The Memali Incident () or
code-named as ("Operation Cause") and ("Operation Destroy") was a major incident that occurred in the remote village of Kampung Memali,
Baling in the
Malaysian state of
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...
on 19 November 1985.
A team of 200 policemen, under orders from the
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
Musa Hitam, laid siege to kampung (village) houses in Memali, near Baling in Kedah. The houses were occupied by a group of about 400 people led by Ibrahim Mahmud a.k.a. Ibrahim Libya. The siege resulted in the deaths of 14 villagers and 4 policemen.
Background
The Memali Incident followed severely strained relationships between
UMNO and
PAS, two major political parties in Malaysia. Some PAS leaders had concluded that UMNO members were
apostate.
[
] In 1981,
Hadi Awang, (who was then PAS state commissioner for
Terengganu
Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...
, and has been PAS President since 2002
[) claimed that UMNO perpetuated the unIslamic rule of colonialism, and therefore the struggle of PAS and its supporters against UMNO is jihad,][
][
Briefly summarizes "Amanat Haji Hadi"
]
[
Contains full text of "Amanat Haji Hadi", along with an English translation
] and that those who died in the struggle are al-shahid (martyrs).[ In the wake of Hadi's claims, there was a serious rift in the Malay Muslim community. In Besut, Terengganu for example, communities were split to the extent that communal prayers were done separately for UMNO and for PAS congregations.][
]
Ibrahim Mahmud
Ibrahim was a local religious teacher who had received part of his education at the University of Tripoli in Libya, hence his nickname ''Ibrahim Libya''. The police wanted to arrest Ibrahim Mahmud under the Internal Security Act, for creating discord and disharmony, but he refused to give himself up. Ibrahim was also accused of harbouring two brothers, Yusof Che Mit and Ramli Che Mit, who were fugitives
A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
. Revered by the village folks, who called him Ustaz Ibrahim, they vowed to defend him to the death.
Ibrahim attended Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Weng in Baling before furthering his studies in Islamic studies at Sekolah Agama Ittifaqiah, Kg Carok Putih, Weng and later Pondok Al-Khariah, Pokok Sena, Seberang Perai
Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located on the Malay Peninsula and separated from Penang Island by the Penang Strait, it shares borders with Kedah to the north and east and Perak to the south. The city spans an are ...
. Ibrahim Mahmud attended the University of Tripoli in Libya. He had also studied in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and at Al-Azhar University
The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
in Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
.
Upon his return, he worked as a preacher with Pusat Islam. He appeared on television to lecture on topics of Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Allegedly, Ibrahim was involved in the 1974 Baling Demonstrations along with Anwar Ibrahim. Ibrahim Mahmud's politics drifted towards those of PAS. His close association with PAS worried the government of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...
. In 1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
, Ibrahim contested the elections for the seat of Bayu-Baling as a PAS candidate. Ibrahim polled 5,081 votes as opposed to the Barisan Nasional candidate who polled 6,169 votes. In 1982, Ibrahim again contested for the same seat but lost by 100 votes.
Pusat Islam looked into his teachings and thereafter banned him from lecturing in the media or to give lectures in mosques and suraus throughout the nation. Pusat Islam also started making allegations of 'deviationist acts' against him. Ibrahim was called a fanatic who challenged the integrity of the Government.
Aftermath
Death toll
The police action left 14 civilians and 4 policemen dead.[
The villagers were armed with a few guns, machetes, sharpened bamboo rods, and other rudimentary weapons. The police used heavy vehicles.] At the height of the assault, some villagers, men and women, came out in the open in a state of frenzy and hysteria. Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, who was also Home Affairs Minister, announced to the media that 14 'criminals' had been killed in Kampung Memali in clashes with security forces.
Arrests
Police detained 159 people, including women and children. Thirty-six persons involved in the incident were arrested under the Internal Security Act in January 1986 but later released in June.
