Integration of Chinese Muslim Converts with Malays in Kuala Lumpur: an Empirical Study

SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION OF CHINESE MUSLIM CONVERTS WITH MALAYS IN KUALA LUMPUR: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY RAZALEIGH B. MUHAMAT Submitted to University of Wales in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In The Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Islamic Studies University of Wales, Lampeter 2009 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature forany degree _ Signed: _________ (candidate) Date: STATEMENT 1 This research is the result of my own investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended Signed: (candidate) Date: STATEMENT2 I hereby give consent for my research, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and forinter-library loan, and for the summary to be made available to outside organisations Signed: (candidate) Date: ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to deliver my grateful thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Dawoud El-Alami from Theology and Religious Studies Department, University of Wales, Lampeter because of his excellent supervision and guidance throughout the period of this research. His invaluable advice and encouragement, not only in the aspect of academic supervision but in all aspects of my life as a Ph.D student at University of Wales, Lampeter will have great impact especially in my future career. Furthermore, I also would like to use this opportunity to give special thanks to those who have supported me to ensure that my writing has been on track, principally to Dr. Rob Warner, Theology and Religious Studies Head of Department, Dr. Mawil Izzi Dien, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies and Carole Russell William; an English Tutor. Last but not least, I would also like to express my personal thanks to the 600 selected respondents to the questionnaire from around Kuala Lumpur where the survey was conducted. Their cooperation in responding to the questions helped me enormously to assess the level of their interaction and integration both socially and from the religious perspective. This research may be considered as a special gift to them and to JAWI the principal organization that manages their actual needs at the time of their conversion. Hopefully, this research will increase mutual understanding between the converts and JAWI and thereby increase the level of interaction and integration. Indirectly, I also express my thanks to the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia and the National University of Malaysia for giving me a scholarship to finish the research. ABSTRACT This research set outs to explore the exact levels of the social and religious aspects of interaction and integration between Chinese Muslim converts and their Malay counterparts in Kuala Lumpur. I was sure that interaction and integration in both social and religious aspects are dilemmas which Chinese Muslims face when they convert from their own religion to Isläm. It suggests that when these converts begin to practise Isläm, their behaviour changes in line with the identity of the Malays. This is because Isläm equates to Malay in the Malaysian context. I believed this behaviour contributes to the disintegration of their ethnic structures, and to rejection by their original ethnic group because of the social differences that emerge post-conversion. Whilst they are welcomed by their Malay counterparts, it is nevertheless hypothesized that they may not interact and integrate fully into the Malay socio-religious community. Therefore, I conducted this empirical research directly looking for the precise degree of such interaction and integration, and indirectly exploring in what kinds of Malay practices the converts participate most fully. The research is guided by several theories, methodologies and six hypothesis statements designed to narrow the investigation. Specifically, the research will be divided into many discussions. The introduction will discover the multi-ethnic situation in Malaysia and the objectives, scope and hypothesis statements of the research. The next chapter will give some of the concepts used in this research as well as identifying the problems of the converts. The next chapter will describe the historical background to the ethnic situation in Malaysia, focusing on the situation in Kuala Lumpur, where the research will be conducted. The subsequent chapter will focus on the design of the questionnaire to be presented to 600 selected respondents who are Chinese Muslim converts in Kuala Lumpur. The 600 respondents will represent 10% of the whole convert population. Then, in the next chapter will take place the processing and analysis of the returned questionnaires. The next chapter gives an account of the research findings, considered the backbone of this research, while the last chapter concentrates on the analysis of the research findings and on some suggestions that arise from them. iv CONTENTS