Malaysia’s political landscape has experienced significant change in recent years, marked by the rise of Islamic-oriented parties.
Though it is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Southeast Asia, rising public dissatisfaction with the ruling coalition’s perceived liberal agenda poses a significant challenge to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s hold on power.
The opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN), or National Alliance, coalition — a five-party grouping that includes the Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam Se Malaysia, or PAS) — has been gaining popularity and electoral ground over the past decade.
It achieved an astonishing electoral success in the 2023 state elections, winning 146 of the 245 contested seats, and forming governments in several states.
Those elections marked a significant turning point as they solidified PN’s control in the northern and east coast states and demonstrated its growing influence, especially among younger and more conservative Malay voters.
A green wave?
In the states PAS governs, such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis, it has been pushing for policies aligned with its conservative Islamic ideology, including efforts to implement hudud (Islamic criminal law), enforce stricter dress codes, and promote gender segregation in public spaces.
Some often call it the “green wave,” reflecting a surge in support for conservative Islamic policies.
“Malaysia has always been a conservative society that practices liberal democracy. Islam is at the center of our national identity. So, holding on to Islamic values, or shaping society towards Islamic ideals, is nothing new,” Wan Saiful Wan Jan, a politician and MP, told DW.
But Wan Jan pointed out that there is an attempt by “some” to reduce the influence of the country’s multireligious and multiethnic history, heritage, and identity in shaping policies.
“The Anwar Ibrahim administration is using the so-called ‘Islamization’ as a bogeyman to mask their failure to govern and to reform. We must not allow this facade that Anwar is trying to create to overshadow the real problem that we have, which is an incompetent administration,” he added.
Rise of political Islam poses a challenge
Malaysia is a multi-racial, Muslim-majority country that is home to three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian.
Ethnic Malays form a majority of the nation’s over 35 million people, accounting for about 60% of the population. While ethnic Chinese make up about a quarter, ethnic Indians account for around 7% of the population.
The communities coexist in relative peace and harmony, but there are also racial, cultural and religious tensions. The ethnic divide has been compounded by decades of policies favoring the politically dominant Malays.
While Anwar’s government has not openly adopted PAS’ brand of religious conservatism, his administration’s actions, such as reinforcing Islamic governance structures and engaging in Islamic advocacy, indicate a deliberate response to the opposition’s growing political power.
Though not an immediate threat to his government’s survival, due to Anwar’s parliamentary majority, PAS’ influence poses a long-term threat to his political agenda and re-election chances.
James Chin, professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania and an expert on Southeast Asia, said the rise of political Islam is the biggest challenge facing Malaysia, both now and for some years to come.
“The Islamists have devoted themselves to setting up a lot of Islamic religious schools to brainwash young Malays… basically teaching them Islam is the answer to everything,” Chin told DW.
“What is important is they want to get away from the state curriculum and set up their own curriculum, which basically teaches them Islam, political Islam and nothing else,” he added.
But the more worrying reason for the creeping Islamization, according to Chin, is the failure of the existing Malay Muslim political parties to develop Malaysia and provide good jobs and high-quality education.
“Therefore, the young Malays are getting disillusioned with the present system, so they turn towards Islam. The message being sent out is if you have an Islamic form of political system or Islamic governance, then this corruption will go away and you will have a better chance in life,” he underlined.
“In the coming years, Malaysia will become much more conservative and there will be much more bureaucratization of Islam.”
Support for greater Islamization of society
It remains unclear, however, whether PN politicians are driven by genuine religious convictions or are using religion as a deliberate tool to gain political mileage.
The government’s approach is often described as “Madani,” or moderate Islam, but some observers say there is little practical difference between its policies and those of the opposition on key religious issues.
And there are signs that a sizable segment of Malay-Muslim voters supports greater Islamization of society, which could have implications for the welfare of other ethnic groups in the country.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey, for instance, found that 86% of Muslim Malaysians favored making Sharia the official law, while 65% say the Quran should influence Malaysian law to a great deal.
An analysis by the Nordic Counter-Terrorism Network, a non-partisan think tank, found that several radical Islamist groups based in Europe are also planning to relocate their operations to Malaysia.
“Foreign Islamist radicals are converging on Malaysia because they are aware of the country’s weak policies in countering radicalism,” Adrin Raj, the network’s director, told Free Malaysia Today, an online news portal last week. He said the current government policies fail to address the symptoms and root causes for religious radicalism.
Mere political posturing?
Wee Choo Keong, a politician who was formerly a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), told DW that the push for Islamization in Malaysia is often used as a tool for “political posturing and expediency” and would not cut ice in the long run.
“There is a lot of fearmongering which is happening of late to consolidate power. The opportunistic use of religious rhetoric, especially during election periods or political crises, is a tactic by political parties to garner more votes,” said Keong.
Shah Hakim Zain, a prominent Malaysian businessman, echoed similar sentiments. “This ‘green wave’ is political posturing. When political parties are on a weak wicket or unsure, they turn to religion,” he said.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
