Islam In Malaysia

This book surveys the growth and development of Islam in Malaysia from the eleventh to the twenty-first century, investigating how Islam has shaped the social lives, languages, cultures and politics of both Muslims and non-Muslims in one of the most populous Muslim regions in the world. Khairudin Aljunied shows how Muslims in Malaysia built upon the legacy of their pre-Islamic past while benefiting from Islamic ideas, values, and networks to found flourishing states and societies that have played an influential role in a globalizing world. He examines the movement of ideas, peoples, goods, technologies, arts, and cultures across into and out of Malaysia over the centuries. Interactions between Muslims and the local Malay population began as early as the eighth century, sustained by trade and the agency of Sufi as well as Arab, Indian, Persian, and Chinese scholars and missionaries. Aljunied looks at how Malay states and societies survived under colonial regimes that heightened racial and religious divisions, and how Muslims responded through violence as well as reformist movements. Although there have been tensions and skirmishes between Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia, they have learned in the main to co-exist harmoniously, creating a society comprising of a variety of distinct populations. This is the first book to provide a seamless account of the millennium-old venture of Islam in Malaysia.

Home to approximately one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, Indonesia and Malaysia are often overlooked or misrepresented in media discourses about Islam. Islam is a religion but there is also a popular culture, or popular cultures of Islam that are mass mediated, commercialized, pleasure-filled, humorous, and representative of large segments of society. During the last forty years, popular forms of Islam, targeted largely towards urbanized youth, have played a key role in the Islamisation of Indonesia and Malaysia. This book focuses on these forms and the accompanying practices of production, circulation, marketing, and consumption of Islam. Dispelling the notion that Islam is monolithic, militaristic, and primarily Middle Eastern, the book emphasizes its dynamic, contested, and performative nature in contemporary South East Asia. Written by leading scholars alongside media figures, such as Rhoma Irama and Ishadi SK, the case studies although not focused on theology per se, illuminate how Muslims (and non-Muslims) in Indonesia and Malaysia make sense of their lives within an increasingly pervasive culture of Islamic images, texts, film, songs, and narratives.

A case study of a multi-ethnic Muslim state and a contribution to the study of the domestic functions of foreign policy. The book also addresses the real and imagined significance of Islam as a force in contemporary global politics.

This collection of essays has been prepared as a tribute to Clive S. Kessler, Professor of Sociology at the University of New South Wales for over twenty years and a member of staff of the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, and the Barnard College, Columbia University, New York. Written by colleagues and graduate students, the essays are divided into three sections: Islam, Society and Politics. They focus on Professor Kessler's analyses of Malaysia. Each essay draws on aspects of his published research, taking his insights as points of departure for new studies. Professor Kessler's ideas and observations are thus extended, complemented and updated in ways which emphasize the depth and extent of his influence on contemporary research on Malaysia.

"This book offers good news about ageing in Singapore and not just the grim statistics of elderly people. From a meticulous survey of 612 elderly people in the districts of Tiong Bahru, Bukit Merah and Henderson, a wealth of data has been amassed. The questionnaire encompassed a wide range of issues, eg. perception of old age, memory, sleep, health, alcohol consumption, activities of daily living, leisure pursuits, social network, the old-old, elderly men and women, etc and from the information gathered, there is compelling evidence to debunk the myths surrounding ageing and old age - the myths of decrepitude, dependency and despondency."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Providing an ethnographic account of the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) and its Youth Wing (Dewan Pemuda PAS), this book analyses the genesis and role of Islamic movements in terms of their engagement in mainstream politics. It explores the party’s changing approach towards popular culture and critically investigates whether the narrative of a post-Islamist turn can be applied to the PAS Youth. The book shows that in contrast to the assumption that Islamic marketization and post-Islamism are reinforcing each other, the PAS Youth has strategically appropriated and integrated Islamic consumerism to pursue a decidedly Islamist – or ‘pop-Islamist’ – political agenda. The media-savvy PAS Youth elites, which are at the forefront of implementing new outreach strategies for the party, categorically oppose tendencies of political moderation among the senior party. Instead, they are most passionately calling for the establishment of a Syariah-based Islamic oder for state and society, although these renewed calls are increasingly expressed through modern channels such as Facebook, YouTube, rock music, celebrity advertising, branded commodities and other market-driven forms of social movement mobilization. A timely and significant contribution to the literature on Islam and politics in Malaysia and beyond, this book sheds new light on widespread assumptions or even hopes of "post-Islamism". It is of interest to students and scholars of Political Religion and Southeast Asian Politics.