| Honorific-Prefix: | Yang Berbahagia Tuan Guru Tan Sri Dato' Bentara Setia Haji |
| Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | PSM SJMK KMN JP |
| Native Name: | Malay: {{Script|Arab|نئ عبدالعزيز نئ مت |
| Office: | Menteri Besar of Kelantan |
| Term Start: | 22 October 1990 |
| Term End: | 6 May 2013 |
| Deputy: | Mohd Rozali Isohak (1990-1996) Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (1990-2004) Ahmad Yakob (2004-2013) |
| Predecessor: | Mohamed Yaacob |
| Successor: | Ahmad Yakob |
| Office2: | 2nd Spiritual Leader of |
| Term Start2: | 1991 |
| Term End2: | 12 February 2015 |
| Predecessor2: | Yusof Rawa |
| Successor2: | Haron Din |
| Constituency Mp3: | Pengkalan Chepa |
| Parliament3: | Malaysian |
| Term Start3: | 1974 |
| Term End3: | 1986 |
| Predecessor3: | New constituency |
| Constituency Mp4: | Kelantan Hilir |
| Parliament4: | Malaysian |
| Term Start4: | 1967 |
| Term End4: | 1974 |
| Predecessor4: | Ahmad Abdullah |
| Successor4: | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency Am5: | Chempaka |
| Assembly5: | Kelantan State |
| Term Start5: | 1995 |
| Term End5: | 12 February 2015 |
| Predecessor5: | New constituency |
| Constituency Am6: | Semut Api |
| Assembly6: | Kelantan State |
| Term Start6: | 1986 |
| Term End6: | 1995 |
| Predecessor6: | Wan Mamat Wan Yusof |
| Successor6: | Constituency abolished |
| Office7: | PAS Head of the Ulama Wing |
| Term Start7: | 1971 |
| Term End7: | 1995 |
| Office8: | Kelantan Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party Commissioner |
| Term Start8: | 1978 |
| Term End8: | 2013 |
| Successor8: | Ahmad Yakob |
| Birth Name: | Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat |
| Birth Date: | 10 January 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Kampung Pulau Melaka, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, British Malaya (now Malaysia) |
| Death Place: | Kampung Pulau Melaka, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia |
| Resting Place: | Tanah Perkuburan Pulau Melaka, Kota Bharu |
| Children: | , including Nik Abduh and Nik Omar |
| Party: | PAS |
Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat (Jawi: Malay: {{Script|Arab|نئ عبدالعزيز بن نئ مت; 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 Islamic Party (PAS) from 1991 until his death in 2015. Overall, his career as an elected politician lasted for some 48 years following his election to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1967.
Nik Abdul Aziz was born in Kota Bharu in 1931 as the second of five siblings. He was raised by a single father (Tok Kura) who was an aspiring blacksmith.[1] Nik Aziz's Islamic studies began in pondok schools in Kelantan and Terengganu. He went on to study at Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, India for five years. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Studies and Master of Arts in Islamic jurisprudence from Al-Azhar University, Egypt. During his university studies, he was one of the witnesses and a civilian to have lived in the heat of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.[2]
Having returned from Egypt, Nik Aziz worked as a teacher at various religious schools in Kelantan including his father's pondok (religious school). Nik Aziz started to teach at various mosques and Pondok within Kelantan and other states. He became a respected Islamic scholar earning the nickname "Tok Guru." (means 'Master/sifu of Scholar or teacher' in Malay)
Nik Aziz joined PAS in 1967. He contested and won the Kelantan Hilir parliamentary seat by-election in that same year, and held the seat (later renamed Pengkalan Chepa) until 1986. In 1982, he was part of a movement by young members to bring change to the party leadership. PAS had lost the Kelantan state elections in 1978 and, as PAS state commissioner, Nik Aziz began to question president Asri Muda's leadership. Finally, in the PAS Muktamar (General Assembly) that year, Asri was forced to resign.[2]
After stepping aside from federal politics, Nik Aziz won a seat in the Kelantan State Assembly in the 1986 general elections. In 1990, PAS managed to wrest control of Kelantan back from Barisan Nasional. In his capacity as party leader in the state, Nik Aziz became Menteri Besar of Kelantan. He succeeded Yusof Rawa as spiritual leader of PAS in 1991.
