ABSTRACT
There are certain groups among Malay Muslims who voice their concern about human rights in Malaysia. Although freedom of religion and faith is an essential part of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), conservative groups have repeatedly rejected the idea of allowing a Muslim to be an apostate. For instance, in 2013, the Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (known as ISMA) persistently lobbied the Malaysian government “to ignore the proposals put forth by local human rights activist coalition”, citing, among others, religious freedom, as contradicting Islam’s teachings.1 There is fear among Muslims in Malaysia that by ratifying international human rights protocols such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Malaysia is opening the floodgates to practices that “would threaten the position of Islam” such as same- sex marriages and apostasy.2 This common theme, demonising apostasy or freedom of religion, appears in standard Friday sermons prepared by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia: JAKIM). On 6 September 2013, for example, the Friday sermon read out at mosques nationwide called on Muslims “to unite in a holy struggle against enemies of the faith” as the “ultimate goal of the enemies is to confuse Muslims and put every religion on equal terms, which will then lead to a sea of apostasy”.3 Again, on 28 July 2014, in a special sermon marking the first day of Hari Raya Puasa or the ʿīd alfiṭr, JAKIM stated that Muslims in Malaysia have been targeted by the “spread of deviant teachings” and called on Muslims to reject groups of “anti- ḥadīth, capitalism, materialism, liberalism, pluralism, secularism and communism”. This plague, according to the sermon, is getting worse, as “the issue of apostasy and attempts to make Muslims apostates becomes more widespread”.4
