CONCLUSION
Public behavior, responses to surveys, and sharia personal narratives clearly indicate the strong influence of religious disciplinary practices on the lives, views, and voices of Malaysian Muslims.
Widespread body techniques of modest public attire, restrained comportment, performance of obligatory ritual prayers, and fast-opening meals embody sharia ethical notions stressed in authoritative discourses of religious institutions and ulama. While normative Islamic forces are in general agreement about the requirement for men and women to cover their aurat, including the heads of women and the knees of men, there is some disagreement over the most appropriate Islamic style of dress. Some members of Islamic NGOs, dakwah organizations, and political Islamic movements prefer long robes for men and women, kopiah and turbans for men, and long tudung and socks or stockings covering the feet for women. On the other hand, UMNO, Malay rights organizations, and some Islamic NGOs promote baju melayu and baju kurung as Malay “traditional” dress, which also fulfills the religious necessity of properly covering the body. For them, these forms of attire are both Malay and Islamic, thus reflecting and reinforcing their conflation of Malay and Muslim identities. Some government religious officials and ulama also contrast their embodiment of Islamic modernity with the “backwardness” of PAS ulama, while the latter, in turn, consider the former’s body techniques to be more about secular modernity than Islam. Likewise, there is consensus among normative Islamic forces about prohibiting the physical contact and secluded proximity of unmarried men and women, but some disagree over the permissibility of the mingling of genders without any improper contact and in public spaces. These diverse views were reflected in public practices as well as in the sharia personal narratives of Mohamad and Wan. Overall, the sharia personal narratives—whether the storyteller was consistently instilled with piety from an early age or on a path of personal transformation—revealed the increasingly Islamized social and cultural milieu constructed through the efforts of a variety of resurgent religious forces over the last four decades. Surveys of views about the general implementation of sharia, the handling of apostates, and the gendered dimensions of sharia also exhibited the hegemonic influence of normative religious discourses, although some liberal reformist discourses, especially those issued from the Sisters in Islam, have made an impact.Nevertheless, these observations, surveys, and interviews also show that secular disciplinary practices have influenced the body techniques and outlook of many Malaysian Muslims. Aliza’s and Lili’s sharia personal narratives speak of the ways secular ideas and body techniques have been important aspects of their lives in diverse urban settings and communities of practice. While Aliza has transformed her secular body into a religious body, Lili was still in the midst of trying to recondition her secular body to perform acts of piety. In addition, my observations of the public attire and comportment of some Muslim youth suggest that secular discourses and ideas have instilled in them a fun-loving and pleasure-seeking sense of self. They violate sharia laws and ethical norms about public decency, alcohol consumption, khalwat, and related sexual infractions. However, some youth combine a secular, modern dose of personal autonomy with liberal Islamic ethics as they socialize with their romantic interests without transgressing the clear moral limits. A few of my interlocutors maintained that human rights are more effectively upheld in civil courts rather than in sharia courts, and one of them argued for privatization of religion and for the state to stay out of regulating personal violations of the precepts of Islam.
On the other hand, my research also indicates that individual practices have an impact on socially authoritative discourses.
Many of the Muslim youth and adults habituated to performing public acts of piety also want to see more extensive implementation of sharia throughout society and want to de-secularize the broader politico-legal and constitutional structures. For instance, Mohamad calls for more emphasis on enhancing religious understandings in home and school, with the goal of putting Islamic knowledge more heavily into practice in society. Likewise, Wan and Siti were in favor of sharia regulations on their university campus and hudud and qisas throughout the country. My interlocutors going through personal transformations, such as Aliza and Firdaus, develop new ideas and insights that comment on or critique some aspects of authoritative discourses. As Aliza began to visit the masjid, performed her obligatory ritual prayers, and corrected features of her inner self, new insights emerged about the shortcomings of the UMNO and PAS political approaches vis-à-vis the needs of poor Malays. Her individually initiated campaigns to assist poverty-stricken families have the potential of influencing the discourses and policies of these two key players in Malaysian Muslim politics. Similarly, Firdaus’s experiences—as a Chinese “revert” to Islam who founded an Islamic NGO and speaks of his personal spiritual journey—makes an impact on the socially authoritative discourses about converts, race and religion, and Islamic economics. These individual practices contain the potential of generating conciliatory ideas and approaches to clashes among Malay, Islamic, and people’s sovereignties and between those involving sharia and liberal rights.
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