Sorry Miley Cyrus, no twerking in Malaysia
The Malaysian government asserts that all people and religious groups have the right to profess, practice and propagate their faiths — as long as doing so does not violate laws related to public order or morality. As far as religious freedom and human rights are concerned, these caveats are crucial.
Brian Pellot, Religion News
In our first On Freedom country profile, Brian Pellot looks at the state of religious liberty in Malaysia.
Lamb of God’s flock of fans were disappointed earlier this month when Malaysian authorities banned the American heavy metal group from performing in the majority-Muslim country. Why? Because the band allegedly offended Islam by singing about the Quran and Allah in 2005.
Lamb of God is hardly the first American act to stir up controversy in this southeast Asian nation.
Erykah Badu’s concert was canceled last year after authorities saw a promotional photo of the singer with “Allah” painted in Arabic above her left breast. Beyoncé scrapped her Kuala Lumpur concerts in 2007 and again in 2009 when members of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party derided her “Western sexy performances.” Protesters have demanded the Black Eyed Peas, Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani and Mariah Carey be banned from performing locally. Don’t expect Miley Cyrus to twerk her way across a Malaysian stage any time soon.
Artistic freedom is clearly restricted in Malaysia on religious and cultural grounds, but what’s the overall state of religious freedom in the country?
Malaysia’s federal constitution establishes Sunni Islam as the country’s official religion but states that “other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony.”
Peace and harmony may be a stretch. It’s more a system of double standards in which Sunni Muslims are granted some privileges not afforded to religious minorities but are also subject to greater scrutiny and government control over how they choose to worship.
Top government officials have long debated whether Malaysia is an “Islamic state” or rather a secular state with Islam as its official religion. Secular courts serve non-Muslims on all fronts whereas Shariah courts, often stricter and more conservative than their secular equivalents, address religious issues involving Muslims. Parents decide the official religious affiliation of their children, which is recorded on national identity cards and used “to determine which citizens are subject to Shariah law.”
Malaysia’s constitution bars discrimination against citizens on the basis of religion, but that provision stops short of protecting non-Sunni Muslims. Because the state can “control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam,” members of minority Muslim sects, including Shias, are granted fewer religious rights than Buddhists, Christians or other minority faiths. More than 50 Islamic sects are banned as “deviant” and their followers prohibited from assembling or worshipping together in Malaysia.
Read more at: http://brianpellot.religionnews.com/2013/09/17/sorry-miley-cyrus-twerking-malaysia/#h[]
