Debate over ‘Allah’ reflects Malaysia’s growing religiosity

Malaysians are growing to be more religious. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — Malaysia woke up to a growing religiosity among its citizens a week ago when the Selangor Sultan’s edict reaffirming who can use “Allah” to describe God reignited an issue that has divided politicians and religious leaders.

It began when DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng appealed in a Christmas Day message last month for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to be allowed to use the Malay-language Bible that contained Allah, the Arabic term for god.

Politicians have joined the debate but as The Malaysian Insider found out in a recent poll, Malaysians are growing to be more religious, be it among Muslims and Christians, and this is fuelling the national discourse over practising one’s faith in the Southeast Asian country.

Muslim, Christian and Malaysian

Suddenly, almost every young professional who’s a Muslim or Christian is rushing off to anusrah/kelas mengaji or Bible class. Their children are already being given solid grounding in their respective faiths and theologies. The parents and offspring also attend camps and in Singapore, there are now cruises for the pious family to enjoy and also become good Muslims.

At one point in time, it was the older generation who paid more attention to their faith. After a shallow youth, spent on parties, careers and raising families, they turned to God. Becoming religious was part of ageing.

Now, there is a shift. Becoming pious starts early, and young professionals do not see a conflict of interests when it comes to juggling faith and the world. They see both as part and parcel of their lives — they want a holistic life that marries the worldly. Whoever said that ambition was not synonymous with God was talking rubbish.

Who are the new generation of believers?

They tend to be based in the Klang Valley. They are well-educated, professionals and political. If they aren’t the latter, they are critical.

Some do not belong to a particular church, preferring to enter any denomination of the house of God. 

As B replied in an email interview (interviewees for this feature have requested to not be named, preferring initials of their first names to be quoted instead): “To me, faith is really something personal between God and me. I attend any church of any denomination as I please, as I do not like the idea of Christ being divided into denominations. I have long held the view that the word Christian is made up of the word ‘Christ’ and the remaining 3 letters represent the words ‘I am nothing’. Yes, without Christ I am nothing. And I think denominations do injustice to this belief I hold dearly by ‘breaking-up’ Christ.”

B is in his 40s, single and a devout Christian. The breakdown of marriages and lack of respect towards the sanctity of marriage has frightened him off marriage, and he would rather be married to God and the church than deal with the ups and downs of modern matrimony.

But B is highly perceptive of the scenario in Malaysia.

Faith isn’t the domain of any class, according to him. It belongs to all believers of the faith who are faithful to its cause, and there is no class in the presence of God, all are equal with no one superior nor inferior to the other, he continued. As to the recent upheaval over “Allah” and others affecting the Christian community, the increased attempts by the government and some others to regulate the religious practice of Christians in the country (that had never been done before) have in some way helped to form a collective view that the church (representing all Christians) is under attack and for no valid reason.

B also summarised his community’s fears. Christians are concerned about the increased attacks on the church in the form of regulation, the banning of the Bible in Bahasa Melayu, confiscation of religious material, the inaction of the government when the sensitivities of the church are offended e.g. the Al-Ishlah reporters’ desecration of the sacred wafer in Holy Communion, and the use of the word “Allah”. There are also smaller concerns about the lack of space for building of churches, the delay in approval of building plans/certificates of fitness of the same and burial grounds for those of the Christian faith. 

Young Christians

Young Christians, like other young Malaysians, may find 21st-century life a struggle. They’re the throwaway generation, and want all their answers and dreams answered now. Still, there are quite a number who don’t view Christ in such a haphazard way. Belief is very important to them. God is not only the most important Person in their lives, but in Whom all their life is built around. These young people do their best to obey God’s teachings and the Bible to its fullest by living according to it each day. 

Belief is very important to young Christians.

Social media has been a major push factor for both young Muslims and Christians. Young Christians post updates on Bible camps, verses from the Bible, and exchange their thoughts. Occasionally, they argue and fight. They meet to socialise, and yes they do date. If anyone has the idea that a pious young Christian looks like Laura Ingalls circa Petaling Jaya, they are mistaken. They are fashionable, and follow trends just like other young people.

The resounding comment which came from the many young Christians interviewed for the feature was that politics and certain parties used religion as a tool of repression and fear. Malaysia is a perfect example of multiculturalism, so why do they insist on ruining it and spiking fear and hatred among its people?

Muslims, middle class and proud of it

Are the neo Muslims, who zip about in the city, going to work, attending the many usrahs in town in a German car, different from their Christian counterparts?

Today, the hijabster who socialises with her friends at Artisan Roast Coffee in Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur totes genuine Chanel. Chanel 2.55, thank you very much. Their mothers drive Porsches. But they’re not shallow, these people. Many have been educated abroad, and are very familiar with the teachings and sermons of Dr Afifi Al Akiti, Oxford University. They are also politically aware and critical on current issues which are perceived as a national malaise.

Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur is one example of a middle-class Muslim hotspot. Al Khadeem and Hunafa are two religious centres for Muslims to meet, attend tafsir classes, and the commercial landscape of the neighbourhood is now peppered with modest clothing boutiques. Bangsar, the enclave of the well-heeled, also houses boutiques which sell fashionable modest clothing.

Professor Dr Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, director of the Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation (CASIS), when asked about the new generation of the Muslim middle class, said class categories (Upper, Middle, Working, etc) are not quite relevant in analysing Islamic consciousness in Malaysia (and in most Muslim communities worldwide.) 

“Religious fraternity and educational orientation and attainment are more important. Generally, a successful engineer from a Felda family background will have a similar religious awareness with a CEO of GLC from an aristocratic family background if they are members of the same religious fraternity whether ABIM, PAS, a Sufi group, Tabligh or other religion inspired movement.

“Often times, the huge responses shown at local religious programmes, from the local crowds including from the educated ones, are not necessarily based on a deep Islamic understanding of the invited speakers but more on their celebrity status or their hardline or anti-establishment outlook. Many modern educated Malaysians are still searching for themselves.”

Starting them young

Many who spoke about their newfound or rediscovered piety say that Islamic teachings must be inculcated from young. A member of a Muslim NGO noted that there were two extremes among middle-class Muslim parents. Some send the children to expensive and private Islamic kindergartens and schools. However, some parents are now sending their young tomadarasahs and sekolah pondok in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Terengganu.

“I am actually bewildered by this trend. The people who are doing this are corporate types, who can be classified as Western, but my friends felt that they had such a secular childhood that they want their children to experience sekolah pondok. Also, many of the religious classes in the city are taught at primary school level. They want their children to learn right up to the time they leave for university. It is very important for them.”

Jihad fisabilillah is a form of support that many young Muslim parents feel strongly about. It’s not just about sending their children to sekolah pondok or tahfiz, it is also about supporting Muslim education and community. And the support, especially financial, has been very encouraging.

A former student of such schooling said: “Schools like Al Amin in Gombak and Al Hidayah in Ipoh are not cheap. One month you pay a few hundred, but the kids usually turn out very good academically and perangai better than other kids because there is a lot of emphasis on Islamic lifestyle and memorising the Quran, so the kids turn out quite well (usually)!”

Faith is the DNA of professional Muslims, who work and deal with the corporate world. For entrepreneurs, having such faith has helped them in business dealings and setbacks.  

Age is also another factor: for the entrepreneur in his late 30s and early 40s, who has to manage the shark-infested world of business, iman keeps him sane and calm.

“We are Muslims. We have faith,” he said.