GMC

Anwar Ibrahim - "The Future of Muslim Democracy"

Anwar Ibrahim is currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University. Formerly the deputy prime minister of Malaysia and vice president of the United Malays National Organization, Ibrahim started in 1971 the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM), the first mass-based NGO in the country to raise social and political awareness and emphasize social justice and human rights. Together with the late Prof. Ismail al-Faruqi and Dr. Taha Jabir al-Awani, Ibrahim founded the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in 1981 and later set up the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Ashburn, Virginia. His criticism of corruption and abuse of power within the Malaysian government and his vocal demand for reform resulted in his arrest and imprisonment in September 1998. Ibrahim, who led a new democratic movement in Malaysia from his prison cell, was released in September 2004.