What is it about Islamisation that non-Muslims fear?

Whenever foreign friends or work associates ask about the state of affairs in Malaysia, one question that never fails to crop up is how I, as a non-Muslim minority, feel about the threat of radical Islamisation in Malaysia’s conservative, but still largely secular, society.

In the past, I used to tell those who read the headlines and shudder at the future of Malaysia’s secular state that the chances of our constitution being taken over by Islamic radicals lie somewhere in between “slim” and “no way”.

The question of Malaysia’s religious identity has always been debated, from as far back as the 1990s, and every once in a while, a battle between the conservative and liberal will spark.

From the conservative Malay heartlands of Kelantan, to the bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur, we are often regaled with the odd story of gender-segregated hair salons, hospitals not allowing visitors with short pants onto its premises, or the stray government department officer that insists on members of public covering up their knees in exchange for services.

Just last week, many were caught between incredulity and irritation when news broke that the government was considering segregating halal and non-halal supermarket trolleys.

Where these incidents would have in the past been largely dismissed as isolated cases involving an overzealous official, today the frequency of their occurrences and the backdrop of a potentially lethal union between fundamentalists PAS and the ruling Umno have made them reasons for concern.

Recently, I was asked once again by a foreign diplomat about the “threat” of Islamisation, in the light of last Monday’s Kuala Lumpur High Court decision to allow PAS to proceed with its efforts of tabling hudud in Kelantan.

This time, I had to admit that the notion of a secular Malaysia turning to become one that is ruled and run on the narrow Islamic interpretation of our current leadership, is a very real possibility.

In a poll conducted last year, independent pollster Merdeka Center uncovered the fact that almost 90% of middle-income, urban Malays with access to the internet claimed to support the implementation of Islamic criminal law in Malaysia.

The results were shocking, because if even the urban, educated and supposedly liberal Malays have become almost overwhelmingly agreeable to a more conservative Islamic society, then it is only a matter of time when the Islamic way of life and law as interpreted by our government, becomes a reality here.

What the Merdeka Center poll tells non-Muslims is that when push comes to shove, there will not be enough of Muslim moderates who will “balance” off the radicals.

For the non-Muslim, Islamisation isn’t just about putting up with slight inconveniences when it comes to dressing up, buying pork or maybe the lottery, or going for Happy Hour with friends.

The narrow-minded Islamisation that we already see creeping into lower-level government agencies, and even the minds and actions of some leaders, is one that will eventually be in direct conflict with our constitution and one which puts the position of non-Muslims in this country in grave question.

My respect for my Muslim friends, and for their faith, is unquestionable, but so too is my belief that I have every right to live in a society where religious interpretation does not form the basis of the law and my rights.

Non-Muslims have every reason to fear the threat of Islamisation in Malaysia because it is a compromise on our rights as equal shareholders of this country.

Non-Muslims should fear the rise of Islamic conservatism because it will, if not already has, bring to an end the carefree, tolerant atmosphere in which most in my generation and before had grown up in.

But I believe the thing that non-Muslims should fear most about the threat of Islamic radicalism is the knowledge that the reason it has already grown so prevalent in our society is because the “moderate” Muslims we thought we could count on to stand up for a secular Malaysia, are grossly outnumbered.

And the fear that an overwhelming majority of our fellow Malaysians no longer want or believe in the ideals of multiculturalism and religious diversity on which this nation was built, is probably the most terrifying thing of all. – November 15, 2015.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.