Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

1. On Islam, Democracy, and Activism

11 1 ON฀ISLAM,฀DEMOCRACY,฀AND฀ ACTIVISM WHY฀MALAYSIA? Malaysia฀ recapitulates฀ some฀ global฀ trends฀ and฀ issues฀ relating฀ to฀ the฀ management ฀ of฀ national,฀ ethnic,฀ and฀ religious฀ sentiments.฀ One฀ current฀ issue,฀ both฀in฀Malaysia฀and฀on฀the฀world฀stage,฀is฀Islam’s฀putative฀intolerance฀of฀ what฀are฀for฀some฀basic฀political฀freedoms.฀The฀“cartoon฀row”฀that฀emerged฀ in฀ 2005฀ typifies฀ some฀ of฀ this.฀ Although฀ the฀ initial฀ Danish฀ context฀ had฀ its฀ own฀ complexity฀ (see฀ Linde-Laursen฀ 2007),฀ the฀ “cartoon฀ row”,฀ which฀ began฀ with฀ a฀ depiction฀ of฀ the฀ Prophet฀ Muhammad฀ as฀ a฀ terrorist,฀ was฀ experienced฀by฀many฀Muslims฀as฀demonstrating฀the฀West’s฀continuing฀and฀ flagrant฀ disrespect฀ of฀ them฀ and฀ their฀ religion,฀ albeit฀ under฀ the฀ banner฀ of฀ the฀Western฀ secular฀ value฀ of฀ freedom฀ of฀ expression.฀ As฀ Karen฀ Armstrong฀ suggests,฀ “fearful฀ of฀ the฀ hostility฀ in฀ Europe฀ and฀ bombarded฀ with฀ images฀ ฀ from฀Guantanamo฀Bay฀and฀Abu฀Ghraib,฀many฀[Muslims]฀experienced฀the฀ gratuitous฀vilification฀of฀their฀prophet฀as฀the฀last฀straw”฀(2006).฀ With฀ distinct฀ similarities฀ to฀ the฀ affair฀ over฀ Salman฀ Rushdie’s฀ The฀ Satanic฀ Verses฀ (for฀ discussions,฀ see฀ Armstrong฀ 1993฀ passim;฀ Asad฀ 1990),฀ many฀ in฀Western฀ countries฀ regarded฀ the฀ apparent฀ reaction฀ of฀ Muslims฀ as฀ an฀unwarranted฀imposition฀of฀their฀religious฀beliefs฀on฀others.฀The฀popular฀ commentator฀and฀author฀Christopher฀Hitchens,฀for฀example,฀criticized฀the฀ U.S.฀State฀Department฀for฀denouncing฀the฀cartoons฀that฀sparked฀the฀riots.฀ 11 02 I&AM.indd 11 4/22/10 9:31:41 AM 12฀ Islamization฀and฀Activism฀in฀Malaysia Acknowledging฀the฀prohibitions฀that฀many฀Muslims฀have฀on฀depicting฀their฀ prophet,฀and฀on฀drinking฀alcohol฀and฀eating฀pork,฀Hitchens฀writes,฀“let฀a฀ good฀Muslim฀abstain฀rigorously฀from฀all฀these.฀But฀if฀he฀claims฀the฀right฀to฀ make฀me฀abstain฀as฀well,฀he฀offers฀the฀clearest฀possible฀warning฀and฀proof฀ of฀ an฀ aggressive฀ intent”฀ (Hitchens฀ 2006).฀ A฀ (secular)฀ civil฀ society฀ means,฀ Hitchens฀continues,฀“that฀free฀expression฀trumps฀the฀emotions฀of฀anyone฀to฀ whom฀free฀expression฀might฀be฀inconvenient”.฀ In฀ Malaysia฀ demands฀ for฀ freedoms฀ and฀ liberties฀ are฀ often฀ denied฀ on฀ the฀ grounds฀ that฀ Muslims’฀ sensitivities฀ must฀ be฀ respected.฀ Most฀ Muslims฀ are฀ ethnic฀ Malays฀ who,฀ along฀ with฀ (non-Malay)฀ indigenous฀ Malaysians฀ are฀termed฀bumiputera฀(sons฀of฀the฀soil).