Malaysia’s Muslims grapple with being ‘good enough’, as conservative voices get strident
Wrestling with criticism and what it means to be Malay-Muslim, some worry that the pressure could drive the young into the arms of extremists like ISIS. Kane Cunico reports.
Channel News Asia
Shereen Ezaini wears a hijab when she goes out, observes the five pillars of Islam such as fasting and praying five times a day, and plans one day to go on the Haj. It is, in the 29-year-old’s own words, “living life the way a Muslim’s life should be”.
But somehow, that just is not good enough in the eyes of some fellow Malaysian Muslims.
Remembering her days at university in 2009, the young mother of two said: “I was at a lecture wearing jeans, and I remember my lecturer, she told me that I am not being ‘Muslim enough’. The blouse that I was wearing fell to my knees.”
Looking incredulous, she continued: “I am not ‘Muslim enough’ because I am wearing jeans? Or I am not Muslim enough because I am drinking Starbucks?”
THE FUSS
With a rising tide of moral policing and debate over what is halal (permissible in Islam) and haram (forbidden in Islam) in recent years, Ms Shereen is not the only Muslim in Malaysia who has heard such criticism, or felt somehow pressured by the voices of religious fundamentalism.
In 2015, concerns about growing conservatism made headlines when security guards at some government buildings went overboard in trying to enforce dress codes even on non-Muslim women. That same year, multi-medalled gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi was criticised by religious authorities and conservative netizens because she wore a “revealing” leotard.
In 2016, Auntie Anne’s, a pretzel chain that has been operating in Malaysia for years, had issues with its halal food certification because of – among other technicalities – a menu item named a “pretzel dog”.
Gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi was criticised for wearing a “revealing” leotard at the SEA Games in Singapore.
And during the Pokemon Go hype, the mufti of Federal Territories, Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri, declared that it was haram for Muslims to play the augmented-reality game. Just this past Valentine’s Day, the National Muslim Youth Association warned women to stay away from using emoticons and too much fragrance.
Ms Shereen sees such events as making a fuss over the “trivial”. “Malay Muslims tend to focus on unnecessary things, for example, the ‘I Want To Touch A Dog’ programme‘; so many unimportant issues they are taking very seriously,” she said.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
But, couple this trend with the number of Malaysians arrested for suspected terror links, and political campaigning that has turned to Islam to woo and retain the Malay vote, and many worry that moderate-Muslim Malaysia – once a beacon of religious pluralism and tolerance – is shifting inexorably towards a stricter, more fundamentalist Islam.
According to Pew Research Centre’s Global Attitudes survey 2015, 11 per cent of people in Malaysia held favourable views of ISIS, and nearly a quarter were unsure of their views – this despite the Malaysian government declaring ISIS a terrorist organisation.
Is sympathy for a more extreme view of Islam creeping into the mainstream in Malaysia?
“No,” insists GrabCar driver Zeli Amat, during a drive through downtown Kuala Lumpur. The former businessman said he has moved house some “20 times” around Malaysia. “I have lived in so many neighbourhoods. The sentiment on the ground is still good. There is no strong focus on extremist ideologies.”
Mr Zeli, 45, believes Malaysian Muslims are merely becoming more observant of Islam. He himself reconnected with his faith after what he admits was a secular life filled with mistakes. “I can see the Islamic values getting stronger. A lot more people are wearing the hijab, a lot more people are going to the mosque,” he said.
But Mr Asyraf Ismayatim is less prosaic. A Masters student of political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), he has been monitoring chatrooms, student forums and blogs. He feels the university culture take on a more “conservative slant” over the years.
“There are hardline comments from foreign-exchange students who reject integration, comments that female students’ clothes are too tight. Even on the IIUM Facebook page, there are some ultra-conservative comments surfacing,” he said.
IIUM lecturer Ahmad El-Muhamady, whose field is political violence and terrorism, says, that more and more, Malaysian Muslims are using “signifiers of Islam” to pass judgement on one another.
“What are the criteria that we can use to say that you are ‘Muslim enough’? It could be your dress code, it could be the interaction between genders, or it could be (that) if you are educated in the UK or the US, you are less Islamic than me because I studied in the Middle East and am more educated in religious matters,” he said.
THE MALAY-MUSLIM IDENTITY STRUGGLE
It’s this struggle with the question of “what is a good Malay-Muslim”, or “what does it mean to be Muslim in Malaysia”, that lies at the heart of Malaysian society today, some observers believe.
Research interviews among young people aged between 18 and 35, conducted by not-for-profit research centre IMAN, reveal that many are grappling with their Malay-Muslim identity.
If you want to identify with being a proud Malay, said IMAN founding member Dina Zaman, “there will be those who say we are lazy and we are this and that”. “The only (other) identity we have is to be Muslim, but we also have issues being Muslim because ‘we are not good enough’,” she added.
Ms Dina, a former journalist and published author, cited the issue of whether Muslims should be wishing Christians a merry Christmas as an example of how edicts, guidelines and fatwas can sometimes be confusing for Muslims.
“The Federal Territories’ mufti said that it is okay to wish Christians, so I forwarded it to my mother, who then forwarded it to her friends,” said Ms Dina. “She said all the aunties were very confused, saying ‘our ustaz (Muslim scholar) says we cannot wish people Merry Christmas’.
“The mufti says this, another person says that, what is what, who do we follow? Everybody has their own opinion.”
