Sammyboy RSS Feed
05-08-2016, 12:30 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
This is an issue that has been brewing in Malaysia since at least the 1950s. I will point to 2 issues that have perhaps encapsulated the growing trend towards Islamic conservatism in Malaysia.
A: Trends towards Islamic radicalization
1. The issue of the hijab, or as it is called in Malaysia, the tudung. An easy way to gauge how Islam has become more and more something in the public realm is to simply ask someone in their 70s or 60s how many people used to wear the tudung. In the 60s and 70s, Muslims who wore the tudung were in the minority. This trend, following worldwide trends of local versions of Islam to follow "true" Islam from the Middle East, was really catalyzed by the ABIM movement under Anwar Ibrahim. ABIM was a Islamist conservative group that advocated going back to basics, i.e. going back to the core teachings of the Quran, modeling the Middle East. Of course, the meaning of the Quran is subject to debate but this is what ABIM claimed.
2. The Allah issue. As you noted, the Allah issue is a huge one. Essentially, the word "Allah" has been declared only for Muslim usage, despite the word itself being Arabic in origin and having been used for centuries in Malay versions of the Bible. Some churches have had Molotov cocktails thrown at them due to this ahem, inflammatory issue.The issue at heart is really a political one. Islam is increasingly politicized in Malaysia and is used as part of a divide and rule tactic by the ruling government. By highlighting the "Allah" issue, the government establishes itself as protector of Islam, and pits Christians against Muslims with it being the moral arbiter. The sudden growth in these issues can be traced to political causes: as the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia has grown in strength the government has found it necessary to try to monopolize Islam, even the homosexuality issue has its roots in sodomy accusations thrown against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
B: Non-Muslim responses
Needless to say, non-Muslims in Malaysia have been rather alarmed at such trends. There are growing fears of recurring racial tensions that might manifest itself in a second May 13, 1969, where racial riots claimed hundreds of lives. A common reaction to fear is of course, flight. Malaysia suffers from massive brain drain, with more than 1 million Malaysian working overseas as of 2011. That's out of a small population of 26 million mind you. And that's also not counting the hundreds, if not thousands of, Malaysians who have migrated elsewhere and have become citizens of other countries ( dual-citizenship not being allowed according to Malaysian law).
In summary, this tussle over Islam and controversies will continue apace for as long as it remains a selling point in elections. Which I suspect, it always will.
Ong Kar Jin
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?233911-The-radicalization-of-Malaysian-and-Singapore-Muslims&goto=newpost).
This is an issue that has been brewing in Malaysia since at least the 1950s. I will point to 2 issues that have perhaps encapsulated the growing trend towards Islamic conservatism in Malaysia.
A: Trends towards Islamic radicalization
1. The issue of the hijab, or as it is called in Malaysia, the tudung. An easy way to gauge how Islam has become more and more something in the public realm is to simply ask someone in their 70s or 60s how many people used to wear the tudung. In the 60s and 70s, Muslims who wore the tudung were in the minority. This trend, following worldwide trends of local versions of Islam to follow "true" Islam from the Middle East, was really catalyzed by the ABIM movement under Anwar Ibrahim. ABIM was a Islamist conservative group that advocated going back to basics, i.e. going back to the core teachings of the Quran, modeling the Middle East. Of course, the meaning of the Quran is subject to debate but this is what ABIM claimed.
2. The Allah issue. As you noted, the Allah issue is a huge one. Essentially, the word "Allah" has been declared only for Muslim usage, despite the word itself being Arabic in origin and having been used for centuries in Malay versions of the Bible. Some churches have had Molotov cocktails thrown at them due to this ahem, inflammatory issue.The issue at heart is really a political one. Islam is increasingly politicized in Malaysia and is used as part of a divide and rule tactic by the ruling government. By highlighting the "Allah" issue, the government establishes itself as protector of Islam, and pits Christians against Muslims with it being the moral arbiter. The sudden growth in these issues can be traced to political causes: as the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia has grown in strength the government has found it necessary to try to monopolize Islam, even the homosexuality issue has its roots in sodomy accusations thrown against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
B: Non-Muslim responses
Needless to say, non-Muslims in Malaysia have been rather alarmed at such trends. There are growing fears of recurring racial tensions that might manifest itself in a second May 13, 1969, where racial riots claimed hundreds of lives. A common reaction to fear is of course, flight. Malaysia suffers from massive brain drain, with more than 1 million Malaysian working overseas as of 2011. That's out of a small population of 26 million mind you. And that's also not counting the hundreds, if not thousands of, Malaysians who have migrated elsewhere and have become citizens of other countries ( dual-citizenship not being allowed according to Malaysian law).
In summary, this tussle over Islam and controversies will continue apace for as long as it remains a selling point in elections. Which I suspect, it always will.
Ong Kar Jin
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?233911-The-radicalization-of-Malaysian-and-Singapore-Muslims&goto=newpost).