly or implicitly the dccline of taqwa as the major factor
behinclt hc eclipseo f Islam's influence,h ad the possibly unintended
cffect of highlighting economic and intellectualr egenerationa s the
major prioritiesi n any efforl of Islamic revival (cf. Amin 1989:2 21-
226). This docs not mean that considerationpse rtainingt o taqwa were
neglecteda ltogetherb, ut rather.e vcni f it wasm entionedr,e ferencetso it
wcie rather perfunctory (cf-. Abdul Mujib 1'994: 4l). Taqwa may be
viewed,f br instancea, s merely a componento f morality (cf. Mawdudi
1991:l l l), the gcneralu pliftingo f which is deemedt o be a necessary
conciitionin any processo f Islamic revival.Y et, even in concedingt his
nced for a moral-cum-intellectual-cum-economiacd vancement,
scholars' discussionse xhibit a bias stressingt he intellectual and
economicc omponentt,o the extento f claimingt hatI slamicm oralv alues
will cornea bout as a result rathert han act as a causeo l economic
strength(c f. Siddiqi1 995:6 9).
TAQWA VERSUS QLTWWAHI N MALAYSIA
'periphery"
As part of the classicalI slamic however anomaloust his
designationrn ight haveb een,M alaysiat ook time to establishit self as a
leading player-in thc Muslim comity of nation-states.aA paft from its
geographicadl istancefr om thc heartlandso f Islam,t he pluralisticn ature
of iis poputationg ave it a unique social compositionw herebyp olitics
was dominatedb y communalisml.s lam was seent o be peripherala s a
rnobilisingf brce.E nvisioningM alaysiaa s a future Islamics tatew as out
of the question( cf. Rosenthal1 965:2 81. Means 1969:2 83)'
However, under the Premiershipo f Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (1981-
2003). this scenarioh as transformedd ramatically.T he multiplicity of
1 On the historical clivision of the utnmair into a Middle Eastcrnc cntre and a
non-Middle Eastcrn pcriphery and problems associatedw ith such a
simplifications. eeA hrnadF auziA bdul Hamid (2001a:3 0 39)'
128
TheT aqwav ersusQ uwwahD ichotttmy
Islamic institutions in diverse fields such as banking, education,
insurancee.n teftainmenta nd architecture,a nd the significant impact of
Islam upon the country's legal and administrative system had
emboldeneMd alaysia's leaderst o declareM alaysia as having acquired
thes tatuso f an Islamics tate.5B y reachingo ut to the massesin avenues
andt hroughm eanst hat the stateh ad limited capacityt o entera nd utilise,
independenIts lamic movements have greatly contributed to Islamic
revival.A lthough they have been accused of focusing on ritualistic
aspectasn d the outer form of Islam (cf. Zainuddin Maidin 1993'M d.
SallehY aapar 1993),i t was their zealousm issionarye fforts at grassroots
levetlh at galvanisedth e Islamic consciousnesosf Malay-Muslimsw ho
thenl ent suppoft to state-sponsoredIs lamic institutions. ln fact, even
thoughu nablet o realise substantiveI slamic programmesd ue to lack of
resourcetsh,e Islamic movements'm ere existencea nd demonstrationo f
populars upport were enough to pressure the state into adopting an
Islamic agenda which appropriately served the people's needs.
Malaysianle aders have been proud of their widely acknowledged
achievemenitns guiding Malaysia towards a middle path which evadcd
extremisatn dr etrogressivtee ndencie(sS yedA hmad Hussein1 998:3 31.0
5 First declaredb y Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on 29 September2 00 I on thc
occasiono f the 30'h National Conventiono f the Cerakan Pcople's Party
(MingguanM ala.vsia3 0.09.01).S eea lso corroboratings tatementsb y Deputy
PrimeM inisterA bdullahA hmad Badawi( (JtttsanM alal'5i6l '10'01)' hcado f
the Malaysian Dakwah Foundation [Yayasan Dakwah Islarniah Malaysia
(YADIM)1, Nakhaie Ahmad (ibid); and chairmano f the National Fatwa
Council (NFC), Dr. Ismail Ibrahim (ibid 4.10.01). Thc unequivocal
declarationw as reputedly made aftcr consulting 70 rcligious scholars,
'Discussion
academicasn d notablesd uringt he state-sponsored on the Islamic
State'( Muzakarah Daulah Islamiah) on 3 August 2001. Chaired by the
ReligiousA dvisor to the Prime Minister, Datuk Dr. Abdul Hamid Othman,
theD iscussionc oncludedt hat Malaysia qualified as an Islamic state on the
basiso f scholarly opinions since the days of thc Umayyad and Abbasid
caliphatelsib id. I . 10.0l ; seea lso the statemen t by Abdul Kader Talip, Grand
Imamo f the PutrajayaM osque (Mingguan Malal,.sia5 .08.01)]. Since then,
Dr. Mahathir has reiteratedt his position many times, see fbr example his
speecheisn officiating the Conferenceo n Islamic Capital Markets (Utusan
Malaysia 21. 03.02) and the 53"r United Malays' National Organisation
(UMNO)G eneraAl ssembly,( ibid. 21.06.03).
