Political Islam in Malaysia: Official Islamic Movement and Non-Malays’ Response

Ya-Wen Yu

Abstract

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country; the Malays and other indigenous people comprise about 61% of the population, The Chinese and The Indians constitute around 24% and 7% respectively, and other ethnic groups make up the rest.  According to Samuel Huntington, Malaysia is located at the fault lines among Islamic, Chinese, and Hindu civilizations; however, the clash of civilizations seldom happened in Malaysia.  Therefore, the author attempts to re-examine Huntington’s argument about the clash of civilization by means of the case study of Malaysia.  First, the article briefly reviews the history of Malaysia.  Secondly, it explores the causes, the historical development of the Islamic revival movements, and the effects the official Islamization movements in Malaysia.  Thirdly, it discusses the concern and response of non-Malays (Chinese and Indian) on the reassertion of Islam in the Malaysia.  Finally, the author analyzes the implication from the Malaysia case.


----
Presented at the 82nd SPSA Annual Conference, Jan 5-8 2011, New Orleans, USA.