Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

Conclusion: Islam, Democracy, and Activism in Malaysia

132 Conclusion ISLAM,฀DEMOCRACY,฀AND฀ACTIVISM฀ IN฀MALAYSIA Malaysian฀Islam฀made฀headlines฀around฀the฀world฀in฀late฀2008฀when฀the฀ National฀ Fatwa฀ Council฀ of฀ Malaysia,฀ which฀ composes฀ fatwas฀ that฀ may฀ be฀adopted฀and฀enforced฀by฀individual฀states,฀announced฀first฀that฀it฀was฀ haram฀(forbidden)฀for฀Muslim฀women฀to฀behave฀like฀tomboys฀and,฀second,฀ that฀ it฀ was฀ against฀ Islam฀ to฀ practise฀ yoga฀ while฀ chanting฀ mantras.฀ While฀ the฀BBC฀was฀able฀to฀make฀light฀of฀the฀“tomboy฀fatwa”,฀describing฀it฀as฀a฀ fatwa฀against฀women฀wearing฀trousers,฀what฀is฀apparent฀is฀that฀there฀is฀a฀ willingness฀on฀the฀part฀of฀Islamic฀bodies฀of฀the฀Malaysian฀State฀to฀seek฀to฀ control฀the฀minutiae฀of฀people’s฀lives.฀ Any฀hopes฀that฀Islamization฀would฀be฀halted฀by฀what฀many฀regarded฀ as฀ an฀ electoral฀ shift฀ away฀ from฀ ethno-religious฀ politics฀ in฀ the฀ 2008฀ elections ฀ are฀ unlikely฀ to฀ remain฀ strong฀ in฀ the฀ face฀ of฀ these฀ fatwas฀ and฀ the฀ other฀ developments.฀ Other฀ examples฀ of฀ deference฀ to฀ conservative฀ Islamic฀ sensibilities฀include฀the฀pop฀singer฀Rihanna฀agreeing฀in฀the฀face฀of฀Islamists’฀ protests฀ in฀ January฀ 2009฀ to฀ dress฀ more฀ conservatively฀ on฀ stage฀ than฀ she฀ otherwise฀would฀have,฀and฀the฀shows฀of฀Inul฀Daratista฀of฀Indonesia,฀who฀ performs฀ a฀ gyrating฀ dance฀ to฀ music฀ known฀ as฀ dangdut,฀ repeatedly฀ being฀ cancelled฀ and฀ rescheduled฀ owing฀ to฀ official฀ protests฀ from฀ Islamists฀ from฀ both฀PAS฀and฀UMNO฀over฀the฀sexual฀nature฀of฀her฀performances. The฀ ascent฀ and฀ current฀ place฀ of฀ a฀ general฀ Islamic฀ consciousness฀ in฀ Malaysia฀ is฀ significant฀ and฀ pervasive.฀ A฀ number฀ of฀ Malaysians฀ lamented฀ 132 10 I&AM.indd 132 4/22/10 9:37:22 AM Islam,฀Democracy,฀and฀Activism฀in฀Malaysia฀ 133 to฀ me฀ that฀ there฀ was฀ an฀ obsession฀ in฀ Malaysia฀ for฀ every฀ aspect฀ of฀ life฀ to฀ require฀the฀stamp฀of฀approval฀from฀Islamic฀authorities.฀One฀lawyer฀felt฀that฀ the฀silliest฀and฀most฀telling฀example฀of฀this฀was฀the฀trend฀to฀find฀even฀on฀ bottles฀of฀mineral฀water฀the฀symbol฀for฀halal฀(permissible)฀certification฀from฀ the฀Jabatan฀Kemajuan฀Islam฀Malaysia฀(Department฀of฀Islamic฀Development฀ Malaysia,฀JAKIM).฀On฀another฀occasion,฀members฀of฀Sisters฀in฀Islam฀have฀ described฀ to฀ me฀ the฀ trend฀ for฀ departments฀ such฀ as฀ the฀ Department฀ for฀ Women,฀Family฀and฀Community฀Development฀to฀send฀policies฀to฀JAKIM฀ for฀vetting฀and฀approval฀even฀though฀there฀was฀no฀need฀for฀this฀to฀occur฀ and฀ that฀ JAKIM฀ does฀ not฀ request฀ to฀ vet฀ policies.