Page DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii ABSTRACT iv CONTENTS v ARABIC TRANSLITERATION SYSTEM xii GLOSSARY xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION: STATEMENT ON THE FOCUS OF THE RESEARCH 1 1.2 LOCATION AND RATIONALE 5 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW 7 1.4 THE OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 12 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17 1. Library Research 17 2. Survey questionnaire 18 1.6 METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE RESEARCH 20 1. Data of Chinese Muslim converts are official secret documents 21 2. Dispersal of Chinese Muslim converts throughout Kuala Lumpur 21 V 1.7 PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS 22 CHAPTER TWO: CONCEPTS AND THE PROBLEMS OF CHINESE MUSLIM CONVERTS IN MALAYSIA 2.1 INTRODUCTION 24 2.2 CONCEPT OF CONVERSION IN ISLAM: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 24 2.3 CONCEPT OF CONVERSION IN MALAYSIA: A COMPARISON 32 2.4 MALAYS AND CHINESE IN MALAYSIA 33 1. Malays in Malaysia 33 2. Chinese in Malaysia 37 2.5 PROBLEMS OF INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION OF CHINESE MUSLIM CONVERTS 43 1. General problems 43 2. The problems of converts living in a non-Muslim society 46 3. The problems of converts living in Malay Muslim society 48 2.6 ROLE OF JAWI 52 vi CHAPTER THREE: INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION OF CHINESE MUSLIM CONVERTS IN MALAYSIA: A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1 INTRODUCTION 56 3.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ETHNIC RELATIONSHIPS IN MALAYSIA: AN ETHNIC ENVIRONMENT 56 3.3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ETHNIC RELATIONSHIPS IN MALAYSIA: A STEREOTYPING OF MUSLIM CONVERTS 60 3.4 `THE 1971 NATIONAL CULTURE POLICY OF MALAYSIA' 71 CHAPTER FOUR: BACKGROUND STUDY AND QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 4.1 INTRODUCTION 78 4.2 CHINESE MUSLIM CONVERTS IN KUALA LUMPUR 79 1. Statistics of Chinese Muslim Converts: A historical background 79 2. Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding area 84 4.3 FIELD WORK METHODOLOGY 89 1. Theories and application 89 2. Survey questionnaire methodology 91 4.4 CRITERIA FOR COLLECTING DATA 94 1. Age group of Chinese Muslim converts 94 2. Gender 96 vii 3. Occupational background 97 4. Educational background 99 5. Monthly income 102 6. Marital status 104 4.4 CRITERIA FOR MEASURING THE LEVEL OF INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION 106 1. Items for measuringthe level of social interaction and integration 108 2. Items for measuringthe level of religious interaction and integration 109 CHAPTER FIVE: DATA GATHERING AND PROCESSING 5.1 INTRODUCTION 114 5.2 RESPONDENTS' DEMOGRAPHY 116 5.3 DATA GATHERING ANALYSIS 118 1. Data gathering analysis: question basis 118 2. Data gathering analysis: social interaction 120 3. Data gathering analysis: religious interaction 121 4. Data gathering analysis: social integration 122 5. Data gathering analysis: religious integration 123 5.4 DATA PROCESSING 124 1. Data processing for age group 125 2. Data processing for gender 130 viii 3. Data processing for occupational background 132 4. Data processing for educational background 133 5. Data processing for monthly income 134 6. Data processing for marital status 135 CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH FINDINGS: TESTING AND ANALYSIS 6.1 INTRODUCTION 137 6.2 INSTRUMENT RELIABILITY 138 6.3 LEVEL OF INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION 140 1. Level of social interaction 142 2. Level of religious interaction 143 3. Level of social integration 145 4. Level of religious integration 146 6.4 THE MOST INTERACTING AND INTEGRATING CRITERIA 147 1. Social interaction by age 148 2. Social interaction by gender 149 3. Social interaction by occupationalbackground 150 4. Social interaction by educationalbackground 151 5. Social interaction by monthly income 152 6. Social interaction by marital status 153 7. Social integration by age 154 ix 8. Social integration by gender 155 9. Social integration by occupationalbackground 156 10. Social integration by educationalbackground 157 11. Social integration by monthly income 158 12. Social integration by marital status 159 13. Religious interaction by age 160 14. Religious interaction by gender 161 15. Religious interaction by occupational background 162 16. Religious interaction by educational background 163 17. Religious interaction by monthly income 164 18. Religious interaction by marital status 166 19. Religious integration by age 167 20. Religious integration by gender 168 21. Religious integration by occupational background 169 22. Religious integration by educational background 170 23 Religious integration by monthly income 171 24. Religious integration by marital status 172 6.5 HYPOTHESIS ANALYSIS 173 1. Hypothesis 1 176 2. Hypothesis 2 179 3. Hypothesis 3 183 4. Hypothesis 4 186 X 5. Hypothesis 5 190 6. Hypothesis 6 193 CHAPTER SEVEN: RESEARCH

Load more