Politico-Religious Values in Malaysia: Comparing Asian Values and Islam Hadhari
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CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 1 2014 Vol XI No 1 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_265846_VOL_11_No1_GR_A5Br.indd.indd 1 14.05.14 17:43 CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology E-ISSN (Online): 2065-5002 ISSN (Print): 1584-1057 Advisory Board Prof. Dr. David Altman, Instituto de Ciencia Política, Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile Prof. Emeritus Dr. Horst Baier, University of Konstanz, Germany Prof. Dr. David Cornberg, University Ming Chuan, Taiwan Prof. Dr. Paul Cruysberghs, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Prof. Dr. Nic Gianan, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines Prof. Dr. Marco Ivaldo, Department of Philosophy “A. Aliotta”, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy Prof. Dr. Michael Jennings, Princeton University, USA Prof. Dr. Maximiliano E. Korstanje, John F. Kennedy University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Prof. Dr. Richard L. 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Aldo Marroni Faculty of Philosophy and Social- Facoltà di Scienze Sociali Political Sciences Università degli Studi G. d’Annunzio Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti B-dul Carol I, nr. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania Scalo, Italy [email protected] [email protected] Executive Editor: PD Dr. Till Kinzel Dr. Simona Mitroiu Englisches Seminar Human Sciences Research Department Technische Universität Braunschweig, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Bienroder Weg 80, Lascar Catargi, nr. 54, 700107 Iasi, Romania 38106 Braunschweig, Germany [email protected] [email protected] Editorial Assistant: Dr. Marius Sidoriuc Designer: Aritia Poenaru Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Vol. 10, No. 1 (2013) Editor-in-Chief Nicolae Râmbu Guest Editor: Abdul Rashid Moten Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Umschlagabbildung: © Aritia Poenaru ISSN 2065-5002 ISBN 978-3-631-64755-4 (,6%1 (%RRN '2, © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2013 All rights reserved. Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH. Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems. www.peterlang.de CONTENTS AXIOLOGY OF ISLAM Abdul Rashid Moten 7 Social Justice, Islamic State and Muslim Countries Maszlee Malik 25 The Role of Religion for an Alternative Sustainable Governance Theory Suwan Kim 47 Framing Arab Islam Axiology Published in Korean Newspapers Mohd Faizal Musa 67 Axiology of Pilgrimage: Malaysian Shi’ites Ziyarat in Iran and Iraq Haggag Ali 85 Secularism: from Solidity to Liquidity Aimillia Mohd Ramli 99 Decolonizing the Study of English Literature in a Muslim−Malaysian Context: An Argument for a Spiritual−based Comparative Paradigm Patrick Laude 119 Acceptance as a Door of Mercy: Riḍā in Islamic Spirituality Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani 141 Politico-Religious Values in Malaysia: Comparing Asian Values and Islam Hadhari Maximiliano E. Korstanje 167 Preemption and Terrorism. When the Future Governs 10.5840/cultura20131018 Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology 10(1)/2013: 141–166 Politico-Religious Values in Malaysia: Comparing Asian Values and Islam Hadhari1 Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani The School of International Studies (SOIS) Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) [email protected] Abstract. Malaysia has developed its own distinct value system that is accommoda- tive to the country’s rich tapestry of different ethnicities and religions. It is no coin- cidence that previous Malaysian premiers have actively promoted such system. Leading the way is Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s fourth Prime Minister, who was a vocal advocate of “Asian values,” followed by his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who championed the idea of Islam Hadhari. These two sets of values are not entirely incompatible to each other but rather share some similarities. The concepts of “Asian values” and Islam Hadhari are premised on several fundamental tenets, which include: promoting Islamic values, championing the Malay agenda, protecting cultural values, and challenging Western cultural imperialism. Their origin can be traced from the aggressive attempt by the ruling power – the United Malays Nation- al Organisation (UMNO) – Barisan Nasional (BN) to strengthen and consolidate the political supremacy of the alliance. Inevitably, both of these value systems have been subjected to many criticisms, predominantly under the pretext of misguided and ill-properly constructed values by the ruling regime to justify its autocratic rule. The very nature of such value systems has often triggered political debates in terms of defining Malaysia as a nation. The espoused agenda of Islamisation and possibly assimilation have stirred profound uneasiness among the country’s significantly large population of non-Muslims. The value system brought by “Asian values” and Islam Hadhari can lead to one understanding of Mahathir’s and Abdullah’s leadership and administration in governing Islam and politics in Malaysia. Keywords: Asian values, Islam Hadhari, Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi INTRODUCTION There are several sources influencing the values embraced by Malaysians, although one with the most significant importance is religion. For many Malaysian Muslims, the Islamic notions of morality and human dignity dictate their core values. In the context of the Malaysian state, the fusion of religious and political authority in the public life not only has facilitat- ed the avoidance of Western generated moral decadence and irresponsi- 141 Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani / Politico-Religious Values in Malaysia ble politics, but also enhanced co-existence and tolerance between dif- ferent religions in the country. Even in the past, any attempts to disrupt or jeopardise religious harmony are severely dealt by the Malaysian au- thority. In the Western world, the consequent process of secularisation arising from the aggressive separation of church and state – which in effect re- stricted religion to the private sphere – has contributed to a moral void in public life and accentuated negative impulses of individualism (Inogu- chi and Newman 1997: 1−9). Despite a similar process of secularisation and visible religious diversity in Malaysia – chiefly Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity – it has been argued that religion still plays a pivotal role in everyday life of society and contributes to group identity and orientation. Anwar Ibrahim (1996: 2), for instance, has spoken of a Western/Asian dichotomy, noting in particular that, unlike the Western- er, “the Asian man is a persona religiosus. Faith and religious prac- tice…permeates the life of the community.” The introduction of Asian values and Islam Hadhari by the Malaysian leaders was seen to protect the political and cultural identities of the people who strongly embrace religion, particularly the Muslim-Malays. Both concepts appear to align consistently within the framework of Is- lamic values. Nonetheless, critics alleged that they are purportedly used to hide the autocratic rule and tendency of the ruling United Malays Na- tional Organisation (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional (BN)2 in Malaysia. Therefore, this article will analyse Malaysia’s value system vis-à-vis Asian values and Islam Hadhari. Question need to be asked on whether these two particular values complemented each other by incorporating Islamic values? This article will analyse the polemic and debate of Islamic politi- co-religious values in Malaysia, within which it will also elucidate how the society are enriched by such values or otherwise. THE EMERGENCE