The Impact of Malek Bennabi’s Thought on the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM)

Since its founding as an Islamic religious movement in July 1971 at the Faculty of Islamic Studies at the Malaysian National University, the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM) has played a major role in promoting Islamic ideas for reform in the country. Not far from the ideas of Imam Hassan al-Banna, Maulana Abul ‘Ala al-Maududi, Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Iqbal, and others. In the early 1970s, the leaders of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement promoted Malek Bennabi’s ideas. It can be said, without exaggeration, that this was the first Islamic movement in Malaysia that promoted the name of Malek Bennabi and his great ideas on how to revive the Islamic renaissance in the country and the region. This paper will address some of the relevant analysis by prominent founders of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, such as Anwar Ibrahim, head of the movement (1974-1982); Sadiq al-Fadil, head of the movement (1982- 1991); Osman Bakr, secretary general (1975-1981); Razali Nawawi (1971-1974); and other leaders of the ABIM.