In this article, I wish to explain to Malaysians, sadly and reluctantly, that there is a battle of two Islams in Malaysia.

One Islam is led by our Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim while the other Islam is led by Hadi Awang and Sanusi Md Nor of Kedah.

Mahiaddin and gang do not matter.

It is now a battle between the whole of the Unity Coalition against PAS version of Islam.

Ironically, Hadi and Anwar came from the same root of the Islamic Reformation. Anwar was trained as a moderate Malay and Muslim, while Hadi is a trained Islamic scholar in the tradition of 1,000-year-old curriculum of social and nation development when Islam was the conqueror and ruled much of the known world with other faiths as dhimmis, or “citizens under the protection of Islam.”

Anwar represents a modern Islam and Hadi Awang represents a non-modern Islam. One is progressive and inclusive, while the other is regressive and exclusive.

For the next 50 years, these are the only choices that Malaysians have. Malaysians must choose in order to reset Malaysia.

Some civil society personalities seem to think there is a third option. Don’t choose either.

Well, sorry Malaysians, if you do not choose, then automatically by default Malaysia will be led by the Islam of Hadi Awang and Sanusi Md Nor. Good luck-lah then!

Semenanjung Malaysia will be a state just below the Taliban of Afghanistan. Semenanjung Malaysians then must fly to Sarawak and Sabah if they wish to wear their own clothing, drink their favorite beverages and watch movies. None of that will exist in Semenanjung.

Anwar Ibrahim now has two battle fronts. The most serious one is with the Malays in order to convince them that the Islam which is more inclusive and moderate is the better Islam that Allah wants and a salvation to the afterlife.

He is pitted against Hadi and Sanusi’s Islam of isolating Muslims from all haram things so that it would be safer and easier to enter heaven, if one does not have to pass by an alcohol shop, look at tight fitting nurses’ outfit and be tempted to gamble, and that all the LGBTs are in the correctional institutions.

The other battle front of Anwar, sadly, is against good Malaysians. By Malaysians, I mean progressive Malays and other non-Malays.

This group seems to think that Anwar is no better than Hadi and Sanusi. It seems to them that Anwar is playing too much to the gallery and also trying to outdo the other Islam by empowering JAKIM, by being a bit more conservative in and not taking a stronger stand on many issues such as the LGBTs, alcohol, rock concerts and many others.

I have read articles by good Malaysians complaining that Anwar has backtracked or that he is also as bad as Hadi and Sanusi as conservative Muslims.

I would like to ask these “good Malaysians” who they would like to be the PM?

Kalau pandai sangat, step up, come out and offer yourself to be the Home Minister for instance, and see if you can survive a week in office.

I, for one, know that our civil servants and institutions have been “nurtured” by Umno to be corrupt. No un-corrupt civil servant can survive in a corrupt civil institution.

This is the legacy of Umno. You ingat senangkah nak tukar ini semua? Forty years of Mahathir’s reign of a corrupt civil institution to be overturned in six months?

Even if PH did win the election in 2022, Anwar and Saifuddin Nasution will have to take at least five years to manage the change in the Home Ministry and in other ministries.

Anwar heads the Ministry of Finance and I, for one, can sleep easily nowadays.

If Malaysians are too impatient and too arrogant or even too incompetent to understand that simple truth about change, then Malaysians deserve a Sanusi PM (I don’t think Hadi’s health will withstand the office).

Some Malaysians may think that I am being too unrealistic and over-dramatic or overselling Anwar.

Fine. What is your alternative? Which political party do you want to rule Malaysia? Do you think the DAP can rule Malaysia in the next three elections? Do you think the Malays can switch off their Islamic conservatism enough to appoint a Chinese non-Muslim as PM?

I would have no problem with that. But millions of other Malays will probably not agree.

Although Anwar has shown himself to be the most resilient politician in Malaysia’s history, he cannot change the country through the PM’s office alone. He needs our help!

So come on, which party? MUDA? The party can’t even win by itself. Warisan? The party can’t even keep their deposits in Malaysia. GPS? The party is in love with Sarawak only. GRS? You must be joking! So, who?

Maybe we can start a new Malaysian For All party and set it up as a party that does not want anything to do with religion and politics? Will it fly? Will the 80% conservative Malays support it?

In 1970, I would guess that only 30% of Malays were practicing Muslims going for prayers five times a day and 1 % would talk politics and Islam.

Nowadays, 80% of Malays are practicing Muslims praying five times a day and 80% will talk politics and Islam, whether they understand it or not. The “Green Wave” in GE15 is proof of my simple guesswork.

My sampling in this unresearched survey is simply the relatives and friends around me which easily numbers 500. And I was being conservative in my percentile.

Civil society Malays who are in London talking about Islam or non-Malay Christians downplaying Anwar knows absolutely nothing about what goes on in mosques, in the sermons and in the WhatsApp of Malays in the middle class who can’t afford to live in London.

In order to reset Malaysia, Anwar cannot do it alone. Although he has shown himself to be the most resilient politician in Malaysia’s history, even he cannot change Malaysia through the office of the Prime Minister.

Some might say that Mahathir is the most resilient, but I disagree as he has billions of money and knows many skeletons in Malaysia’s history that in part he created.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia needs our help. Us, Malaysians.

What does he need us to do? March like Bersih? No. Give him money? No. Sacrifice our alcohol? No. Sacrifice our dignity? Definitely no. Give up our faith? No.

Then what does the PM ask of us? I think he asks us for a year or two of patience. I think he asks us to read his Madani Islam.

Have we done that before writing all sorts of accusations without any context of whether we can actually solve them ourselves?

If there was a way to appoint the critics of Anwar to the offices of the PM and Home Minister for a month, I would do it. I would tell Anwar to go for hajj, or umrah, or Sweden for a month and give my friend, Saifuddin a well deserved holiday in New Zealand, perhaps.

There seems to be so many pandai-pandai Menteri Dalam Negeri and Perdana Menteri in the media world. I would say that I will never feel the shoes of these two offices.

Unless there is a great catastrophe like a meteor strike and there is no one else, I would never hold any of the two positions for any money in the world, much less with no salary!

When I criticize education, then I must be prepared to be the minister if called upon. When I criticize the poor performance of the Ministry of Unity or the Minister of Religion, then, like it or not, I would have to be prepared to shoulder those offices if called upon.

I would never criticize anything unless I have a solid and realistic solution to the problem. I would never criticize anyone unless I think I can do a better job than that person.

Perhaps Malaysians should view this seriously when they decide to complain incessantly and with no idea of a realistic solution taking into consideration 80% conservative Muslims as their neighbors.

Think about it. Which Islam do you prefer to govern Malaysia?

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)