฀ A฀ final฀ example฀ worth฀ noting฀is฀that฀prior฀to฀the฀2008฀elections,฀the฀Electoral฀Commission฀deemed฀ it฀necessary฀to฀get฀approval฀from฀the฀National฀Fatwa฀Council฀for฀the฀use฀of฀ indelible฀ink.฀ There฀may,฀however,฀be฀signs฀that฀the฀deference฀towards฀Islamic฀authority ฀is฀changing.฀While฀it฀is฀difficult฀to฀measure฀how฀deep฀this฀inclination฀ goes,฀the฀outcry฀over฀the฀yoga฀fatwa฀in฀particular฀is฀noteworthy.฀A฀great฀deal฀ of฀media฀attention฀was฀paid฀to฀the฀many฀who฀publicly฀challenged฀the฀notion฀ that฀ yoga฀ was฀ in฀ any฀ way฀ contrary฀ to฀ Islamic฀ dictates.฀ While฀ yoga฀ does฀ have฀roots฀in฀Hinduism,฀it฀is฀frequently฀nowadays฀practised฀by฀individuals฀ of฀ all฀ religions฀ and฀ without฀ much฀ trace฀ of฀ its฀ Hindu฀ origins,฀ and฀ those฀ who฀protested฀pointed฀out฀the฀National฀Fatwa฀Council’s฀ignorance฀of฀this.฀ Although฀it฀was฀true฀that฀the฀fatwa฀had฀stressed฀that฀yoga฀was฀forbidden฀if฀ conducted฀while฀chanting฀mantras,฀the฀stain฀of฀the฀fatwa฀on฀yoga฀was฀felt฀ to฀ be฀ more฀ general.฀ Furthermore,฀ the฀ National฀ Fatwa฀ Council฀ chairman,฀ Datuk฀Dr฀Abdul฀Shukor฀Husin,฀had฀stated฀that฀“doing฀yoga,฀even฀just฀the฀ physical฀movements,฀is฀a฀step฀towards฀erosion฀of฀one’s฀faith฀in฀the฀religion,฀ hence฀Muslims฀should฀avoid฀it”฀(in฀Mazwin฀2008).฀Part฀of฀the฀protest฀even฀ included฀an฀open฀demonstration฀of฀yoga฀on฀22฀December฀2008฀by฀a฀Malay฀ yoga฀ practitioner.฀This฀ demonstration,฀ held฀ in฀ Kuala฀ Lumpur,฀ sought฀ to฀ demonstrate฀both฀that฀yoga฀does฀not฀conflict฀with฀Islamic฀dictates฀and฀that฀ the฀National฀Fatwa฀Council฀had฀issued฀the฀fatwa฀in฀ignorance฀of฀the฀way฀ yoga฀was฀in฀fact฀practised฀in฀Malaysia฀(i.e.฀without฀mantras).฀ The฀extensive฀permeation฀of฀religious฀authority฀into฀the฀realms฀of฀everyday ฀life,฀especially฀when฀this฀authority฀issues฀firm฀rulings฀on฀relatively฀minor฀ matters,฀ is฀ what฀ is฀ described฀ by฀ Roy฀ Rappaport฀ as฀ “oversanctification”.฀ Rappaport฀ proposes฀ that฀ all฀ religions฀ have,฀ at฀ their฀ heights฀ of฀ sanctity,฀ Ultimate฀Sacred฀Postulates.฀These฀Postulates฀are฀unspecific฀with฀regard฀to฀ material฀ obligations.฀ Examples฀ include฀ the฀ Jewish฀ Shema฀ and฀ the฀ Islamic฀ Kalimat฀al฀Shahada฀(the฀latter฀of฀which฀translates฀as,฀“I฀testify฀that฀there฀ is฀ no฀ god฀ but฀ One฀ God,฀ and฀ I฀ testify฀ that฀ Mohammed฀ is฀ his฀ prophet”฀ 10...