Increasingly Intolerant Islam In Malaysia And Indonesia

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 2 April 2024 This pertains to the news item on the site of NAI, Hijab Rules And Segregated Pools - Religion Reshapes Social Norms In Malaysia, Indonesia You Could Bleach Your Skin, Colour Your Hair, Speak Icelandic, But You Are Still Malay - "Melayu Tetap Melayu". But In A Flash, You Could Reject Your Religion. You Could Eat Pork, Consume Alcohol, Get Baptised And Deny The Shahadah (Affirmation) And Zap! You Are Not Muslim. But Ethnically, You Are Still 'Melayu' - Neither You Nor Anyone Else Can Take That Away." ------- Islam and intolerance go hand in hand. Of late, it has escalated across the globe. The problem with Muslims is their reluctance to admit that there's something seriously wrong with the whole faith and its tenets. Why should a Christian or a non-Muslim girl wear a hijab? Islam is often at loggerheads with the freedom of an individual. It's really strange that when the whole world is doing away with ostensible religious customs and rituals of all faiths, Muslims, all over the world, are becoming more and more orthodox and fanatic. Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims used to be quite liberal. The language of the Malays is Austronesian in origin as are the people. It has nothing to do with Islam. The Malay people existed before Islam. They were animists, Hindus and Buddhists before embracing Islam. The only connection between Malay as an ethnic group and Islam as a religion is the Federal Constitution. More than 15 years ago, I read a Malaysian Muslim's self-description. Let me quote that verbatim, " Am I first a Muslim then Malay? No, I am first Malay, then Muslim, because a religion can, at will, be rejected. One can't deny oneself being Malay just as a Chinese can't deny himself/herself being Chinese regardless of what religion he/she subscribes to. And this is the same with the other races. An Indonesian Malay Christian would get quite annoyed if you were to claim that he/she is not Melayu as I found out from a girlfriend many years ago. You could bleach your skin, colour your hair, speak Icelandic, but you are still Malay - "Melayu Tetap Melayu". But in a flash, you could reject your religion. You could eat pork, consume alcohol, get baptised and deny the Shahadah (affirmation) and zap! You are not Muslim. But ethnically, you are still 'Melayu' - neither you nor anyone else can take that away." Alas, things have changed in Malaysia and Indonesia. Now the religious identity (read Islam) of a citizen is of paramount importance. His or her ethnicity is secondary, nay, inconsequential. Bali bombings in Indonesia in 2002 by Muslim fanatics (Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron) that killed 202 people, hardened the relatively liberal Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia. New millennium witnessed a different kind of hardcore and intolerant Islam. Despite that, even 'educated' Muslims, esp. in India, will continue to play the victim card and say that Muslims are toys in the hands of so-called powers as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouth. Nonsense! You can understand Malaysian Islam's intolerance as the country shelters the fugitive preacher and an abysmal character Dr Zakir Naik who currently resides in Malaysia where he has permanent resident status. He envenomed the minds of the subcontinental Muslims until he fled India in 2016. Now, he's spewing venom in Malaysia. Allah hu Akbar! ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-tolerance/intolerant-islam-malaysia-indonesia/d/132057 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism