By
Mohshin Habib
Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country in Southeast
Asia, is rapidly turning to Islamic fundamentalism through the state’s
sharia-like legal system and the country’s growing number of Islamic militant
sympathizers. Malaysia’s government is a federal parliamentary democracy under
an elected constitutional monarchy. The country of more than 30 million people
is made up of 13 states and three federal territories. It is a multi-ethnic
country: Malay Sunni Muslims make up 50.1% of the population, Chinese people
make up 23.6%, indigenous people 11.8% and Indians 6.7 %. However, the
Malaysian Constitution declares Islam alone to be the official religion.
Malaysia is dominated by an iteration of Islamic
culture that is highly influenced by the Saudi Arabian version of Islam. The
use of political Islam has been a deliberate move by some Islamists in even the
highest levels of Malaysian government to create a sharia-based nation.
According to the Wall Street Journal,
conservative Wahhabi doctrines spread by Saudi-financed imams are redefining
the way Islam is practiced in Malaysia, and politicians are now competing with
each other to show off their Islamist credentials. These practices are eroding
the tolerance for which the country was previously known.
Recently, one of the influential opposition
parties, the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), introduced a bill that will be
debated by Parliament in October. The bill would implement harsher hudud laws (brutal physical punishments for transgressions
like adultery and theft) in the north-eastern state of Kelantan. In 2015, The
Kelantan Assembly passed amendments to the Sharia Criminal Code, approving hudud in the state. As a result, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a
center-left, multi-racial political party, cut its ties with the PAS.
A Malaysian state mufti (religious representative), Dr. Abdul Rahman Osman, respondedharshly to the
DAP’s action, calling DAP members kafir harbi — non-believers
deserving of the death penalty for their actions against Islam.
The provisions of the PAS’ most recent bill that raised concerns for the DAP and its leaders are as follows:
– Sections 8 and 9, which state that a woman who reports that she
was raped will be charged with qazaf (slanderous accusations), and flogged 80 times
if she fails to prove the crime;
– Section 22, which calls for the death and confiscation of all
properties of a person guilty of apostasy;
– Section 43, which denies women and non-Muslims the right to be
witnesses;
– Section 48(2), which provides that an unmarried woman who is
pregnant will be assumed to have committed zina (adultery) unless she
proves otherwise.
While sharia law infiltrates Malaysian society, antisemitism
among Malaysian politicians has also been on the rise. In an interview with Al-Jazeera on June 25, Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of
Malaysia, was asked about some controversial statements he had made. In 2003,
he remarked that Jews ruled the world, and in 2012 he claimed that he would be
glad to be labelled as antisemitic. In the interview, Mr. Mohamad said, “I
believe I’m speaking the truth.”
After
Germany’s soccer victory against Brazil in 2014, Bung Mokhtar Radin, a Member
of Malaysian Parliament, tweeted, “Well Done…Bravo… Long Live Hitler.”
Deputy Minister for Transport Aziz Bin Kaprawi accused the DAP of being funded
by Jews. When $700 million was transferred into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s
bank account by the Saudi royal family just before an election, Kaprawi explained:
“If
we had lost [the 2013 election], DAP would be in power. DAP with its Jewish
funding would control this country. Based on that, our Muslim friends in the
Middle East could see the Jewish threat through DAP.”
Young Malaysians are being radicalized as a result of the Islamism
and antisemitism that their leaders espouse. According to Malaysian police, there are at
least 50,000 Islamic State sympathizers in the country and dozens of them have
already been tried. If politicians continue to bring radical Islam, Sharia Law,
and antisemitism to Malaysia, this trend will only continue.
Mohshin
Habib, an expert on the effects of religion on Bangladesh, currently resides in
Dhaka, and is fluent in English, German, Bengali and Hindi.
