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This book attempts to analyse the concept of religious expression vis-à-vis freedom of speech in Malaysia from the philosophical, political and theoretical perspectives. It begins by discussing the major sources of religious expression that are firmly rooted in the societal and religious beliefs, constitution and legislation of the country. It also examines multiple facets of the Islamization policy in the country and to what extent such policy affects the exercise of domestic religious expression. The problems and challenges of domestic religious expression, theoretically and practically, will also be examined including the issues of radicalization and terrorism. After a change of power from the Barisan Nasional (BN) to Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2018, this book attempts to explain PH's approach in dealing with the issue of Islam and religious expression in Malaysia. Lastly, this book intends to identify and observe how Malaysian society and the state react to the issue of religious expression.'Prof. Azizuddin makes an eloquent case for robust freedom of expression that is consistent with Malaysian conditions. This is a most welcome and important book that could and should have a major impact. It is a timely and thoughtful examination of the complex and serious issue of Islam vis-à-vis religious expression in Malaysia. It also illustrates the transition from the restrictive-stability approach of the Barisan Nasional administration to an open-freedom approach of the Pakatan Harapan government.'-- Dato'Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia'Racial and religious hatred are examples of the many difficulties to which freedom of expression can give rise. These difficulties are likely to be especially serious in multicultural and multireligious societies, such as Malaysia. In such contexts there is a need to weigh the importance of freedom of expression for an effective democracy against the need to maintain social order and the conditions of political civility that are also essential to democratic dialogue. This is the challenge that Prof. Azizuddin addresses in his ambitious new book.'-- John Horton, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Keele University, United Kingdom'This important book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the nexus between rights and religion in Malaysia. Not only does it trace the contestation over religious expression, it also provides a valuable analysis of the expansion of the religious bureaucracy and the underlying and changing cultural responses of the Malay community to the new political terrain.'-- Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate, University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia (UoNARI-M)

This book examines the attitude of Malaysia's Islamist movements – The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS); The National Trust Party (AMANAH); The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity Front (ISMA) – towards the Arab Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.The book analyses the perceptions of Islamist movement activists, politicians and members in Malaysia towards the 2011 Arab Uprisings, popularly known as the ‘Arab Spring'. A questionnaire based-survey as well as in-depth interviews with activists and leaders ranging from individuals in opposing political parties (PAS and AMANAH) to non-government Islamist organisations (ABIM and ISMA) informs the findings of the book. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the author analyses how the events impacted the activism, political approach and attitudes of the members of Islamic movements towards the issues of regime change, civil disobedience, political revolution, democracy, Islamism and political stability. The book demonstrates that Malaysian Islamists are mainly in support of free and democratic elections as a medium for political change as opposed to overthrowing the previous BN-led regime via civil disobedience, street demonstration or ‘revolution'. A novel approach in examining the connections between Islamic movements in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and Africa, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Politics, History, Social Movements, Political Islam, Middle Eastern Studies and Southeast Asian Studies.

This book in religious studies uses a Malaysian apostasy case study as a platform to investigate and discuss the broader radicalisation of apostates on social networking sites. It provides new insights into the emerging phenomenon of how social media tools are harnessed to promote faith and beliefs systems, specifically looking at the Malay view of apostasy from Islam. Employing sociocultural theory and theoretical concepts to analyse the discursive behaviour of a Malaysian apostate on a social networking site, the study unpacks how digital storytelling and rhetorical strategies can influence readers, culturally and socially, and contribute to identity construction in relation to politicised viewpoints. The analysis of the discourse surrounding apostasy in Malaysia enables parallels to be drawn to such discourses in other parts of the world, raising discussions on the connections between inflammatory online rhetoric and social problems, such as recruitment to terrorism, involvement ingangs or the use of addictive substances. This book is of particular interest to scholars and students considering the intersection of critical discourse analysis and religious studies. It is of interest to sociolinguists and psychologists interested in online media.

Compelling and original, this book offers a unique insight into the modern Islamic corporation, revealing how power, relationships, individual identities, gender roles, and practices - and often massive financial resources - are mobilized on behalf of Islam. Focusing on Muslims in Malaysia, Patricia Sloane-White argues that sharia principles in the region's Islamic economy produce a version of Islam that is increasingly conservative, financially and fiscally powerful, and committed to social control over Muslim and non-Muslim public and private lives. Packed with fascinating details, the book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Islamic politics and culture in modern life.

Sumit K. Mandal uncovers the hybridity and transregional connections underlying modern Asian identities. By considering Arabs in the Malay world under European rule, Becoming Arab explores how a long history of inter-Asian interaction was altered by nineteenth-century racial categorisation and control. Mandal traces the transformation of Arabs from familiar and multi-faceted creole personages of Malay courts into alienated figures defined by economic and political function. The racialisation constrained but did not eliminate the fluid character of Arabness. Creole Arabs responded to the constraints by initiating transregional links with the Ottoman Empire and establishing modern social organisations, schools, and a press. Contentions emerged between organisations respectively based on Prophetic descent and egalitarianism, advancing empowering but conflicting representations of a modern Arab and Islamic identity. Mandal unsettles finite understandings of race and identity by demonstrating not only the incremental development of a modern identity, but the contested state of its birth.

This book presents an ethnographic study of the Jamā‘ah Tablīgh in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It explores the nature of organised religious practice within this Islamic missionary group, and illustrates the situation of faith amongst the members, which is coloured by Sufist elements. A central focus of the study is an exploration of the situation of faith, or religious awareness, of members of Jamā‘ah Tablīgh by undertaking a detailed examination of the aims and distinctive practices of the organisation in individual chapters. The book develops a pyramid of religious awareness which enables an understanding of the religious experiences of Muslims in terms of three aspects: sharī‘ah, haqīqah (reality), and ma‘rifah (gnosis). The pyramid offers a conceptual model of an internal problematic common to Muslims in relation to their beliefs, and the organisation and conduct of their daily lives. The book is particularly significant for the insights it provides into how a desire to reinstate an Islamic caliphate, as part of a return to al-Qur'an and al-Sunnah, may be realised in the contemporary period, through radical yet non-violent means, drawing heavily on the mosque-based form of government implemented by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina. This study will also prove to be useful for studies of other, non-Islamic, religious groups, where the religious person is one who submits him or herself to God. A further argument of the book is the proposal that the highest level of human being is insān kāmil (the perfect man), that is, one who has utilised his active intelligence.

Explores the relationship between the Malaysian state and its citizens in creating and maintaining fixed identities.

Vidhu Verma tracks two simultaneous processes in Malaysia: the increasing aspirations for democratic governance, and the emergence of the Islamic party as a major force in Malaysian politics.

Turkey and Malaysia, two countries on the Islamic periphery, are often not included in discussions of Islamic reassertion and identity. Yet both have been at the forefront of modernization and development, and are exposed to a rising trend of Islamic revival which discloses a deep, psychological identity crisis.In Islamic Identity and Development, Ozay Mehmet examines this identity crisis in the wider context of the Islamic dilemma of reconciling nationalism with Islam. He sees the Islamic revival primarily as a protest movement, concentrated among urban migrant settlements where uneven post-war growth has upset the traditional Islamic order. He argues that Islamic societies must move towards greater openness and an organic relationship between rulers and ruled. In particular, Mehmet suggests the need for a public policy that is not only responsive to material human needs but which also satisfies the ethical preconditions of the Islamic social contract.