Abstract: Islamism is often associated with oppositional social movements. However, increasingly, Muslim states too have served as agents of Islamism. They have adopted Islamization strategies, and realigned state ideology and policy-making to reflect Islamist ideals and to fulfill demands of Islamic ideology. They have done so not only as a reaction to Islamist challenges from below but also to harness the energies of Islamism to expand state power and capacity. By co-opting Islamism, they have strengthened the postcolonial state. Pakistan during the Zia ul-Haq period, and Malaysia under Mahathir Mohammad have been at the forefront of this trend, devising Islamization from above strategies that allowed these weak states to effectively alleviate limitations before exercise of state power and to pursue goals such as economic growth. The Islamization of the postcolonial state underscores the importance of religion and culture to state power and capacity.

Keywords: Islamic ideology, Islamic state, Islamism, Islamization, Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed, Pakistan, postcolonial state, state capacity, Zia ul-Haq