Arbaiyah Abdul Manan, known professionally as Abby Abadi is a Malaysian singer and actress. She is best known as one of the members of the Malaysian girl group, Elite, which gained success in late 1990s and early 2000s and known for her role as Inspector Aleeza in the longest-running Malaysian action drama series, Gerak Khas where she is one of the six original cast members. She won the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian for Most Popular TV Actress five times, between 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Career
Abby Abadi started out as one of the members of the Malaysian girl group, Elite when she was just 18 years old. Abadi has released two albums with the group and left in 1998. Her acting career started in 1999 when she landed the lead role as Inspector Aleeza in longest-running Malaysian police procedural television series, Gerak Khas where she also sang the series' theme music with co-star AC Mizal and appeared in all 13 seasons until the series went on indefinite hiatus in 2011. She returned to the series in 2019. Since then, Abadi remained active in film and television.
Personal life
Abby Abadi married her Gerak Khas co-star, Norman Hakim, in 2002. Norman and Abby was legally divorced at the Gombak Timur Shariah Court in 2008. They have three children together: Mohamed Danish Hakim, Marisa Dania, and Maria Danisha. Four years after her divorce from Norman Hakim, Abby married Muhammad Noor Farhan Che Bakar. He is 12 years younger than her. Their marriage only lasted for a year. They divorced on 9 May 2014.
Involvement in politics
Abby Abadi's joined the PAS and received criticism for the decision due to her lifestyle. Abadi is working with Hairi Othman to improve the image of PAS. She was said to have married a PAS assembly member Mohd Zaki Ibrahim. However, she denied the claims.
Controversy
Controversial comments about Islam
Abadi is quite vocal in voicing her opinion on Islamic teaching. Ever since she became a member of PAS, she began giving sermons and teachings. Because most of her views contradicts the teachings of Islam, Abadi was condemned in the Malaysian blogosphere. In a Malay language portal, it shows that Abadi stated that, the reason for all the things that she has done in PAS is for the benefits of her friends, family and the society. She believes that her work in PAS can guarantee her salvation in the afterlife.
Because of her controversial comments on Islam, Abadi was criticized by Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin. Abadi and Mohd Asri fight on Facebook And Twitter. Abadi has also been questioned by PAS member and religious teacher Ustaz Azhar Idrus. Azhar Idrus suggested that Abadi must further her studies and conduct extensive research on subjects that she wanted to comment.
