10 - The Localization of Islamist Discourse in the Tafsir of Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Murshid'ul Am of PAS

Summary

Power and Politics do not pre-exist Culture. On the contrary, they are culturally constructed. … It is in culture that people fashion power and the acceptance of it. If power and its transmutation through a process of legitimization into authority is intrinsically a cultural phenomenon, then Culture itself is inherently political. The fundamental question therefore is not the mechanics but the symbolic of power.

Clive S. Kessler

“Hei Tuhan! Ajarlah aku perkara yang aku masih jahil” (Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat)

This chapter focuses mainly on the tafsir (Quranic exegesis) by the Murshid'ul Am (Spiritual Leader) of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat. It attempts to analyse the various ways and means through which the Quran has been interpreted, recontextualised and communicated by the spiritual leader of PAS to his own domestic audience and political constituency, the Malay-Muslims of Kelantan.

By using the tools of discourse analysis, the chapter will show just how and why the tafsir by Nik Aziz has the appeal that it does to his local constituency and how it manages to communicate both religious and political meanings that are relevant and understandable to the local audience. It is also important to note that Nik Aziz's use of the vernacular and localized idiom is unique in Malaysia: no other recognized ulama has ever attempted a localized reading of the Quran in this way. Furthermore, the political slant that is clearly apparent in these tafsir is also another factor that accounts for their appeal and continued relevance to the intended audience. It is this dimension of religio-political culture, and the cultural mediation of religion and politics, that will be the main concern of the chapter.