Yusof bin Abdullah ( Jawi: ; 8 May 1922 – 27 April 2000) was a Malaysian politician. He was a member of the

Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, lit. "People's Assembly") and the D ...

and from 1982 to 1989, he served as President of the

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...

(PAS). His legal name was Yusof Abdullah.

Early career

Yusof joined PAS in 1951, and notably unseated future Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from the seat of Kota Setar Selatan in the 1969 election. Yusof was appointed as a Deputy Minister while PAS was a member of the governing

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

coalition in the 1970s, and also served as Malaysia's Ambassador to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He also served as Malaysian delegate to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

President of PAS

Yusof became the President of PAS in 1982, winning the post uncontested after a leadership crisis in the party. His election was seen as a victory for the ''

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

'' faction of the party as his predecessor,

Asri Muda Mohd Asri bin Muda ( Jawi: ; 10 October 1923 – 28 August 1992) was a Malaysian politician who served as the President of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) from 1969 to 1982, and as the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Kelantan. Early an ...

, was considered not an ''alim''. Asri's leadership was notable for the shifting of PAS's outlook towards Malay nationalism. Both joining the

coalition and moving away from religious-based policy platforms caused the party to lose support. Yusof subsequently attempted to increase the influence of the ''ulama'' within PAS, surrounding himself with ''ulama'' leaders such as

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat ( Jawi: ; 10 January 1931 – 12 February 2015) was a Malaysian politician and Muslim cleric. He was the Menteri Besar of Kelantan from 1990 to 2013 and the ''Mursyidul Am'' or Spiritual Leader of the Pan-Malaysian I ...

and

Abdul Hadi Awang Abdul Hadi bin Awang ( Jawi: عبدالهادي بن اواڠ; born 20 October 1947) is a Malaysian politician and religious teacher who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Marang since October 1990, 7th President of the Malaysian ...

. The direction of his leadership of the party was seen as firmly Islamist: under his presidency, the party adopted an Islamic State as official policy, and proposed to limit the powers of Parliament to be subject to the oversight of an "Ulama Assembly". At the same time, he steered the party away from Malay nationalism and introduced significant changes to the party's internal structure. One change was to introduce the position of "Spiritual Leader", of which he was the first occupant. His leadership style has been described as "fiery and outspoken". He resigned in 1989 citing health reasons, and was replaced by his deputy

Fadzil Noor Dato' Ustaz Haji Fadzil bin Muhammad Noor ( ms, فاضل بن محمد نور, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 13 March 1937 – 23 June 2002) was a Malaysian politician and religious teacher. He was the president of Pan-Malaysian Is ...

, who set the party on a more moderate path.

Personal life

Yusof died in Penang on 28 April 2000. His son, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, became a member of parliament in 2008 and a

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department. List of Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department The following individuals have been appo ...

for Religious Affairs in 2018.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawa, Yusof Malaysian Muslims People from Penang Members of the Dewan Rakyat Malaysian people of Malay descent Presidents of Malaysian Islamic Party 1922 births Ambassadors of Malaysia to Afghanistan 2000 deaths Ambassadors of Malaysia to Turkey Malaysian people of Minangkabau descent Ambassadors of Malaysia to Iran