ABSTRACT
In Malaysia ethnic and religious coexistence is not an issue of theory but an experience at the heart of national life. In the several decades preceding Merdeka, large numbers of Chinese and Indians arrived to work in the British colonial economy. As Independence approached, the Malay political leaders showed a generosity in accommodating the newly settled communities, granting them citizenship on flexible terms—changing a Malay nation into a multiethnic and multireligious modern nation almost overnight. Although the decision to accommodate the non-Malay communities was based largely on an appreciation of demographic and economic realities, it was also in line with the universalist vision at the core of Islam. That vision should be emphasised today—especially at a time when some groups, among both Muslim and non-Muslim communities, have become oblivious to that ideal. This piece appeared in the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (Vol. 13, No. 1) in Spring 1996.
