vi. the politics of ‘islamisation’
Legal and constitutional dimensions
A development which has significant implications for constitutionalism in
Malaysia is the ‘Islamisation’ phenomenon. This phenomenon was described in
the following terms by the Malaysian political scientist Professor Chandra
Muzaffar: ‘Islamisation is that process by which what are perceived as Islamic laws,
values and practices are accorded greater significance in state, society and cul-
ture.’
41
The Muslims in Malaysia are ‘almost entirely Sunni in orientation and
follow the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence’.
42
The first decade witnessed
a number of events and court challenges which raised concerns about matters
of religion, especially the issue of apostasy
(^43) and the constitutionally guaranteed
freedom to practise and profess a religion. A controversial pronouncement in
absolute terms was made on 29 September 2001 by Dr Mahathir that ‘Malaysia is
an Islamic State’. In 2007 , this pronouncement was endorsed by Deputy Prime
Minister Najib Razak, who asserted that ‘Malaysia is not, was not, and has never
been a “secular” state’. This assertion was endorsed by Prime Minister Abdullah
Badawi, the successor to Mahathir. Shad Saleem Faruqi, an emeritus professor
of the MARA University of Technology, described this phenomenon as follows:
The opposition Muslim party, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) agrees with
[non-Muslims] that the Constitution is secular. But it says this in an
accusatory tone and has made it clear that once in power it will amend
the basic law to convert Malaysia into an Islamic state. The ruling
Muslim party, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), dis-
misses the proposal by PAS on the ground that Malaysia is already an
Islamic state and, therefore, no constitutional amendments are needed.
It rests its case on the fact that Muslims constitute the majority of the
population. The constitutional monarchs at the federal and state levels
are Muslims. The political executive, the civil service, the police,
the army, the judiciary and the legislatures, while multi-racial, are
under the control of Muslims. The Federal and State Constitutions
soong. The Peaceful Assembly Act has been criticised for embodying a more repressive
regime:www.eastasiaforum.org/ 2012 / 11 / 05 /malaysian-law-reform-a-stocktake.(^41) Chandra Muzaffar, ‘Islamisation of state and society: some further critical remarks’, in
Norani Othman (ed.),Shari’a Law and the Modern Nation-State(Kuala Lumpur: Sisters
in Islam, 1994 ), p. 113 , quoted in Joseph Chinyong Liow,Piety and Politics: Islamism in
Contemporary Malaysia(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009 ), at p. 43.
(^42) See Liow,Piety and Politics,p. 34.
(^43) Joshua Neoh, ‘Islamic state and the common law in Malaysia: a case study ofLina Joy’
( 2008 ) 8 ( 2 )Global Jurist, Article 4 ,www.bepress.com/gj/vol 8 /iss 2 /art 4 ; Mohamed Azam
Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil, ‘Restrictions in freedom of religion in Malaysia:
a conceptual analysis with special reference to the law of apostasy’ ( 2007 ) 4 ( 2 )Muslim
World Journal of Human Rights, Article 1.