Religious Freedom in Malaysia's “Islamic State”: Comparisons with the Islamic State of Medina

Abstract

Restriction on religious freedom is a contemporary issue in Malaysia. Structural and moral emphasis of Islam's supremacy in Malaysia has provided legitimacy for the Malaysian government to prohibit the proselytizing of other religions and reversion/conversion in the Malay and Muslim society of the country. The State restriction on religious freedom contradicts values of universal human rights such as freedom of religion. Moreover, religious freedom is in harmony with the Islamic principles. From a religious and historical perspective, if Malaysia declares itself as a true embodiment of an Islamic State, then none can be the best prototype for comparison other than the Islamic State of Medina—the abode of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). What then were the features of this “Islamic State”? How were fellow co-religionists and differing ethnic segments treated? How were cases of apostasy, religious differences and proselytizing by other faiths dealt with? These questions will seek to elucidate the substantive form of Medina's “Islamic State”. The two canonical sources of Islamic Jurisprudence, Qur'an and Sunnah, and the “Islamic State” of Medina will then be juxtaposed against Malaysia's “Islamic State”; to illustrate the latter's paradoxes and superficiality.