United Sabah Islamic Association
The United Sabah Islamic Association (USIA) was a non-official association in the Malaysian state of Sabah , which operated the Islamization of the population of Sabah in the 1970s and 1980s .
history
The United Sabah Islamic Association (USIA) was founded on September 16, 1969 with the aim of spreading the Islamic faith among the people of Sabah. USIA's roots lie in the amalgamation of various Islamic organizations in the 1940s and 1950s.
The organization's activities were initially funded primarily by the Sabah Foundation , chaired by Tun Mustapha . The most important successes of the USIA included the conversion of Transport Minister Datu Abdul Ghani Gilong and the later Prime Minister of Sabah, Tun Fuad Stephens .
The importance of the USIA waned in the 1980s due to the increasing influence of the competing Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah (MUIS) controlled by the BERJAYA government .
After BERJAYA proposed to the Malaysian government to take over the administration of Sabaha's Islamic affairs, the USIA was dissolved in 1984.
Conversions
In converting to Islam, the USIA initially used the same practices that had previously been used by the Catholic missionaries. Islam was presented as a way of life in settlements that were largely cut off from the outside world. If the village chief ( Ketua Kampung ) was convinced of Islam, the other residents usually followed this decision.
From 1970 to June 1977 USIA, according to its own statements, converted 72,390 Kadazan-Dusun, 14,772 Murut, 6,020 Chinese and 300 others - a total of 93,482 people - to Islam.
literature
- Regina Lim: Federal-state relations in Sabah, Malaysia: the Berjaya administration 1976-85 , Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008, ISBN 978-981-230-811-5
