POPULATION
29,179,952 (July 2012 est.)
GDP PER CAPITA
$15,800 (2011 est.)
RELIGIONS
Muslim (or Islam - official) 60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8% (2000 census)
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ALSO IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Australia
Indonesia
Malaysia
Religion, ethnicity, and politics are all profoundly intertwined in Malaysia, and the country’s ethno-religious dynamics have shaped its history even prior to independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. The introduction of Islam in the 13th century led to the decline of Indian-imported Buddhism and Hinduism among Malays. Beginning in 1511, Malay lands experienced successive colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British Empires. The British imported Chinese and Indian workers during their rule, the forebears of modern Malaysia’s 40% non-Muslim minority. The Malaysian Constitution defines all ethnic Malays as Muslims, thereby inextricably fusing ethnic Malay identity with Sunni Islam. Though the official state religion is Islam, minorities are guaranteed freedom of religion. Malaysian politics is characterized by a balancing act between ethnically based political parties, many of which seek to either increase or decrease Islam’s sociopolitical influence. Despite Prime Minister Najib Razak’s recent efforts to deemphasize ethno-religious differences, friction between immigrant populations, Islamists, and the Islamic-influenced moderate Malay government has proven a constant threat to political stability.
ESSAYS ON MALAYSIA
The Early Kingdoms
The first Malaysian kingdoms date to the arrival of Chinese and Indian merchants and Brahmins in the first century CE. The early Malays adopted the Indian political kingship system and assimilated Indian religious values into Malay culture. The remote Malay regions of Sarawak and Sabah became involved in the Indonesian spice trade around 600 CE, which facilitated the spread of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism to Malaysia. From the seventh through thirteenth centuries, rival kingdoms – predominantly the Srivijaya, Ayudhia, and Angkor – fought for political and religious control of the Malay region. The southern region of Kadah was controlled by Tamil Kings from Sri Lanka and later by Buddhist King Chandrabhanu. By 1200, Sunni Muslim merchants began converting low caste Hindu Malays to Islam, and two hundred years later, exiled Srivijaya King Parameswara (1400-1414), established the port of Malacca in southwestern Malay. Seeking to maximize trading profits, King Parameswara converted from Hinduism to Islam, and subsequently Malacca emerged as Southeast Asia’s largest trade outlet and a magnet for Sufi mystics from India seeking to spread Islam. By the end of the fifteenth century, Malaccan ruler Tun Perak (1456-1498) had converted most of the coastal districts to Islam, although most converts maintained their language and other cultural traditions, and inland people continued to practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and indigenous traditions. Around this time, devout Muslims in Malacca began to use the term “Malay” to mean someone who follows Islam, drawing distinctions among what had been largely a religiously intermixed population.
Portuguese Explorers and British Colonialism
In 1511, Portuguese explorers took Malacca by force, marking the beginning of European colonialism in Southeast Asia. The Portuguese heavily taxed Malacca's ports and defamed Islamic practices, urging and sometimes forcing Catholicism on the ethnic Malays. By the time the Dutch gained control of Malacca in 1641, the city's once-thriving economy had become downtrodden, and outrage against missionaries dominated the religious scene. Parts of northern Malay territory were annexed by Siam during the 1600s, and Sarawak and Sabah were controlled by Brunei. Southwestern Malaya was controlled by matrilineal immigrants from Sumatra who followed a syncretistic version of Islam. The British East India Company first leased the island of Penang in 1786 and continued to expand their influence over Malaya over the next 150 years. The British took control of Singapore in 1819; by 1824, they had won Malacca from the Dutch. Over the next century, Chinese (and some South Indian) immigrants seeking work from the British settled in rural Malaya, producing class tensions between the newcomers and the indigenous Malay community. Though the British designated themselves as mediators for the ensuing Chinese-Malay conflict, they tended to pit the Chinese against the Muslim Malay and promoted ethnic isolation. Although the British allowed the Malay to maintain their cultural and religious practices and preserved the symbolic political roles of Muslim Malay sultans, many Chinese converted to Christianity under pressure from British missionaries. By the 1930s, Malays, Chinese, and Indians were dissatisfied with British rule. The Malays called for a return to an Islamic society, the Chinese immigrants wanted equality, and the South Indians sought economic reforms.
