A massive struggle is under way in Malaysia over the soul of Islam and the future identity of the state.
Long touted as a beacon of moderate Islam, Malaysia faces an uncertain future, as backward-looking Islamists engage in a bitter dispute with forward-looking modernisers, and Christians and other minorities are fearful of the outcome.
Election shock
Less then one year ago, Malaysia seemed to be facing an exciting new dawn. The 14th general election ushered into power Pakatan Harapan (PH), a dynamic new coalition of moderate Muslim, Chinese and other ethnic parties. The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was ejected from government after having dominated the political scene since Independence in 1963. Successive BN governments had engineered a top-down Islamisation programme of the bureaucracy, aiming to instill and reinforce Islamic values throughout government and society.