Government White Paper
The government published a white paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
[ and showed an official video recording of the incident on national television. The White Paper on the incident said the extremists tried to spread deviationist teachings and disrupt public order.
The ]Malaysian Government
The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia (; Jawi: ), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comp ...
released video footage culled from police tapes of the operation on prime time television on TV1, the primary government television station. The video showed villagers armed with parangs, slingshots and Molotov cocktail
A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...
s taunting and protesting the actions of the Federal Reserve Unit troopers. The video also showed a mortally wounded police sergeant writhing in pain while awaiting help.
In February 2002, TV1 showed the confessions of a man involved in the Memali incident. The Information Ministry's Zainuddin Maidin explained that the man would relate how he was influenced to participate. Zainuddin said the intention of the broadcast was to show the truth. PAS was concerned over plans to air the video clip as it may have implications on a pending court case involving the families of those killed in the incident. A PAS official said they were not worried about the political impact of the video clip because PAS believes the people would not blindly accept it.
Consequences
PAS called those who died as al-shahid, those who have achieved shahid (martyrs).[ Ibrahim Mahmud is called al-Shahid Ibrahim. This was in stark contrast to the Government's stand of calling those who dies as "criminals".][ Dr. M: "The Memali incident occurred on November 19, 1985...Four policemen were killed and 16 criminals."] The Kedah State Fatwa Council took the dramatic step of issuing a Fatwa saying that those who died were not al-shahid as claimed by PAS.
The National Fatwa Council on 3 February 1986 also ruled that the deaths of Ibrahim Libya and his followers were not martyrdom.
Al-Mau'nah founder and leader, Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali was allegedly present during part of the Memali Incident.
The incident became part of his motive for the Al-Ma'unah establishment, to overthrow the Malaysian government.
Kamaruzaman Yusoff views that the "Memali Incident entailed the interpretation and materialisation of the concepts of jihād and syahid. A re-interpretation of these two concepts has manifested itself in the recent Al-Mau'nah Incident and the activities of the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (Malaysian Militant Group) that tried to effect political changes through unconstitutional means; and this is certainly in contrast to PAS' willingness to participate in the Malaysian electoral process."
At the time of the incident, media reported Mahathir Mohamad, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was away on a visit to China, and identified Musa as the Acting Prime Minister. That story remained unchanged until 2014, nearly 29 years later, when Musa revealed that Dr. Mahathir was in fact still in his office in Malaysia. Musa categorically denied he was the Acting Prime Minister at that time. In response, Dr. Mahathir confirmed that, contrary to past news reports, he was in Malaysia on the day of the siege. Following these revelations, PAS called for formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe the Memali incident and to retract the white paper on the incident, but this was rejected by Parliament.[ As of April 2014, survivors were continuing to seek an explanation of the incident from the government.][
]
Memali fund
A fund known as the Memali Fund was set up to collect donation for the next-of-kin of Ibrahim Libya and those who died during the Memali Incident. PAS through Harakah had urged generous donations to the fund to help the families of Ibrahim and his men which the party regarded as martyrs. A PAS member lodged a police report against alleged misappropriation. This led to a public outcry and prompted PAS president Fadzil Noor to investigate.[ ]
See also
* Siege of Mecca
* Siege of Lal Masjid
* Operation Blue Star
* Raba'a Massacre
* Waco siege
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by US federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians, between February 28 and April 19, 1993 ...
References
{{Royal Malaysian Police Force
History of Kedah
Baling District
Political history of Malaysia
Islamism in Malaysia
1985 murders in Malaysia
November 1985 in Asia
1980s sieges
Battles involving Malaysia
Battles in 1985
Law enforcement operations against Islamist groups
Knife attacks in Asia
Mass stabbings in Asia
Stabbing attacks in 1985
Attacks on residential buildings in Asia
Attacks on buildings and structures in Malaysia
Attacks on buildings and structures in 1985