6 Seef or instancet he keynote addressb y thc then Deputy Prime Minister,
Anwarl brahim, at the Inten.rationaWl orkshop on Islam in SoutheastA sia,
'Dunict
Petalingl aya (New straits Times 6.03.96); Dr. Mahathir's article,
129
AhmacFl auziA bdttlH amid
At the scholarlyl evel, hopest hat Malaysia would lead the Muslim world
haveb eene xpressedin terms of tapping the vast potential of the Malay
nation.w hich would determinet he future courseo f Islamic civilisation
(SiddiqF adzil 1992:33-37, Almascaty 1994,H ashim Hj. Musa 2002:
839). While such opinions have come from increasingly confident
Malay-lndonesiani ntellectuals,e ven intemational Muslim scholarso f
repute have voiced out similar optimism. As the eminent Muslim
economist,M uhammadN ejatullah Siddiqi wrote:
TheM uslimso f SouthE astA sia of Malaysial,n donesiaa,n d
possiblyth eM uslimm inoritiesin resurgenCt hina areb etter
equippedto leadt he processo f regeneratiotnh ant he resto f
theM uslimw orld.T heya reu ncommittetdo anyp owersT. hey
are unconstrainebdy promiscst o keep and debtst o repay.
Theira pproactho Islami s simplea nde lementar-y something
which besidesit s disadvantageasls ok eepst hem away from
the strangulatinhgo ld of a scholarshipu nfit to lead in the
modernw orld. They can learn.M any othersc an hardly so.
And most importanto f all, they are alreadyo n the road to
economicp rosperitys, ecuritya nds trength- somethingw hich
maye ludeo therM uslimc ountriesfo r a longt imet o come.
(Siddiqi1 995:24)
Malaysian Muslims need not rest upon their laurels upon hearing such
accoladesa nd words of admiration. They have been given a rude
awakening since the onset of the SoutheastA sian economic crisis in
l99l andt he political turmoil that followed. Insofar as the optimism was
dependenot n the buoyant economicm ood and relatively stablep olitical
climate of the 1990s,i t was based on quwwah, and was therefore not
viable and not sustainableW. e should acceptt he reality that history was
not all the time rosy for Muslims, but whatever trials and tribulations
that befell Muslims, Muslims regained strength and re-emergeda s a
significantf orce by relying on taqwa. Referringt o the various calamities
that have struck contemporaryM uslims, we have recourset o the fact
that vicissitudeso f life involving alternatep eriodso f decline and revival
have been a recuffent theme in Islamic history (Hopwood 1971, Israr
Islam Masa Kini (The contemporary Muslim world) (Utusan Malaysia
'Model
2.11.99); and the article, Nation' by Khairy Jamaluddin, special
officer-cum-son-in-lawo f then Deputy Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad
Badawti line 10.03.03).
130
TheT aqwav ersusQ uwwahD ichotomY
Ahmad lgg2). Muslims had undergones evered istressw ith the downfall
of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258, the defeat of Granada to the
Christiansi n 1492a nd the dismantlingo f the Ottomanc aliphatei n 1924,
to mention just a few difficult episodes for Muslims. While the
economicc risis was especially stressfulf or SoutheastA sia, the whole
ummah appears to presently be in a state of fear and insecurity as
demonstratidi n the relatively meek submissiono f Kabul and Baghdad
to USA-led Allied forces in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Evidence
backingt he incursionsw as thin and perhapsn on-existent,y et they were
executedw ith neither remorse nor recourset o internationallya ccepted
legal procedures.t As such, a totally new atmosphere of fear and
apprehensionh as developed, bearing in mind the fact that Muslims
lagged far behind non-Muslims in science and technology, which
seimedt o be the deterrninantf actor in both the Afghan and Iraqi wars.
For Malaysian Muslims, this was a double blow, as they had yet to
recover from the economic diffrculties that started from Western
speculatorsa' ttack on the SoutheastA sian foreign exchangem arket in
1997."