Independence and the Islamic State
After Japanese occupation during World War II, Malaya was returned to the British. The British sought to form a single Malayan Union that would give equal rights to all ethnic groups on the islands. Many Malays, however, were worried about a takeover by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), which found its primary source of support in the Chinese population. Malay nationalism led the British to form the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which gave ethnic Malays special rights. This move spurred the MCP to launch an unsuccessful twelve-year campaign of guerilla warfare against the British government known as the Malayan Emergency. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya was granted independence as an Islamic republic, and in 1963, a proposal was adopted to incorporate Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak into a unified Malaysian state. Within two years, Singapore withdrew to become an independent republic. The new Malaysia maintained significant religious and ethnic diversity. Roughly two-thirds of the population adhered to Sunni Islam and a third to Hinduism, Christianity, Shi’a Islam, and other minority faiths. Similarly, while there is a substantial Malay majority, approximately a third of the population was of Chinese and Indian descent. Relations were often strained, and race riots against remaining ethnic Chinese in Malaysia in 1969 led to the promulgation of the New Economic Policy, intended to improve the economic levels of ethnic Malays and thus lower communal tensions. At the same time, the UMNO began to cater openly to Malay nationalism by invoking racially charged rhetoric and arguing that ethnic Malays are the sole rulers of the land.
Contemporary Affairs
Ethno-religious tensions remain at the forefront of Malaysian politics. Sunni Muslims account for 60 percent of the country’s population, and there remain significant numbers of Christians, Hindus, Shi’as, and other minority faiths. Similarly, the majority of citizens are ethnic Malays, but a third of citizens are of Chinese and Indian descent. Ethnically Indian Malaysians continue to experience marginalization by the government, as do ethnic Chinese living in rural areas. The United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has largely monopolized power since independence, but has come under increasing pressure from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which appeals primarily to rural Sunni voters in the religiously conservative northern states, and an increasingly well-coordinated opposition. Anwar Ibrahim, a leader of the opposition, has emerged as a popular but controversial advocate of interreligious dialogue in Malaysia and beyond. UMNO has also moved away from outspoken Malay nationalism, and Prime Minister Najib Razak recently initiated the "1Malaysia" campaign, aimed at integrating Malaysia's ethnic and religious minorities. Many hope this campaign will bring an end to the government-sanctioned destruction of Hindu temples that occurred in previous years. The government of Malaysia is also working to improve relations with Christians; in 2009, a court ruled that Christian organizations may use "Allah" to refer to God in their publications, reversing a longstanding ban on non-Muslim use of the word. Despite efforts to decrease tension between Muslims and other religious communities, conflict between the Sunni majority and Shi’as shows no signs of improvement. As recently as May 2011, the government raided a Shi’a gathering and detained four, following a December 2010 raid that detained 200.
Religious Freedom in Malaysia
The legal conflation of Malaysian citizens’ ethnic and religious identities has far-reaching and often negative consequences for religious freedom in Malaysia. Constitutional provisions define ethnic Malays as Sunni Muslims, a designation that leaves all ethnic Malays subject to Sharia law on religious and family matters. A parallel system of secular courts is used by non-Muslims and Muslims who engage the court for issues beyond Sharia jurisdiction. Ethnic Malays seeking to convert from Islam must appeal to the Sharia system, which in many states bans apostasy, and non-Muslims must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim citizen. State officials supervise the content of religious sermons and accompany police on raids to enforce religious regulations. Local officials in conservative states like Kelantan consider apostasy a capital offense and enforce public modesty codes, and while the former is rarely acted upon, the latter is often enforced by caning. Although the constitution guarantees religious freedom, state governments and Sharia courts often inhibit the ability of citizens of minority faiths to fully practice their religions. At the national level, religious organizations must register with the Home Ministry in order to operate legally. Religious traditions inconsistent with the state interpretation of Sunni Islam must register as a “company” under the Companies Act. Some 56 other religious sects are noted on a list of “deviant sects,” which the government considers a threat to national security. Adherents of Shi’a Islam, which is high on the aforementioned list, were banned from proselytizing in 2011. Regardless of their religion, federal employees are required to attend classes on Islamic religious education.
Religion in the Malaysian Constitution
The Malaysian Constitution declares Islam the state religion, but Article 3 guarantees freedom of religious practice as long as the practice is in harmony with the Federation. Article 11 gives all citizens the right to profess and practice their religion. Article 11 also states that all religious groups have the right to manage their own affairs and to establish and maintain their own institutions and properties. In practice, however, the federal and state governments restrict non-Sunni Islam religions to varying degrees. Forced religious taxation or education is illegal, as well as discrimination based on religion. Government schools are required to teach the ten tenets of "Islam Hdhari", a modern view of Islam that states that Islam is tolerant, peace-loving, and progressive. The government offers financial support to Muslim groups and, to a more limited extent, religious minorities. Sharia courts handle all civic and family matters for Muslims. The Constitution defines all ethnic Malays as Muslims. Non-Muslims are only allowed to marry Muslims upon conversion to Islam.
