Kassim Ahmad (9 September 1933 – 10 October 2017) was a Malaysian Muslim philosopher, writer, poet, and educator. He was also a socialist politician in the early years of Malaya and later Malaysia.
Kassim Ahmad was arrested under the Internal Security Act in 1976 and spent 5 years in prison for allegedly supporting a socialist-communist movement in Malaysia. He was released on 30 July 1981, after Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister. Mahathir had met Kassim at the University of Malaya and had written introductions for his books.
He died in Kulim, Kedah, on October 10, 2017.[1]