Nuruddin Abdul Aziz

P92904

SKSU 6214

Commentary: Rising Islamic Conservatism and Religious Policing in Malaysia

The September 26, 2017 arrest and detention of Turkish scholar Mustapha Akyol, as well as the
subsequent banning of his book Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case For Liberty was another
instance in which a federal Islamic body had significant say over a government decision. The
decisions by the Malaysian Police and the Home Ministry to arrest Akyol and ban his book
respectively were made upon the advice of the Federal Territories Religious Affairs Department
(JAWI).

According to Akyols account of the events detailed in his September 28 article in The New York
Times, titled A Proposal For Islam, he was detained at KLIA, transferred to a police station, and
then to another police station, and spent the night at JAWI headquarters lockup. Reading the
article, many would think that someone practically detained by the religious authorities for 18
hours would be a dangerous person; someone who preached a divisive, intolerant version of Islam.
However, such a notion was dispelled by the Inspector General of Police himself, Tan Sri
Mohamad Fuzi Harun, when he declared that the Turkish author was not seen as a security threat
by the police. After further interrogation at a Shariah court the next morning, he was released and
later returned with his wife and children to their home in the United States.

In his article, Akyol acknowledges the role played by Abdullah Gul in his release, as the former
Turkish president contacted a member of Malaysian royalty to help facilitate the process. While
this act underlined the importance of strategic and diplomatic relations between countries to avoid
any further conflict, the whole fiasco was undoubtedly another huge blow to Malaysias efforts in
framing itself a moderate Muslim nation.

One of Malaysias most tried and trusted foreign policy instruments is to promote an image of
itself as a majority-Muslim nation that embraces diversity and practices a moderate interpretation
of Islam where modernity, tradition and religious diversity are all celebrated in equal measure. The
premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi saw the propagation of Islam Hadhari, or civilizational
Islam, as a vehicle of modernization, progress, and co-existence. This was done to counter
increasing Islamophobia emanating from the West in the years that followed the 9/11 attacks in
the US. These efforts were continued when Najib Razak became Prime Minister, as he established
the Global Movement of Moderates as another instrument to put Malaysia at the forefront of the
ideological battle to promote more moderation in the practice of Islam worldwide.

Even Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom many see as the main enabler of extremist voices in Malaysia,
resisted and publicly opposed the Pan-Islamic Malaysian Partys (PAS) efforts to establish an
Islamic state in Malaysia with the Islamic criminal code of hudud being its main feature. But more
than a decade after Mahathir resigned in 2003, PAS best bet in implementing hudud is ironically
UMNO, the biggest party in ruling coalition and also the party he led for more than 20 years. The
tabling of the bill in parliament last year was another indicator of Malaysias increasing acceptance
of religious policing, where we have seen Malay-language Bibles using the word Allah as a
translation for God being seized by authorities, and more books being banned for being
prejudicial to public order, morality, security, to alarm public opinion, or prejudicial to public
interest or national interest.

If Malaysia is to continue its campaign in portraying itself as moderate Muslim nation, then
instances such as the ones mentioned above should not be allowed to happen. A state where moral
policing in the name of religion is the norm is one that will slowly give in to intolerance, extremism
and narrow definitions of what is acceptable in society. The current Prime Minister, Najib Razaks
calls for moderation when speaking overseas are overshadowed by his attacks on liberalism,
pluralism, and what he calls human rights-ism whenever he speaks to some predominantly
Malay Muslim crowds. International media outlets (including Aljazeera and many Western news
sources) have picked up on Najibs self-contradictory messages when it comes to the practice of
Islam in Malaysia. One can say that the Najib administrations increasing tolerance of
ultraconservatism is being done to consolidate support among the Malays who would prefer to
have Islam play a bigger role in public policy, who are also seen as the majority of the electorate.
With his own position seen under threat due to scandals involving allegations of misuse of public
funds and unpopular economic policies, Najib is now being seen as appeasing the more
conservative elements of society to ensure his political survival until at least after the 14th General
Election.
Malaysias standing as a moderate Muslim nation is currently being eroded due to an increasing
influence of religious bodies in government actions that are oppressive and go against the ideas of
moderate Islam. The soft diplomacy employed by Malaysia since its formation in offering a more
mainstream interpretation of Islam which is compatible with modern life, and as an alternative to
the prevalent Western notion of Islam being a major factor behind todays conflicts, is now
overshadowed by recent crackdowns on academics and books that are seen as incompatible with
the federal governments version of Islam. It could be argued that Mustapha Akyols case is the
most severe blow thus far, as it involved a foreign national basically being blocked to leave the
country for giving an academic talk. The arbitrary detention of a renowned foreign scholar and
journalist who advocates for a more liberal, progressive and inclusive interpretation of Islam by
JAWI highlight a trend in which edicts and rulings made by the religious authorities have been
increasingly more influential in formulating government decisions and policies.

While Akyol may be safe now, the persecution from JAWI continues as the chairman of
organization that hosted him, Dr Farouk Musa of the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), is currently
being charged with abetting Akyol in giving a religious talk without the proper credentials
(tauliah). Furthermore, several books published by IRF are also banned. If found guilty by the
Shariah court, he will have to pay a fine of RM 5,000 or face a jail term of up to 3 years, or both.

While the religious authorities in Malaysia get emboldened to go after those whom it believes
present a threat to the established Islamic doctrine practiced here, justified or otherwise, Malaysian
youth are being enticed online to join multinational terror groups, particularly ISIS. Over the past
two years, 160 Malaysians have been arrested for having links to ISIS. There are also Malaysians
who have gone to Syria to fight and many who do so eventually return (Fernandes). The Malaysian
government does declare ISIS a terrorist organization, but it can be argued that there are similar
attitudes among the individuals in both cases here. Those in JAWI who pushed for Akyols
detention and Malaysians who join ISIS have a prevalent attitude that any teaching, doctrine, or
ideology, Islamic or otherwise, if considered by them to be incompatible with their definition of
religion and its role in public life, must not be allowed to spread among the masses, although the
means employed by the two organizations differ greatly.

Arguably, before 2013, whenever Islamic fundamentalism was discussed, Malaysia, alongside the
likes of Turkey and Tunisia, was often brought up as an example of Muslim-majority nation that
has successfully synthesized Islamic traditions with modern sensibilities, integrated non-Muslims
into the greater society, and promoted more progressive and inclusive interpretations of Islam to
the world community. Unfortunately, today, it is a case study of increasing religious conservatism
which leads to oppressive and draconian laws and actions taken by the government.

References

Akyol, Mustafa. A Proposal For Islam The New York Times, 28 September 2017. Web.

Fernandes, Dominique F. Malaysia's Slide Toward More Conservative Islam The Diplomat, 4

October 2017. Web.

Mahavera, Donovan. RM75,000 donation drive to help persecuted Muslim scholar The

Malaysian Insight, 9 October 2017. Web.