Credit : Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's X
PASIR MAS, October 31, 2026 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim returned to Pondok Lubok Tapah in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, on Saturday, visiting the home of the late Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Haji Abdul Rahman, recalling a night he and his wife spent there more than two decades ago, and presenting RM200,000 for repairs to the madrasah.
In a post shared on X on Saturday night, Anwar said he had met the late scholar’s widow, Hajah Kamariah @ Yas Abd Ghani, and the whole family. “This visit deeply touched my heart as memories of the past rushed back the moment I stepped into this house again,” he wrote.
“Azizah and I once spent the night here at the late scholar’s invitation. More than two decades have passed, yet the honour of that invitation still feels close to our hearts,” Anwar wrote, referring to his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. He said the willingness of a murabbi (spiritual teacher) to shelter them at his home, during the turbulent ups and downs of his political life at the time, was an honour they remembered with love and deep respect, and that the late scholar’s advice still guided him today.
He described Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah as “like a tree of knowledge whose roots reach deep into the tradition of turath (classical Islamic scholarship), while its shade covers a generation now carried on by his children”. Anwar prayed that Allah would have mercy on the late scholar and accept all his devotion, and that the legacy of past ulama would become a foundation for restoring the dignity of the ummah and the nation.
RM200,000 for repairs
During the visit, Anwar presented a contribution of RM200,000 to Madrasah Ar-Rahmaniah Ad-Diniah Pondok Lubok Tapah under the Kelantan Islamic Educational Institutions Maintenance and Repair Project 2026, Bernama reported. It was received by the madrasah’s chairman, Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Luqman Abdullah. Anwar later performed the Maghrib prayer with more than 100 local residents. He was accompanied by Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin Daud and Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat.
Luqman told RTM that the contribution would help the pondok keep its facilities in good condition, with needs including repairs to the hostels and the replacement of old electrical wiring.
Pondok education up to university level
In a short speech after the prayer, Anwar said the government was committed to strengthening the pondok education system so that its students could continue their studies up to university level, RTM reported. He said several ulama had been tasked with drawing up recommendations and a mechanism for the government. “We need to chart a new path, improving and adapting the pondok education system so that it can be strengthened up to university level,” he said, describing pondok institutions as a bulwark in defending the faith and preserving religious values, identity and harmony.
Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah, popularly known as Tok Guru Haji Lah Lubok Tapah, was born in 1933 and died on March 19, 2008. He inherited the pondok from his father, Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Rahman, who founded the madrasah in the early 1930s, and it became one of the best-known traditional religious schools in Kelantan.
Source: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on X, with additional reporting from Bernama, Malay Mail, Utusan Malaysia and RTM.
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