Discrimination against non-Muslims in Malaysia Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The constitution of Malaysia provides for freedom of religion, although Islam is the official religion. However, there exist certain laws and practices which in effect discriminate against non-Muslims in Malaysia'''.
Malaysia country has a total area of approximately 127,000 square miles (329,000 km²), and a population of just over 23 million. According to government census figures, in 2000 approximately 60.4 percent of the population were Muslim; 19.2 percent practiced Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.3 percent Hinduism; and 2.6 percent Confucianism, Taoism, and other traditional Chinese religions. The remaining percentages were accounted for by other faiths, including animism, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith. However, this figure may be misleading as all Malays (the majority race of the country) are required to be Muslim as defined by the Malaysian constitution. There is also significant economic incentives to be declared a Malay as one then automatically becomes a Bumiputra.
Non-Muslims are concentrated in East Malaysia, major urban centers, and other areas.
In April 2002, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) initiated an interfaith dialog aimed at promoting better understanding and respect among the country's different religious groups. Participants included representatives from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, the Malaysian Ulama Association, and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS).
In September 2001, the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad declared that the country was an Islamic state (negara Islam). The opposition leader at the time, Lim Kit Siang, is actively seeking support to declare Mahathir's move as unconstitutional by repeatedly clarifying that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as its official religion as enshrined in the Constitution. However, the coalition government headed by Mahathir at the time held more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament. It requires a two-thirds majority vote for constitutional amendments in Malaysia. No proposed constitutional amendments by the Barisan Nasional government have ever failed to pass parliament since the Barisan Nasional came into power in 1957 until the time of the remarks.
Government funds support an Islamic religious establishment (the Government also grants limited funds to non-Islamic religious communities), and it is official policy to "infuse Islamic values" into the administration of the country.
The nation mantains two parallel justice systems in the country. One is the conventional justice system based upon laws gazetted by parliament. The other is syariah or Islamic law. Ostensibly syariah courts only have jurisdiction over persons who declare themselves to be Muslims. Consequently, this results in non-Muslims not having legal standing in syariah courts. Where decisions of the syariah court affect a non-Muslim, she can seek recourse in the secular courts who theoretically trump the syariah courts. However, this has often resulted in complications.
The rules of Syaria are set by the various sultans of the states. Historically a sultan had absolute authority over the state. Prior to independence Tunku Abdul Rahman got the sultans to cede authority to the federal government. One of the terms of this agreement is that the sultans still are the ultimate authority of Islamic law in their respective states.
Constitutionally, one of the four tests for being Malay in Malaysia is that one must be a Muslim. Therefore, all Malays are regarded to fall under Islamic law. The rationale for this is that Islam is considered intrinsic to Malay ethnic identity.
In May 2001, the Government decided not to approve the Falun Gong Preparatory Committee’s application to register as a legal organization. However, the Government has not prevented Falun Gong members from carrying out their activities in public.
For Muslim children, religious education according to a government-approved curriculum is compulsory in public schools. There are no restrictions on home instruction.
Several religious holidays are recognized as official holidays, including Hari Raya Puasa (Muslim), Hari Raya Qurban (Muslim), the Prophet's birthday (Muslim), Wesak Day (Buddhist), Deepavali (Hindu), Christmas (Christian), and, in Sabah and Sarawak, Good Friday (Christian).
Muslims who wish to convert from Islam face severe obstacles. For Muslims, particularly ethnic Malays, the right to leave the Islamic faith and adhere to another religion is a controversial question, and in practice it is very difficult for Muslims to change religions. The legal process of conversion is unclear; in practice it is very difficult for Muslims to change their religion legally.
In 1999 the High Court ruled that secular courts have no jurisdiction to hear applications by Muslims to change religions. According to the ruling, the religious conversion of Muslims lies solely within the jurisdiction of Islamic courts.
In April 2001, a High Court judge rejected the application of a Malay woman who argued that she had converted to Christianity, and requested that the term "Islam" be removed from her identity card. The judge ruled that an ethnic Malay is defined by the federal Constitution as "a person who professes the religion of Islam." The judge also reaffirmed the 1999 High Court ruling and stated that only an Islamic court has jurisdiction to rule on the woman’s supposed renunciation of Islam and conversion to Christianity.
These ruling makes conversion of Muslims nearly impossible in practice.
The issue of Muslim apostasy is very sensitive. In 1998 after a controversial incident of attempted conversion, the Government stated that apostates (i.e., Muslims who wish to leave or have left Islam for another religion) would not face government punishment so long as they did not defame Islam after their conversion. However, whether the very act of conversion was an "insult to Islam" was not clarified at the time. The Government opposes what it considers deviant interpretations of Islam, maintaining that the "deviant" groups’ extreme views endanger national security. In the past, the Government imposed restrictions on certain Islamic groups, primarily the small number of Shi'a. The Government continues to monitor the activities of the Shi'a minority.
