Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

In Muslim-majority Malaysia whose official religion is Islam, augmented state-mobilised processes of Islamisation and Malaynisation, coupled with intense intra-Malay Muslim struggles have had disturbing knock-on effects on religious minorities. The issues surrounding religious freedom violations have been frequently raised by non-Muslim minorities, particularly Christian faith communities in recent years, amidst the country’s racial, cultural and religious diversity. This paper highlights the challenges faced by Malaysian Christians as a religious minority that have had adverse knock-on effects on Catholic youth in dialogue with the Malay-Muslim majority, as a result of the Muslims’ own Islamic worldview that is, to a certain extent, entangled with racial supremacism. It further recommends major reforms of education, as well as more collaborative efforts on interreligious dialogue as ideal policy options for promoting interreligious harmony and respect for people of different traditions in modern Malaysia.