Political Islam in Malaysia

Last Friday, the 23rd of March, the Conference of Rulers, a body purely comprised of the various sultans and constitutional leaders of the 14 states in Malaysia, decreed that the word "Islam" can be freely used in the names of political parties and other organization. In it’s 188th meeting, this body which does have legal jurisdiction over such matters has effectively guaranteed that Islam will be even more heavily politicized than it already is. In a country, where religious fervor has reached an all-time high (and is still on an upward trend), this surely spells trouble for the next few years as political institutions try their darnest to out-Islamize one another.

Dangerous tolerance

Islamic psychology is a strange beast to understand. For a devout, practicing Muslim, Islam is life itself as it prescribes a total way of life. Followed strictly, this will lead to eternal paradise in the Hereafter. Therefore, the worst thing that you could do to a Muslim is to claim that he is not a "good" Muslim – at this point, all hell can break loose. After being branded a "bad" Muslim, it is not uncommon that the first knee jerk reaction will be an attempt to do something to proclaim his "islamicity", followed very closely by the second which is to launch a counter claim against his accuser's validity as a Muslim. As you can imagine, such slanging and counter-slanging can easily spin out of control with very unpredictable results, none of which are very good. Take this micro example, apply it to a scenario involving two of the most powerful and influential political parties and you will have an idea of what’s happening here in Malaysia.

Islamic Malaysia

Over the past two decades, the religious demographics of Malaysia has changed considerably. In the late 60’s up to the 70’s, it was a common sight to see Malay (99% of whom are Muslim) women wearing very tight, revealing clothes – the tudung or Islamically-compulsory headscarf that covers the head, neck and bosom but not the face was virtually unheard of. But due to a gradually increasing emphasis placed on religious programs and a revision in the education syllabus to include a comprehensive Islamic subjects, the religious landscape has changed dramatically. Now, it would be hard to walk the streets of Kuala Lumpur, and find a Muslim woman without her headscarf. Certainly a sign of the times, and perfectly understandable and acceptable given the rules prescribed in Islam.

But all of this does open up a tremendous opportunity to those who would play on the psychological vulnerabilities inherent in a religious, Muslim mind.

In the last general elections, it was reported that political leaders from PAS (Parti Islam Se Malaysia or the Malaysian Islamic Party), told their constituents that voting for them would mean a ticket to heaven while voting for the ruling party, UMNO (United Malay National Organization) is sinful. Although this report may very well be untrue, it does show how powerful the religion can be in influencing national politics – for the largely rural Malay society of Malaysia, where literacy rates are somewhere in the high 70%, and less than 5% of the national population has received tertiary education, such an illogical promise of Paradise may be very well accepted. In the final tally of the elections, PAS firmly established itself as the main opposition party in Malaysia by retaining control the state legislature in Kelantan, capturing Terengganu from UMNO and making deep inroads in the Malay heartland of Northern Malaysia, a traditional UMNO stronghold. A month after the elections, sweeping changes were announced in the states that PAS controlled in order to "enhance the Islamic image" of those states. For example, men and women are no longer allowed to use the same check out counters at supermarkets (free mixing between the sexes if forbidden in Islam) and every female state employee was ordered to wear the headscarf.

The response

In response, UMNO has ratched up a notch or two efforts to portray itself as being a political party that values Islam. It’s leaders now are falling all over themselves to talk about how great Islam is, how dedicated UMNO is towards Islam, how it plans to make the country more Islamic, etc. For any neutral observer, it looks like a blatant fishing attempt. In a delayed effort to fit the increasingly Islamic national demographics, UMNO is playing catch-up. There is real danger in this one-up manship:

When does the spiral end?

At what point does Islamicity compromise plain common sense?

Is the next general election going to be a vote for which party is more Islamic, or for the party that has sounder governing policies?

These are tough questions, but the answers may define the shape and direction that Malaysia takes in the next few decades.

Appearing on www.renungan.com 28 March 2001