The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016

This paper studies the relationship between the state and its dominant religion, Islam, in Malaysia since 1957. When Malaya obtained independence from the British in 1957, Islam has been expected to play a declining role in state affairs. The Constitution guaranteed Islam to be the religion of the s...

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Main Author:	Akhmetova, Elmira
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English
Published:	2016
Subjects:	BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions BP173.5 Islam and world politics BP173.55 Islam and nationalism BP173.6 Islam and the state
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/1/53157_papers.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/2/53157_tentative.pdf

id	iium-53157
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-531572016-12-16T01:43:05Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/ The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016 Akhmetova, Elmira BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions BP173.5 Islam and world politics BP173.55 Islam and nationalism BP173.6 Islam and the state This paper studies the relationship between the state and its dominant religion, Islam, in Malaysia since 1957. When Malaya obtained independence from the British in 1957, Islam has been expected to play a declining role in state affairs. The Constitution guaranteed Islam to be the religion of the state, while religious freedom for non-Muslims should be assured without any discriminations. Since then, Islamic affairs remained under a state responsibility and Malaysia has been hailed for decades as an oasis of moderate Islam. Within last few years, however, some young Malaysians began answering to call from the ISIS fighters. The paper accordingly endeavours to underline the main factors for a decline of moderate and enlightened attitude of Islam in Malaysia. It suggests the politicisation of Islam in the government affairs, combined with the simultaneous authoritarian tactics in policing opposition as one of the main factors for decline in religious freedom. The last part of the paper discusses the external reasons for an intensifying role of political Islam in Malaysian state affairs by highlighting the impact of globalisation, the global ‘War on Terror’ and Islamophobia on wellbeing and security of Muslim communities. 2016-05-28 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/1/53157_papers.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/2/53157_tentative.pdf Akhmetova, Elmira (2016) The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016. In: Islam and Politics: An Illusion of an Islamic State- International Conference, 26th-27th May 2016, Austria. (Unpublished) https://islamandpolitics.univie.ac.at/program/
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions BP173.5 Islam and world politics BP173.55 Islam and nationalism BP173.6 Islam and the state
spellingShingle	BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions BP173.5 Islam and world politics BP173.55 Islam and nationalism BP173.6 Islam and the state Akhmetova, Elmira The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
description	This paper studies the relationship between the state and its dominant religion, Islam, in Malaysia since 1957. When Malaya obtained independence from the British in 1957, Islam has been expected to play a declining role in state affairs. The Constitution guaranteed Islam to be the religion of the state, while religious freedom for non-Muslims should be assured without any discriminations. Since then, Islamic affairs remained under a state responsibility and Malaysia has been hailed for decades as an oasis of moderate Islam. Within last few years, however, some young Malaysians began answering to call from the ISIS fighters. The paper accordingly endeavours to underline the main factors for a decline of moderate and enlightened attitude of Islam in Malaysia. It suggests the politicisation of Islam in the government affairs, combined with the simultaneous authoritarian tactics in policing opposition as one of the main factors for decline in religious freedom. The last part of the paper discusses the external reasons for an intensifying role of political Islam in Malaysian state affairs by highlighting the impact of globalisation, the global ‘War on Terror’ and Islamophobia on wellbeing and security of Muslim communities.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Akhmetova, Elmira
author_facet	Akhmetova, Elmira
author_sort	Akhmetova, Elmira
title	The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
title_short	The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
title_full	The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
title_fullStr	The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
title_full_unstemmed	The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016
title_sort	state and religion in post-independence malaysia: 1957-2016
publishDate	2016
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/1/53157_papers.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/53157/2/53157_tentative.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:15:15Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:15:15Z
_version_	1777411519090262016

The state and religion in post-independence Malaysia: 1957-2016

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