Constructing an Islamic Model in Two Malaysian States: PAS Rule in Kelantan and Terengganu‪.‬

Since the fall of communism a new world order is emerging in which political Islam develops into one of the major players: Islam not only provides a new stimuli for the re-definition of political models as well as social and cultural identity but also constitutes a crucial part of globalization as one of its most outspoken critics. It does the latter by highlighting the uneven development inherent in Western concepts and challenging the social/moral impetus of a largely growth-oriented approach to capitalism. At the same time, Islam tries to present alternative social and cultural models that arise from its own perception of an all-compassing belief-system that in practice is heavily fragmented along social and cultural lines. The particularistic answers arising from various Islamic backgrounds, however, emerge from an increasingly global setting of policy-making that is similarly multi-faceted. In the case of Malaysia, these ambiguities of modernization have become more focused than in many other Islamic countries. As one of the most outstanding examples of rapid development, Malaysia provides a showcase of how a society can undergo both political and cultural change while trying to construct a non-Western modernity centring on Asian and specifically Islamic traditions and values. At the same time its political system provides for a relatively higher level of participation, at least compared with many other Islamic countries, thus enabling opposition parties to come up with alternative social models. In this context, the Islamic Pard Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) provides an interesting example with its attempt at constructing and enforcing a system of "Islamic democracy" in the two east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu. PAS has governed these states since 1990 and 1999 respectively. Islamic governance in these states will be examined politically, economically, and socially by assessing PAS' background and development. It will be asked how PAS' Islamic administration differs from the Islamic mainstream policies proposed by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) (1) coalition and to what extent PAS is hampered by constitutional as well as political considerations in a multi-ethnic society.