And however the political pendulum swings at the state elections, what may yet remain uncertain is whether religious populism in Malaysia means a turn towards right-wing politics — and towards the cynical aspects of identity politics.Malaysia has long been a pluralistic society. According to the 2020 census, Muslims make up 63.5 per cent of the population, and the rest are Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, followers of other religions or are non-religious.
“If you look at Malaysia electorally, no political party can afford to become too extreme. Because it won’t serve their interests. We’re not just talking about ideals … about real politics,” said Chandra. PAS was formed in 1951 as a splinter group of Islamists from UMNO. And the idea of defending Islam undeniably remains a part of its politics, which may explain a recent parade staged by its youth wing members in Terengganu.
Youth wing members of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia clad in medieval Islamic war attire, marching with fake swords and shields in Setiu, Terengganu on Feb 17, 2023. “There’s this stereotype that perhaps international observers, even some of our neighbours, want to peddle, saying that conservative forms of Islam will lead to extremism. … That’s not true, and that doesn’t have to be the case at all,” he said.
Clearly, modern Malaysia has not come close to the sectarian violence experienced by some of its neighbours. But for Chandra, conservatism itself is a problem if it is exclusionary, especially in multi-ethnic Malaysia. “This rise of Islamic consciousness … has led to a situation where there’s less mixing of the communities,” he said.
As religion plays a more prominent role in society and self, the “negative aspect” as Syaza sees it is that “the emphasis has been wrong, which is more on this outward Islamisation — you know, dressing speaking a certain way, instead of looking at what Islam really is.”One thing Islam is not is monolithic. And it does find different expressions in Malaysian society, including among the growing number who send their children to religious schools, known as madrasahs.
“Most of the graduates of my school aren’t in the Islamic studies field. They’re engineers, they’re doctors, lawyers and in all sorts of fields, … having that Islamic worldview that differs maybe from those who didn’t experience that kind of education.”One young Muslim who actively promotes his faith, through his Jihad in Education programme for schools, is entrepreneur, influencer and hip-hop artiste Ariz Ramli, more popularly known as Caprice and sometimes called Malaysia’s “Bad Boy”.
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