Nik Aziz's government was re-elected on four occasions (1995, 1999, 2004, 2008), until his retirement in 2013. During the 1990s, his administration in Kelantan frequently clashed on the role of Islam in Malaysia with the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. In contrast with the racially exclusive ruling party UMNO, he openly rejected communal politics.[3]
Nik Aziz commanded support from a large number of non-Muslims in Malaysia and played a leading role during PAS' increase in popularity among non-Muslims.[4] [5] [6]
In May 2013, Nik Aziz publicly stated that he did not consent on any co-operation between United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) as long as he was alive.[7] However, in September 2019, when PAS and UMNO signed the formal charter of alliance, named Muafakat Nasional, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang claimed that Nik Aziz had already consented to the cooperation while he was alive.[8]
Nik Aziz drew some criticism for his hardline Islamic views. His advocacy of Islamic shariah law for all Malay Muslims drew criticism. According to Fox News, Nik Aziz suggested that women would be at a lower risk of being raped if they abandoned using their lipstick and perfume.[9] He was also recorded once stating that fashionable and sexy-dressing women deserved to be raped during a speech.[10]
In 2012, there was an issue of Catholics in Malaysia using the Arabic term for "God"; "Allah" in their Christian Bible. Initially, Nik Aziz stated that the word "Allah" can be used by non-Muslims as the origin of the word itself is evidently pre-Islamic. The issue caused a stir in the Muslim community. The PAS party was almost divided into two blocs; one that supported the use of the word, and one that did not. Aiming to restore unity in PAS, Nik Aziz took back his words and disapproved of the word "Allah" being used by non-Muslims.[11]
His son Nik Adli was held under the Malaysian Internal Security Act in 2001 for alleged terrorist activities including planning jihad, possession of weapons, and membership in the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), an Islamist extremist group.[12] [13] [14] [15] After 5 years in detention without trial, he was released.[16]
During the 2013 election, PAS once again won a majority of seats to form a Kelantan state government. Nik Aziz announced his retirement as Chief Minister of Kelantan, the post he held since 1990. His successor is Nik Aziz's former deputy Chief Minister Ahmad Yaakob, who took over his office to replace him as Kelantan's Chief Minister. Over the ensuing two years, Nik Aziz became increasingly ill with prostate cancer, and died on at 9.40 p.m. Malaysia Standard Time ; at his residence in, Kota Bharu. The following day, more than 10,000 people attended his funeral at Masjid Tok Guru, his local mosque.[17] His death triggered the Kelantan State Assembly seat of 2015 Chempaka by-election.[18]
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | P016 Kelantan Hilir | (PAS) | 11,855 | 57.97% | Tengku Noor Asiah Tengku Ahmad (UMNO) | 8,596 | 42.03% | 20,737 | 3,259 | 74.84% | |||||
| 1969 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 13,635 | 60.73% | Mohamed Salleh Ibrahim (UMNO) | 8,817 | 39.27% | 23,183 | 4,818 | 74.64% | ||||||
| 1974 | P017 Pengkalan Chepa | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS)1 | 13,243 | 73.88% | Umar Ibrahim (IND) | 4,682 | 26.12% | 19,278 | 8,561 | 62.10% | |||||
| 1978 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 11,897 | 54.53% | Muhammad Noor Ali (UMNO) | 9,919 | 45.47% | N/A | 1,978 | N/A | ||||||
| 1982 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 16,759 | 59.48% | Hassan Harun (UMNO) | 11,417 | 40.52% | 28,907 | 5,342 | 78.73% | ||||||
| 1986 | P023 Bachok | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 16,347 | 49.59% | Mohd. Zain Abdullah (HAMIM) | 16,617 | 50.41% | 33,627 | 270 | 80.08% | |||||
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | N04 Semut Api | (PAS) | 6,233 | 60.36% | Hafsah Osman (UMNO) | 4,094 | 39.64% | 10,754 | 2,139 | 74.97% | ||||
| 1990 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 9,504 | 79.10% | Wan Mat (UMNO) | 2,511 | 20.90% | 12,341 | 6,993 | 76.22% | |||||
| 1995 | N05 Chempaka | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 7,851 | 72.80% | Yusuf Isa (UMNO) | 2,934 | 27.20% | 11,413 | 4,917 | 74.80% | ||||
| 1999 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 8,649 | 74.48% | Ropli Ishak (UMNO) | 2,302 | 19.82% | 11,801 | 6,347 | 78.26% | |||||
| 2004 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 7,889 | 65.10% | Ruhani Mamat (UMNO) | 4,195 | 34.62% | 12,407 | 3,694 | 81.47% | |||||
| 2008 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 9,514 | 64.13% | Nik Mohd Zain Omar (UMNO) | 5,265 | 35.49% | 15,077 | 4,249 | 84.62% | |||||
| 2013 | Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (PAS) | 12,310 | 67.92% | Wan Razman Wan Abdul Razak (UMNO) | 5,810 | 32.06% | 18,360 | 6,500 | 85.94% | |||||
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