Extremist

On 13 July 2023, Indonesian preacher Abdul Somad Batubara visited Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and apparently stayed for an hour’s conversation. Commonly referred to as Ustaz Abdul Somad (or UAS), the controversial preacher has been barred from entering several countries, including being denied entry into Singapore on 16 May 2022. This is due to his extremist views, which include espousing physical violence and animosity towards non-Muslims.

While the Singapore government’s actions were perceived by some Muslims as Islamophobic, other countries including Hong Kong, Timor Leste, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland, have also barred Abdul Somad from crossing their borders. This reflects the wariness with which several governments regard his questionable teachings and views.

Views such as Abdul Somad’s should be antithetical to a multi-religious society like Malaysia, what more to the country’s premier. It is thus surprising that Anwar Ibrahim so warmly welcomed such a controversial preacher to Putrajaya. In our view, this incident can be seen as a self-inflicted shot in the foot to Anwar’s framework of Malaysia Madani, which he has touted as the foundation for a more progressive Malaysia that embraces diversity and respect for all, among other core principles.

What is more, Malaysia seemingly welcomed Abdul Somad with open arms. Not only did he go straight from the airport to Putrajaya to meet Anwar, posting on social media about how he spent an hour with Anwar in his office, but Abdul Somad also made a courtesy call to Malacca Governor Mohd Ali Rustam. He stayed on to lecture at Dataran Sejarah, Ayer Keroh, at a celebration commemorating the Islamic new year. Abdul Somad’s presence was said to have triggered a “tsunami of believers”, pulling in about 50,000 attendees. In the same audience were Mohd Ali Rustam, other state government officials and local preachers.

It was not the first time that Abdul Somad visited Malaysia. In 2019, he visited Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, and Negeri Sembilan in February, and Sabah in September. A quick survey of comments on his Instagram posts about this year’s visit shows his followers in Indonesia lamenting that he is poorly received in his own country but treated with respect and admiration elsewhere. The fact that Indonesia’s government views one of its own citizens with some suspicion should speak for itself.