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.
When the PH coalition won power last April, Christians and other non-Muslims were hopeful of an end to the relentless Islamisation process under BN, whereas some Muslims were dismayed by the prospect of empowerment of non-Muslim minorities and a more secularised society.
Islamist opposition to racial equality
Since the election, Malaysia’s more hardline Islamist groups have been busy seeking to anticipate and undermine any attempts to derail the Islamisation process underway since the early 1980s. Concerned that the new Malaysian government might ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) – a UN policy formulated in the late 1960s which has attracted widespread support from world governments – Islamist lobby groups called for a massive protest rally against the ICERD on December 8. Their concern was that ratification might undermine special privileges enjoyed by the Malay race in multi-racial Malaysia.
Anti-Christian sentiments
The Islamist protests attracted widespread criticism from within and without Malaysia. Pro-ICERD Malaysian Muslim lawyer Latheefa Koya pointed out that a host of Muslim nations had already ratified ICERD. Nevertheless, under pressure, the PH Malaysian government decided not to ratify the UN Convention, resulting in the menacing December 8 anti-ICERD rally by Islamist groups passing off peacefully.
While much of the rising Malay Islamist rhetoric has been directed against Chinese, some has targeted Christianity and Christians (many of whom are Chinese). In the lead-up to Christmas, Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, youth chief of the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), warned Muslims not to celebrate Christmas as it is against the teachings of Islam. In a lecture in the PAS stronghold of Kuala Terengganu, Muhammad Khalil is reported to have declared ‘Christmas has an element of syirik (idolatry) which is against Islam’s teaching. They claim that God had a child, which is against our beliefs as Muslims. They celebrate Christmas with such elements and claim that Prophet Isa (Jesus) is the son of God’.
Such anti-Christian sentiments drew a sharp rebuke from Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, an academic at the Malaysia campus of Monash University and founder of the modernist Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF). He declared: ‘Perhaps it is time for PAS to think whether they should buy an island and proclaim it as an Islamic State and live exclusively with their own kind with the same mentality.’
An Islamic State?
So when the Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) announced it was initiating a campaign for Malaysia to be recognised as an ‘Islamic state’ just after Christmas, it attracted cries of protest from diverse quarters. Majidah Hashim of the activist group Sisters In Islam declared: ‘Why can’t we just be good Muslims in a progressive country that embraces modernity and is friendly with all nations East and West? I wonder about the fragility of the faith of an ummah [Muslim community] that is built upon the fear of humans and not love for God. I wonder how they would fare on the stage of the great wide world out there.’
The temperature is rising fast in Malaysia, as Muslim groups position themselves in the current struggle to shape the Malaysia of the future. PAS is pushing for greater influence, a fact which is of great concern to Christians and other religions minorities. Christian civil rights activist and lawyer Eugene Yapp comments: ‘PAS is now seen as the front line in defending Malay Muslim rights. The religious community is badly polarised even further now. It’s now a bi-polar relationship; between non-Muslim and Muslim... This is going to be the key social and religious driver in the days ahead that will influence the political scenario.’
