Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941–46

8. The Malay/MCP/Chinese Conflict

194 | Red Star Over Malaya CHAPTER 8 The Malay/MCP/Chinese Conflict Che Salleh has gone a step further than most traditional preachers of Holy Wars who merely promised Paradise to those who died killing the infidel. He has appealed to the pre-Muslim background of Malays with the promise of invulnerability. – British military intelligence report, 11 June 1946 Of all the branch organizations and movements of Islam, the mystical and semi-secret Sufi tarekat (brotherhoods or orders) are regarded as the foremost missionary vanguard. Their members comprise holy men and the Islam they represent is often called “popular Islam” different from that of the ulema, the established religio-legal scholars and officials. In Africa and Southeast Asia where the tarekat have been most active in the past few centuries, their followers have proselytized and successfully converted peoples of different races and tribes to Islam. Usually, they achieved conversion through a ruling family who then converted their subjects. Because of their individualistic approach the Sufi mystics also tolerated variations in local religious practice among their converts. This is not the place to go into a history of Islam in Malaya and Southeast Asia,1 but suffice it to say that it was not until the nineteenth century that the Sufi brotherhoods in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia began moving towards political action, to make calls for the defence of Islam, and to participate in what has been called primary resistance against European colonialism. A pan-Islamic movement came into being, which had as its goal the 194 The Malay/MCP/Chinese Conflict | 195 defence of Islam, and consequently a religious revival simultaneously got underway. Muslims throughout the world rallied around the Pan-Islamic banner of the Ottoman Sultans. In Indonesia and in several countries of Africa, militant Muslims launched jihad (holy wars) against the European powers. The Java War (1825–30) against the Dutch, led by Prince Diponegoro was fought under the banner of Islam; so was the Padri War of 1832/3 in Sumatra. The Tjilegon risings in Banten (Java) of 1888 were initiated by the Qadiriyyah tarekat.2 However, not all tarekat were violent or militant; nor were all jihad led by tarekat. None the less, several tarekat like the Qadiriyyah were among the foremost anti-colonialist fighters. In the nineteenth century in Africa, the Nigerian Sufi mystic, Usuman dan Fodio, gave a new expression to the doctrine of hijra (migration) and jihad. In theory, migration must precede a conflict against powers inimical to Islam. With Usuman, Muslims who were under foreign colonial pressures or attacks from “unbelievers” must migrate, regroup themselves under their own leaders, then fight back to defend their own societies and culture and prevent their values from being overwhelmed and destroyed by the armed intrusions of non-Muslims.3 Jihad is thus the war against unbelievers, not necessarily against the colonialist enemy only. It may be launched to expand the territory of the Islamic state, convert unbelievers by force, or to resist attacks on the Islamic state or society from outside or within, in which case it may be conducted against Muslim rebels of the state. The participation of a Muslim in a jihad is considered a pious act that stands on the same level as asceticism and other good works, and in the Koranic verses and traditions Paradise is promised to those who fall in battle.4 In Malaya, the first known Malay rebellion, which was described as a jihad, was the anti-British rebellion of 1928 in Terengganu. It is believed that a tarekat was involved, but its identity has never been clearly established. This chapter will describe the involvement of the Qadiriyyah tarekat in the inter-racial conflict between Malays and Chinese during the Japanese occupation, which began in the Batu Pahat district of Johor in May 1945. The violence spread to other parts of the south-western Johor, increasing in intensity after the Japanese surrender. Similarly, inter-racial violence occurred in the district of Sungai Manik in lower Perak and in other states. The Perak clashes were not coordinated with the Johor incidents, but they had many factors in common. The Malay struggle took on the 196 | Red Star Over Malaya character of a religious movement, a jihad fi Sabilillah (literally War in the Path of Allah), or Holy War.5 The Causes of the Conflict: The Malay View The most bitter Malay experience with regard...