KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17— Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) said it is healthy for the Malays to feel their race is under threat, particularly if they understand the challenges of today’s politics.

In a response to remarks by national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said over the weekend, Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman insisted that there is truth behind claims that Malay power is currently being usurped by “forces of greed”.

“The Malay race, which was once the a major force in the archipelago, has now been colonised and split, and a part of its lands taken.

“It (the Malay race) is still the target of these forces of greed. Even worse today is the colonisation of mindsets that the Malays are facing,” he said in an article on the group’s website yesterday.

“The Malays have long been under threat, what has happened to Pak Samad?” he asked, referring to the renowned Malay poet and activist by his moniker.

“Is there still need for proof (that Malays are under threat)?” he asked the writer again, before adding that it is healthy for the community to feel their race is under threat.

In an interview with Malaysiakini on Saturday, Pak Samad reportedly rubbished claims that the Malays are under threat, pointing out that Malaysia has been under the community’s rule for more than five decades now.

He told the news portal that he found it odd that some from the community are obsessing over the loss of power to the country’s other minority groups, especially when Malaysia is still being governed by the Malays.

“I hope the Malay community is not too obsessed about claims that Malays are under threat,” Pak Samad was quoted saying by the news portal.

“How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malay for over five decades?

“What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?” he reportedly said.

According to another report by the news portal on Friday, Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Ibrahim Abu Shah claimed during the Johor Umno convention that if Barisan Nasional loses the next election, the Malays may never rule again.

The former Universiti Teknologi Mara vice-chancellor was reported labelling this a “dark day” for the Malays and the country.

Malay rights groups like Isma and Perkasa have repeatedly warned of alleged threats to the Malay race and Islam, due to the spread of liberal ideas by human rights groups and western influences.

According to Isma, liberalism rejects the fundamentals of religion and race and also gives rise to unfettered freedom.

These self-proclaimed champions of Malay rights have also criticised other Malays who espouse a different brand of nationalist agenda as puppets of non-Malays or traitors to their own race.