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Chapter 7 Identity Construction, Nation Formation, and Islamic Revivalism in Malaysia
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Chapter 7 Identity Construction, Nation Formation, and Islamic Revivalism in Malaysia Shamsul A. B. One of the most perceptive recent observations on the relationship between religion and the modern nation-states in East and Southeast Asia appeared in an essay by Keyes, Hardacre, and Kendall (1994). The authors observed that the complex relationship between religion and nation formation has often engendered what they called a “crisis of authority .” In their words, The process of creating modern nation states has . . . entailed two rather contradictory stances towards religion. While the modernizing stance leads to a deemphasis of ritual practices, the nation-building one leads to the promotion of selected practices and even the invention of new rites. Modernization emphasizes rational action; nation-building insists on a commitment of faith. The tension between these two stances as well as that between each of them and those of religious practices that derive their authority from other than the state have contributed to the crisis of authority. (Keyes, Hardacre, and Kendall 1994, 5–6) Building on this argument, I would add that the contradiction underlying the “crisis of authority” is often the result of a contestation of faiths, in particular, faith in the religion versus faith in the nation. We have ample evidence from world history that multitudes of people have died or are willing to die, rightly or wrongly, for the sake of the “nation” or “religion.” In this essay, however, I examine an instance in which religion and nation have overlapped or fused, so that religious identity has become part and parcel of national identity; there seem to be similar cases in many coun- 208 | Shamsul A. B. tries around the world (Weisbrod 1983). An interesting feature of this process is that the concept of national identity itself is often a contested one, especially where the concept is developed in a multiethnic and secular society. What interests me in such cases is how, in its effort to construct a national identity based on a particular religion, the state sometimes ends up confronting the very religious revival it had earlier sought to promote. Although, as in Malaysia, the challenge is often perceived by the state as an internal one, its transnational or global nature cannot be dismissed lightly. In the Malaysian case, the revival’s impact on domestic interethnic relations has to be considered as well. In light of all these issues, the Malaysian experience provides a worthy case for examining the contestation between the state and Islamic revivalism. Before I proceed with this analysis, let me make a few remarks on the analytical approach I adopt here. I contend that, like most social phenomena, identity construction and nation formation take place within two levels of social reality. The first is the official or “authority-defined” social reality, created by people who are part of the dominant power structure ; the second is the “everyday-defined” social reality, experienced by the people in the course of their everyday lives (Shamsul n.d.b). At any given time, these two social realities exist side by side. Although intricately linked and mutually influential, they are in fact rarely identical. Both are mediated through the social class position of those who experience and interpret social reality. Both are also embedded in relationships of social power. In this chapter I wish therefore to locate the discourse, ruptures, and tensions that have characterized the contestation between the state and the Islamic revivalist (dakwah) movement in Malaysia over the past twenty-five years. Elsewhere I have dealt with microsociological aspects of this contest (Shamsul 1995), examining the lives of individual activists in an Islamic revivalist group; these individuals have largely escaped the attention of Malaysianists writing on the revivalist movement since the mid-1970s (Shamsul 1983). Most analysts have focused on the movement as a group or organization, outlining its origin, leadership, and overall impact on society (Muhammad Abu Bakar 1989; Chandra Muzaffar 1984; Nagata 1984; Zainah Anwar 1987; Husin Mutalib 1990). My present contribution , a macrosociological one, is meant, first, to complement my recent microsociological study and, second, to frame the study of Islamic revivalism in Malaysia within the broader study of identity and nation formation (see Shamsul n.d.b). [3.82.3.33] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 12:10 GMT) Identity Construction, Nation Formation, and Islamic Revivalism | 209 Ethnicity, Identity, and Religion: Malay, Malayness and Islam The social categories of “race” and “nation” entered into the indigenous world view in Malaysia through European colonization. Their introduction had...