TWO surveys on Malaysian Muslims from the Barisan Nasional era show economic hardship leads to growing religious fervour and support for Islamic values in governance.

The surveys were conducted during the BN administration by Selangor-based research house, Kajidata Research, in 2014 and 2017 to gauge the sentiments of Malaysian-Muslims towards politics and religion.

Data from these two previously unreleased surveys were dug up recently after the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a white supremacist gunned down 50 Muslims.

Kajidata said after the Christchurch incident, they wanted to gauge how much of a hold extremist ideologies have in Malaysia.

Some 5,900 Malay-Muslim respondents nationwide above the age of 21 were questioned for both surveys.

Kajidata said the data painted “a very bleak picture of the economic strength of Malaysian-Muslims” with some similarities to the so-called Arab Spring – a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions – that swept the Middle East in late 2010 and degenerated into the rise of the Islamic State.

One of the major causes of the Arab Spring was the failed economies of the Arab world.

Kajidata said their surveys found that that 75% of Malaysian-Muslims could not raise RM1,000 in an emergency as they lacked any savings while only three million out of 14.5 million workers have some form of retirement scheme.

The surveys also discovered the household income gap between the Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera have tripled between 1995 and 2016.

To political questions – if Malaysian-Muslims will accept a non-Muslim prime minister and on their opinion of Islamists in PAS or their acceptance of hudud legislation – 81% wanted more pro-Islamic policies, including hudud legislation.

“It can be argued that if Malaysian Muslims feel that the country’s development is more equitably shared, the idea of an Islamic state that promises good governance and boundless prosperity may not be so attractive,” Kajidata said.

In their surveys entitled “Malaysian-Muslims, Islam and the government of Malaysia”, Kajidata said their research coincided with the 2015 findings of the Pew Research Centre.

The Pew survey found 11% of Malaysian-Muslims viewed the Islamic State terrorist group positively and that 86% of them are in favour of shariah law in Malaysia.

However, Kajidata explained their identical surveys, conducted on 4,897 Malaysian Muslims between April 19 and May 24, 2014 and 1,041 between July 10 and 18, 2017, provided “added context” to the Pew findings.

“On the surface, these results (of the Pew survey) were worrying but additional context is necessary to understand how much of a hold extremist ideologies have in Malaysia,” it said.

In their surveys, Kajidata found that

• 77% were happy with the federal government’s policies regarding the inculcation of Islamic values
• 74% would be open to the imposition of hudud as national law
• 87% would not accept a non-Muslim as prime minister

The surveys also found Malaysian-Muslims were open to accommodating non-Muslims:

• 86% would like a third language such as Mandarin or Tamil to be taught at national schools to enhance national unity
• 55% is agreeable for special rights of Bumiputera to be given only to disadvantaged Bumiputera
• 90% feel that their relationship with their non-Muslim neighbours are good

Kajidata said their surveys found the relationship Malaysian-Muslims have with Islam is multi-faceted.

“It is too simplistic to take one result from a survey that found 11% of Malaysian-Muslims being supportive of IS and to then conclude that Malaysian-Muslims are at risk of becoming radicalised.

“Of the 11% of Malaysian Muslims who view IS positively, it should not be automatically assumed that they all endorse the barbaric acts committed by IS.

“However, the fact that a few dozen Malaysian-Muslims really did decide to fight for IS also meant that at least some of the 11% approved of IS in total.”

Kajidata said that further research is required to track Malaysian-Muslims’ mindsets when it comes to the relationship between governance and religion.

It said that while Malaysia is unlikely to face the same challenges as the Arab world, a precaution against extremism must be taken is ensuring that not many Muslims are left behind when it comes to development.

“How exactly to do this will be one of the great challenges for the Malaysian government.” – March 27, 2019.