฀As฀of฀2007,฀Malays฀made฀up฀just฀ over฀ 50฀ per฀ cent฀ of฀ Malaysia’s฀ population฀ of฀ 27฀ million,฀ but฀ bumiputera฀ ฀ altogether฀made฀up฀just฀over฀60฀per฀cent฀(see฀Syed฀H.A.฀2008a,฀p.฀202).฀ During฀ the฀ British฀ colonial฀ period,฀ large฀ numbers฀ of฀ mostly฀ nonMuslim ฀Chinese฀and฀Indian฀immigrants฀arrived฀in฀Malaysia.฀As฀of฀2007,฀ Chinese฀constituted฀just฀over฀23฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀population,฀and฀Indians฀just฀ under฀8฀per฀cent฀(ibid.).฀As฀I฀demonstrate฀later,฀contemporary฀inter-ethnic฀ tensions฀come฀to฀be฀refracted฀through฀the฀prism฀of฀religion฀with฀calls฀for฀the฀ (largely฀ non-Muslim)฀ Chinese฀ and฀ Indian฀ populations฀ to฀ respect฀ Muslim฀ sensitivities.฀This฀in฀effect฀affirms฀Muslim-Malay฀political฀precedence. The฀ government฀ often฀ censors฀ discussion฀ of฀ issues฀ relating฀ to฀ the฀ practice฀of฀Islam,฀especially฀when฀they฀are฀raised฀by฀non-Muslims,฀and฀even฀ when฀it฀impacts฀on฀their฀lives.฀The฀construction฀and฀naming฀of฀churches,฀ for฀instance,฀has฀often฀been฀obstructed฀out฀of฀ostensible฀concern฀for฀Muslim฀ sensitivities.฀ Likewise฀ impeded฀ on฀ these฀ grounds฀ has,฀ for฀ example,฀ been฀ dog฀ownership฀by฀the฀non-Muslim฀neighbours฀of฀Muslims฀(owing฀to฀the฀ ฀ belief฀among฀many฀Muslims฀that฀dogs฀are฀polluting).฀ The฀conservative฀views฀of฀some฀Muslims฀in฀Europe฀have฀led฀to฀public฀ reactions฀against฀Islam’s฀apparent฀socially฀repressive฀dictates.฀Islam฀has฀been฀ seen฀as฀a฀challenge฀to฀Dutch฀values฀in฀the฀famously฀laissez-faire฀Netherlands฀ for฀ example.฀ In฀ ostensible฀ defence฀ of฀ Dutch฀ values฀ which฀ include฀ gender฀ equality฀and฀the฀separation฀of฀church฀and฀State,฀the฀niqaab฀(which฀covers฀ all฀of฀the฀face฀except฀the฀eyes)฀has฀been฀banned฀in฀Amsterdam฀high฀schools฀ (Lunsing฀2003).฀In฀France฀more฀famously,฀the฀assertion฀of฀the฀primacy฀of฀ secularism฀ has฀ similarly฀ led฀ to฀ the฀ veil฀ being฀ restricted฀ in฀ schools.฀ Thus฀ the฀religious฀liberties฀of฀Muslims฀have฀likewise฀been฀restricted฀in฀the฀name฀ of฀ secular฀ values฀ which฀ attempt฀ to฀ make฀ religion฀ irrelevant฀ in฀ favour฀ of฀ national฀identification.฀ In฀ Malaysia,฀ however,฀ freedom฀ of฀ expression,฀ assembly,฀ association,฀ and฀ even฀ religious฀ practice,฀ have฀ all฀ been฀ cited฀ as฀ issues฀ relevant฀ not฀ 02 I&AM.indd 12 4/22/10 9:31:41 AM On฀Islam,฀Democracy,฀and฀Activism฀ 13 only฀ to฀ national฀ values,฀ but฀ also฀ to฀ national฀ security.฀The฀ emotional฀ and฀ conflictual฀nature฀of฀some฀issues฀has฀legitimized฀government฀management฀ and฀interdiction฀of฀possibly฀incendiary฀behaviours.฀On฀occasion,฀and฀some฀ would฀ argue...