BANGI Sept 26, 2026 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday attended a three-generation appreciation dinner organised by WADAH, ABIM and PKPIM, where he urged Islamic movements to rise through knowledge and moral principles rather than emotion, anger or slander.
The event in Bangi also honoured a visiting delegation from the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), an international network linking hundreds of Islamic civil society groups across 66 countries. Anwar was accompanied by his wife, Azizah.
In his remarks, Anwar recalled the words of the late Siddiq Fadzil, the former ABIM president who succeeded him in the 1980s. “Islam does not rise only with explosions of spirit, emotion and sentiment, but with the strength of knowledge that enlightens and instils awareness,” he said.
Anwar warned that awareness movements in the name of Islam become “lame” if they rest only on anger and the justification of sowing discord. “We must rise with intellectual tradition and stand with idealism. Any movement in the name of Islam will be tested not merely on slogans but on the implementation of its struggle,” he added.
He criticised groups that “ride on the name of Islam or Malay,” loudly proclaiming racial issues while sidelining morals and the idealism of struggle. “What is the meaning of an Islamic party or movement if it moves by abandoning moral principles, full of hatred and making slander and insults as weapons and daily recitations?” Anwar asked.
The Prime Minister also stressed the continued importance of usrah (small study circles) and the Islamic intellectual heritage (turath) in guiding movements. He said Islamic activism must remain firm in fighting corruption, opposing takfiri thinking and eradicating hardcore poverty, while upholding adab, akhlak and respect for nationality.
The dinner brought together veterans and younger activists from three generations of Malaysia’s Islamic civil society organisations, many of which have longstanding ties to Anwar from his days as ABIM president in the 1970s and early 1980s.
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