Majalah Al-Hikmah Edisi ke 16

MA JA L AH A L - H I KMAH 37 Religious experience in Malaysia has been colored by great encounters and challenges, in which the role of scholars and religious authorities, plays a very significant role in maintaining stability and harmonious relationships among religious communities. Article 153 in the Malaysian Constitution stipulates the importance of Malaysia as being pluralistic, whereby it explains the rights and responsibilities of religious communities to live together. Although religious experience in Malaysia has been criticized until recently, there is no doubt that the religious communities always learn how to coexist and cooperate in a respectful and approachable manner. Moreover, Islam has been seen as major and popular, yet other religious groups (including Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, and others) are given reasonable freedom to continue practicing their religions. In fact, religious freedom has been portrayed as one of the key issues discussed when drafting the Malaysian Constitution. “Islam is the religion of the Federation,” as stated in the 1957 Constitution of Independence, which implies several consequences. These include Muslims’ special place over non- Muslims in areas such as protecting the faith of the Muslim believers, withstanding Regardless of the accelerating moves undertaken by the Malaysian authority to quell tension, some appear to have been accused of being “unpopular” and “rigid”, and many more, particularly from local and “foreign” perspectives. Those precarious images were directed especially to the acts of proscribing the usage of the supreme name Allah by the Christians, the resentment of Shia teachings, the exclusive position of Islam and Malays, and so forth. These have been among the paramount challenges of the Malaysian population and authorities to bring into action the spirit of “harmonious relationship” in the society. any propagation of other religions toward its followers, repudiating any religious ideology that is detrimental to the Muslims, and enforcing laws to protect Muslims’ welfare. Likewise, the welfare of the “others” is also guaranteed in the Constitution. Article 11 in the Malaysian Constitution has given rights to the non- Muslims to profess, practice, and propagate their faith, insofar as the propagation does not include those who are professing the religion of Islam.