7 Afghanistanw as attackedo n 7 october 200 I for its govemment's alleged
harbouringo f terroristsf rom the Al-Qaeda network led by osama bin Laden.
Its Taliban governments wiftly collapseda nd was rcplacedb y a US-supported
government led by Hami d Karzai, but the whereabouts of Osama was never
iccurately establisheda nd is still unknown. Iraq was assaultedo n 20 March
2003 foi its government's alleged secret production of weapons of mass
destruction( wfr,fl) and support of global tefforism. But despitet he loss of
humanl ives and the succcssfulo ustero f SaddamH ussein,n o WMD has been
found.
8 At the beginning of the crisis, Dr. Mahathir singularly rebuked activities of
'tiger'
cunency speculators for deliberately undermining the booming
economies.-His main target was George Soros, the Hungarian-American
financier who owned Quantum Fund. As Soros was of Jewish origin, Dr.
Mahathir then claimed that the crisis was sparkedo ff as part of the Jewish
'Soros
conspiracyt o undermineM uslim economies.S ee criticisesM alaysian
pM, (Fiiancial Times 22.9.91); 'Mahathir-Soros row hits ringgit' (ibid.
23.9.97:'Dr Mahathir and the markets: the Prime Minister of Malaysia's
attempts to punish foreign speculators is both misguided and
'(cid:0)Krisis
counterproductive'( The Economist, editorial, 6.9.9'7); mata wdnS
angkari Yahudi (Currency crisis: Jews are the culprit)" (Berita Harian
tt.tO.SZ); 'Washington marah Mahathir sebut Yahudi (Washington resents
Mahathir'ss ingling out Jews)' (ibid. 17.10.97).T his xenophobia,p articularly
againstA nglo-saxons and Jews, has appearedt o remain in Dr. Mahathir's
131
AhmadF auziA hdulH amid
A brief glancea t the recentt hinking of Muslim intellectualsin Malaysia
revealst hat despitet he latestp roblemsb esettingt he ummah,t he priority
of taqwa over quwwaft is far from being established.W hen proposing
solutions, they adopt the view that Muslims have lost behind due to
inadequaciesi n scientific and technological advancementr ather than
their levels of taqw,a,r elationshipt o God and spirituality. Some feel that
'ctin
there are enough of theseJ 'ard (individual obligation) requirements
and Muslims need no more of them, as compared with .fard kifayah
(collective obligation) requirements.W orse still, past glory of the
trmmahi s interpretedi n terms of its material and mental achievements.
Below are a few excerptsf rom the media:
Disproportionatefo cus on leaming religion, ways to pray (sulat) and
Islamic laws will renderu s lessa ble to think of essentialsw hich in
reality are also demandedi n Islam. Thesei nclude effbrts to develop
the ummcth'.sc apacity to get out of poverty and defend it from
enemies.A ttention also needst o be given to educationi n the fields
of engineerings, cience,t echnology,c omputersa nd whatevern ew
branch of knowledge. lDebat Sekularismeh alang kemajuan umat
(Debate on Secularismh ampers progress of the ummah), Utusan
Malaysia,e ditorial,I 3.06.0l, author'st ranslation].
Can we protect Muslims from a nuclear bomb attack?W e are only
given relevant examplesf rom the days of the Prophet Muhammad
(peaceb e upon him). In those days, the rclevant weapon to defend
Muslims were horsesa s vehiclesa nd arrows,s pearss, words,e tc.I f
the situationt akesp lacet oday,t he Prophetw ould havet old the new
'You
converts to Islam, must have a nuclear bomb'.... Today
Muslims are very weak bccausew e ignore a lot of what the Quran
mindsetu p till his resignationf rom all political postso n 3l October2 003.
This was demonstratedb y his vituperative attack on the threat posed by
'Europeans'
in his keynote addresst o the 54"' UMNO General Assembly
(ibid. 20.06.03),d uring which copieso f Henry Ford's book, International
Jew, reprinted in Kuala Lumpur rn 2002, were distributed to the delegates.
Dr. Mahathir's last internationals pecch as Prime Minister, during the
Organisationo f Islamic Countries( OIC) sumrnit in mid-October2 003 in
'Jews
Putrajaya,c ausedW estcrn uproar by his outspokena ssertiont hat rule
the world by proxy' ({JtusanM alaysia 17.10.032, 3.10.03);P aul Krugman,
'Listening 'After
to Mahathir' (New York Times2 1.10.03); Mahathir' (The
'Exit
Economist3 0.1 0.03); the StrongM an' (Time 10.I 1.03)1.
132