In April 2000, the state of Perlis passed a Shari’a law subjecting Islamic "deviants" and apostates to 1 year of "rehabilitation" (under the Constitution, religion, including Shari’a law, is a state matter). Leaders of the opposition islamic party, PAS, have stated that the penalty for apostasy should be death.
In 2002 the government banned the Bible in Malay (Al Kitab) and in Iban (bap Kudus). Other materials such as books or tapes translated into Bahasa Melayu (local Malay) or Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian Malay) are also discouraged. However, Malay-language Christian materials are available. Some states have laws that prohibit the use of Malay-language religious terms such as usage of the term "Allah" for God by Christians, but the authorities do not enforce them actively. The distribution of Malay-language Christian materials faced few restrictions in East Malaysia prior to the banning of the Bup Kudus. The Kudus uses the term "Allah Taala" for God.
In recent years, visas for foreign clergy no longer are restricted, and most visas were approved during the period covered by this report. Beginning in March 2000, representative non-Muslims were invited to sit on the immigration committee that approves such visa requests.
The Government generally respects non-Muslims' right of worship; however, state governments carefully control the building of non-Muslim places of worship and the allocation of land for non-Muslim cemetaries. Approvals for such permits sometimes are granted very slowly. After a violent conflict in Penang between Hindus and Muslims in March 1998, the Government announced a nationwide review of unlicensed Hindu temples and shrines. However, implementation was not vigorous, and the program was not a subject of public debate during the period covered by this report.
In February 2002, the pro-opposition Council of Ulamas submitted a memorandum to the Conference of Rulers urging action against six academics who it alleged had belittled the Prophet and humiliated Islam in their writings. The Council of Rulers referred the memorandum to the National Council on Islamic Religious Affairs.
In 2004, the town council of Subang Jaya made it a pre-condition of dog ownership that anyone applying for a dog license having a Muslim neighbour would be required to seek their "approval" before applying for a license. No actual guidelines were published as to how this approval could be indicated. After a large outcry by dog owners and the kennel club, this measure was quietly removed.
The rationale was that dogs were noisy and animals in general carried diseases. However, no noise pollution standards exist in Malaysia. Vehicles producing excessive noise are charged under laws against illegal modifications. Furthermore a call to prayer emanates from every mosque early every morning. As for diseases, it has been contended that all other pets are potential carriers. In fact cats can carry all diseases that dogs can including rabies [1]. However, no other pets require licensing in Malaysia except dogs.
The first Azan (also spelt Adhan) occurs at around 5.30 AM but drifts throughout the year. Most Malaysian business start work at 9 AM so many non-Muslim Malaysians have not awoken at this hour yet.
In 2004 the Bar Council of Malaysia journal "Infoline" carried an article which questioned the need for the Azan as it was disturing to non-Muslims and not needful. The article was condemmed.
In October 2004, the youth wing of PAS (the opposition party claiming to represent Islam) lodged a police report over an article published by Astora Jabat in Mingguan Malaysia. In the article Astora was alleged to have linked Cairo's "funfair" atmosphere and noise pollution with the Azan. In the atual article Astora had spoken about Egypt's religious endowments minister's proposal in 'streamlining' Cairo Muslims' call to prayer and only having one call instead of the present 44,000. The offending statement was "Other than Azan overlapping and causing newcomers to Cairo to feel as if they were in a funfair, their duration can take anywhere between two to 15 minutes on account of lateness or difference in schools of thought". PAS Youth information chief Mazlan Aliman filed the report on behalf of PAS.Religious Demography
Scope of Islamic law in Malaysia
Status of Religious Freedom
Conversion from Islam
Loss of right to marry
Aslina Jailani was a Muslim who converted to Christianity. She was denied the right to register her marriage with the Registrar of Marriages. She is currently going through the secular courts to seek a a declaration that she is free to practise the faith of her choice, and have the word 'Islam' dropped from her identity card. Her legal case is based on the freedom of religion clause in the constitution.Torture by Police
Joshua Jamaluddin spent time in jail for converting to Christianity. He detailed his torture during his incarceration. Now he is an activist for allowing greater religious freedom in Malaysia.Illegal imprisonment by family members
Aishah was captured and imprisoned by her own family members for wanting to convert before marrying her boyfriend. Eventually she escaped and has since left the country.Loss of right to work
Nur Hilmi Noor in his book "A circumcised heart" describes how he was hounded out of his job with Shell.Christian Proselytization
Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions is not technically prohibited by law. However, some Christian groups in Malaysia put a standard disclaimer on literature and advertisements stating "For non-Muslims only". No other religious groups do this. Places of Worship
Charges of "insulting"
Ownership of dogs
Generally, the Malaysian practice of Islam frowns upon dogs; the rationale being that they are unclean. However, this view is not universal as some have taken the view that the Prophet prayed with dogs around [Al-Nawawi, Sahih Muslim, 3-4:465] and dogs entered the Prophet's mosque. [Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 1:334].Azan