Malaysian Chinese Muslims in Search of an Identity (By Dr Yamin Cheng) How is one to characterize the identity of a Malaysian Chinese Muslim? In my book, A Chinese Life of Islam – The Search for Identity(IBT Books, Kuala Lumpur, 2012), I mentioned four factors, or situations, that have direct bearings on the identity of the Malaysian Muslims of Chinese descent. These are, (1) the Malay factor (2) the Chinese factor (3) the history of Islam, and (4) Westernization. The Malay factor is the most immediate factor that has everything to do with the Chinese perception of Islam in Malaysia. The Chinese see Islam as a Malay religion and a Chinese who becomes a Muslim becomes a Malay person, speaks the Malay language,practises the Malay way of life, and, most significantly to the Chinese eyes, relinquishes his Chinese identity for good and is no longer a Chinese. For some Malays, becoming a Muslim means the person should have a Muslim name,and a Muslim name, in Malaysia, is taken for granted as a Malay name. As such, for some of the Malays, a Chinese name is therefore not a Muslim name, for how can Jason Yong Ah Chye be a Muslim name, and therefore the name should be removed upon one becoming a Muslim and be replaced with a Muslim name,such as Isa or Ali or Ahmad.The Chinese way of eating is with the use of chopstick.The Malay way of eating is with the use of hand.Thus, in the view of some Malays, eating with chopstick is not an Islamic practice and one should use the hand instead. In arguing against the misperception of Islam as a Malay religion and way of life, a Malaysian Chinese Muslim faces another challenge. If he says that being a Muslim does not mean relinquishing his Chinese identity,how is the Chinese-ness of his Muslim identity defined? Malaysian Muslims of Chinese descent are, on the whole, converts to Islam.Their population, to date, numbers in the tens of thousands, which is less than one percent of the total population of the country. Also, conversion to Islam by the Malaysian Chinese in increasing number happens only in the last three decades and they can be said to be the pioneering batch of Malaysian Chinese Muslims in the proper sense of the word since there also exists descendants of the Muslims in China in the country who came centuries earlier but they, along with their progenies and history,vanished into oblivion. One of the reasons cited for this happening is that many of their men married local women and they,along with their children, assimilated into the Malay culture and way of life. They left nothing that one could quickly identify with Chinese Islam,such as mosques in uniquely Chinese style like those in China, or Chinese-type madrasahs teaching Islam in the Chinese language, or imams and ulamaks and their writings addressing Chinese issues from Islamic perspectives in the country,or the Muslim way of life in Chinese forms such as in dressing,eating, home decoration, and the like. This leaves a situation for the current population of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims where they have nothing to glean for their practice of Islam. This poses the question about whether they should look to the Muslims in China,known as the Hui Muslims, to draw Western inspirations and examples for their Chinese identity in Malaysia, or they should create an identity of their own that maintains a continuity with their Han Chinese roots,including all the cultural practices such as the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival, or the Winter Solstice occasion, as long as these practices are commensurate with the Islamic worldview and ethos. Being a Muslim means having to co-exist with other Muslims in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world but it also means having to deal with the history of Muslim societies. The history of Muslim societies has seen the mushrooming of a range of beliefs and practices, from the strictly salafi ones that clamour for nothing but practising the ways of the Prophet in their literal sense with no leeway for speculation and interpretation, to the sufi ones that hinge on sheikhs or spiritual masters to show the way into the unity of being. There were also the different mazahibs regarding the practices of fiqh or rules for living, which can range from strict ones to flexible ones. Today, the Muslim world is faced with all kinds of issues, from the Palestinian issue to the wars in the Middle East, to issues affecting Muslim minorities in North America and Europe, to tensions between Muslims and adherents of other faiths in such countries like Myanmar (Burma), India, Xinjiang in China,and Central Asia. Converts to Islam, including the Malaysian Chinese Muslims, are not spared from these problems and they are bound to take stands on these issues, resulting in their perception of Islam as religion.The question of whether Malaysia is an Islamic state, for instance, could lead to tensions between those among the Malaysian Chinese Muslims who think Malaysia should be an Islamic state, as against their non-Muslim Chinese citizens who oppose such an idea. This goes on to show that whatever is happening in the Muslim world is sure to have an impact upon the Malaysian Muslims of Chinese descent even though these were issues alien to them before they came into Islam or alien to the Chinese in Malaysia, but instantly became part of their historical consciousness the moment they became Muslims. Finally, living in a world as it is today, one cannot avoid the presence of Western influence in every aspect of our daily living. Movies,music, news, ideas, showbiz, education, work,and even food are all laden with Western influence. KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut,Starbucks, Burger King, are some of the eateries that have become a common sight and a place to frequent for food and beverages. The question is, with the overwhelming presence of Western influence, in culture, in ideas and philosophy (such as the idea of democracy and rule of law in government), in work and leisure (Hello Kitty and Legoland, for instance), and in education (English is a must language in Malaysia), how can things Western be considered as things Islamic? Western colonialism and imperialism has left the perception among Muslims that Islam and the West are diametrically opposed in every way,and for some, the West is bad. But the post-Cold War era has created the market-place capitalist culture of leisure, pleasure, and profit-venture that has no Western or Eastern identity. It is a global identity. One can one hate America but one finds it hard to resist Hollywood movies or NBA basketball or Coke or Pepsi. Just how are Malaysian Chinese Muslims reacting to Westernization? Will they adopt the history of Western colonization and imperialism happening to the Muslim people and make it part of their historical consciousness when there is none in the first place? Will they think that the West and Islam are two different cultures apart? Or could their Chinese roots in Confucianism that promotes the view that heaven and human are in harmony with one another could be used to bring about a symbiosis between Islam and the West, in philosophy, culture, education, and human relations? What is Westernization for the Malaysian Muslims of Chinese descent? To conclude, the challenges facing the identity of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims are immense and there is no easy way out to deal with the weight of such challenges. Thus, it is hard to speak of a single identity characterizing the Malaysian Chinese Muslims for now but one can say that there is a myriad of identities of Chinese Islam in Malaysia.Whether the Malaysian Chinese Muslims will one day emerge with a single identity, this is hard to tell. But right now, as one travels in Malaysia, one can see Masjid Cina or Chinese-style mosques, Restoran Cina Muslim or Chinese-style Muslim restaurants, Chinese New Year celebrations, and many more that are telling signs of the urge of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims to have an identity of their own and, ‘Whether we speak Malay, or English, or Chinese, Chinese food and Chinese tea with chit-chat and gossiping around the table will bring Malaysian Chinese Muslims together as all in a family.’ That surely is food for thought about the identity of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims. ∗ About the author Dr. Yamin Cheng is a Malaysian Chinese Muslim who has taught Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), his alma mater,where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law. He pursued his MA and PhD in Religion at George Washington University and Temple University respectively, both in the USA. He has taught undergraduate courses in Religion at Temple and also headed the Islamic Studies department of an Islamic College in Australia.He is currently a consulting editor to The Muslim Reader, the flagship magazine of the Muslim Converts Association of Singapore,where he also writes for the magazine.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:41:25 +0000
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