I BEGIN my column with two questions which have been resonating with me the past few months:

 Is it so wrong to identify yourself as Muslim first?

Is it so wrong too, to identify yourself as a Malay first?

These questions bring me back to a certain time after hearing of the late Rehman Rashid’s death, and whenever I look back at the focus group discussions we had conducted for IMAN.  The young Malaysians we met had expressed that they felt disempowered. Where did this all come from? How did we get here?

I suppose it began at this juncture.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad became our Prime Minister in 1981. He spearheaded many economic drives, wanting to create Bumi millionaires and advance the Malay commercial class.

The 1990’s Malaysia was not like now; women taking to the hijab were shunned and thought of as backwards. This was a time when many Malays – the privileged Malays – danced at Tin Mine (the old KL Hilton at Jalan Sultan Ismail) and Scandals, owned by nightlife impresario, Rhona Drury. The younger set, many who benefited from the Malaysian government’s scholarships and support, danced the night away at Faces, 11 LA, Betelnut, Hard Rock Cafe, and went to work the next day nursing a hangover.

 We were all taken by our country’s success. Daim Zainuddin mentored the pack of Malay ultra-millionaires like Halim Saad. He was also a man shrouded in mystery, but who cared. He was a Bumi billionaire!

Proton was a car everyone wanted to own, even though after a year, it croaked on the roads. The word recalcitrant was used by our bosses when we erred. (My friends and I just swore at each other.)

The heady days of the 80’s of Mahathirism moved on to Anwar’s arrest in the 90’s which influenced and created the Reformasi Movement. Today when my friends and I discuss that time, that era, we surmise that this could be seen as a backlash from the grassroots who have already entered and are part of the current middle class.

Fed-up of the hedonism and free-wheeling ways of our corporate titans and elites, the grassroots who also benefited from scholarships decided to reign in the corruption of their country and push for an Islam Malaysia needs.

Success is synonymous with religiosity, they shouted. Their children, who by then were already studying abroad, were telling them of a brand of Islam that was inclusive and popular among American Muslims, and that this would be so good for Malaysia.

This sentiment is echoed by Dato Sopian Ahmad on my Facebook wall, “It was different then because ‘Orang Kampung’ were not involved yet. Soon after that era “Orang Kampung” came out to towns. They were “certified” people [thanks to official education policies and initiatives] but lived by the “old conservative and traditional” values. Perhaps they called such “values” religion or “Islamic. This phenomenal “physical transmigration” from “kampung to urban” coupled with a ” rejuvenation or a resurgence” of Islamic “kesedaran” challenged your great parties in Central Markets – this gave way to “angst” against “Melayu Sekular or Liberal!”

Anwar’s arrest and the first Reformasi movement reflowered Islamic revivalism in Malaysia, which had already poked its head in the form of Al-Arqam 10 years back before it was outlawed.

The 1990’s Islamic consciousness was really a by-product of what Kaum Muda promoted in the early 20th century.

To be rid of the infidels (and elites), to have an Independent Tanah Melayu, you must have Islam, these teachers told our forefathers.

From thereon, Islam became a tool at the hands of its people who police this country and citizens who were fed up of all things wrong. Today, our faith has also become a capitalist tool as well, and that generation of Malay Muslims who chanted Reformasi and demanded a revamp of how we governed, now have children who promote and want a more specific and syariah compliant brand of their faith.

Back to Dato Sopian’s remark on how the ‘orang kampung’, the rural Malays, are part of the Malaysian middle class. Isn’t this a mark of success? That the once poor, economically disenfranchised Malays are now professionals in their own right?

I am not an apologist for what is happening in Malaysia now. The work I do focuses on countering violent extremism, and preventing it through community resilience, but I have many moments of quiet, wondering why and how.

I know that being a conservative Muslim does not make one a bad person, and neither does a progressive mindset mean that the country will turn away from a Talibanisation of our values. And we all have varying degrees of liberal, moderate and progressive values: we may be observant Muslims but are accepting of other cultural and ethnic values.

For us “normal” Muslims who are not in power or positions of influence, we just want things to work. Bread and butter issues, and our children’s futures are important. But how can we even think of survival when certain parties just want to make war?

This op-ed is not a definitive nor conclusive answer to the question of why Muslims in Malaysia are becoming more religious. The answer is more complex than that – we have to consider the historical and political contexts of our people. And that must be pursued.

I am inviting the reader to not react, but to mull over these questions and situation. Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. – June 19, 2017.

* Dina Zaman left the media to found IMAN Research (IMAN) with her friends. IMAN is a research centre focusing on society, religion and perception.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.