Malaysia’s rising Islamophobia and Umno
Islamophobia is the by-product of a struggle for political survival, pro-Malay Muslim ethnic policies and a state continually divided along racial lines.
Rashaad Ali, The Malay Mail Online
Last year, controversial Malaysian blogger Alvin Tan posted an online video of himself doing a rendition of the azan, or Muslim call to prayer — shirtless and playing a keyboard.
Claiming to be a free speech activist, Tan — who is not Muslim and is a fugitive living in the United States — stated that Muslims who criticise his actions lack the credibility to do so, as Islam itself fails to respect human rights. His video had more than 400,000 views within days of being posted.
While Tan was roundly criticised for his actions from all sections of society, this incident highlights a larger problem within Malaysia: A growing anti-Islamic, anti-Malay sentiment in the past few years.
In Europe, Islamophobia manifested itself as a reaction to an imminent “Islamic threat”, and is a fire stoked by right-wing groups to galvanise society against Muslim minorities.
In Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, Islamophobia is the by-product of a struggle for political survival, pro-Malay Muslim ethnic policies and a state continually divided along racial lines.
Since the 2008 general election, Malaysia has experienced an upsurge in Islamic religious conservatism, which has only become stronger after the 2013 elections.
Both electoral contests saw unprecedented losses to the ruling government, comprising primarily the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) — the incumbent party since independence. For the first time in recent years, Umno faces a credible challenge from the opposition and has responded by increasingly appealing to its core Malay voter base to safeguard its political survival.
Umno leaders have stepped up rhetoric emphasising Malay identity and bumiputra privilege, alongside a renewed Islamic vigour that in contemporary times has become associated with “Malayness”.
The purpose of this is to use ketuanan Melayu or “Malay dominance” to evoke ethno-nationalist sentiment and galvanise Malay support for the party while dividing the populace along ethnic lines.
Media reports of “Islamisation”, soft challenges to Malay dominance, ethnic mob violence and other ethnic issues have become commonplace in Malaysian public life. The renewal of the Malay-Muslim identity of Umno has, unfortunately, come at the expense of further alienating the non-Muslim population from the government.
