Salafism in Malaysia: Historical Account on Its Emergence and Motivations (original) (raw)
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The form of Islam normatively understood and practised in Malaysia, i.e. Malaysian Islam, has undergone myriad changes since the 1970s as a result of gradual Salafization. Powered by Saudi Arabian largesse and buoyed by the advent of the Internet, this new wave of Salafization has eclipsed an earlier Salafi trend that spawned the Kaum Muda reformist movement. Recent surveys suggest that there has been a rise in the level of extremism among Muslims in Malaysia. While the majority is far from being enamoured by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Wahhabi-Salafi doctrine that ISIS claims to represent in unadulterated form does appeal to many of them following the decades-long Salafization of Islam in the country. This tallies with media reports on increasing numbers of Malay-Muslim youth harbouring an attraction towards radical Islamist movements such as ISIS. Salafization, referring to a process of mindset and attitudinal transformation rather than the growth of Salafi nodes per se, is not restricted to individuals or groups identified as “Salafi”, but rather affects practically all levels of Malay-Muslim society, cutting across political parties, governmental institutions and non-state actors. It has resulted in Islamist, rather than Islamic, ideals increasingly defining the tenor of mainstream Islam in Malaysia, with worrying consequences for both intra-Muslim and inter-religious relations. Responses to the Wahhabi-Salafi onslaught from the Malay-Muslim ruling elite in Malaysia have been ambivalent, and have had weak counteracting effects on the Salafization process.
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It specializes in Indonesian Islamic studies in particular, and Southeast Asian Islamic studies in general, and is intended to communicate original researches and current issues on the subject. is journal warmly welcomes contributions from scholars of related disciplines. All submitted papers are subject to double-blind review process. STUDIA ISLAMIKA has been accredited by e Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, Republic of Indonesia as an academic journal (Decree No. 32a/E/KPT/2017). STUDIA ISLAMIKA has become a CrossRef Member since year 2014. erefore, all articles published by STUDIA ISLAMIKA will have unique Digital Object Identi er (DOI) number.
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Professor Takeshi Kohno, from Toyo Eiwa University in Japan, has a particular interest in how an idea of Salafism can travel to South East Asia and become an important part of lives of people far from its origin. Kohno is leading a project that seeks to analyse how Salafism turns into social movement and how this social movement is institutionalised in education institutions. In particular, he along with the team of researchers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are analysing the dissemination processes of Salafism into school system in these countries. By identifying transformational agents such as the state and its bureaucrats as well as religious teachers, Kohno and his colleagues hope to gain insight into this religious school of thought and how it has become established in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
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