ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the contours of Islamist trends in Malaysia and discusses how and why these contours have not only sharpened over the years, but have in fact expanded. In October 2013, during a visit to Malaysia, US Secretary of State John Kerry complimented Malaysia for being a model moderate Muslim-majority country. Several days later, the Malaysian courts declared that non-Muslims had no right to use the word 'Allah'. The imbricated nature of religious and ethnic identity, and the persistence of the racial narrative in Malaysia's social, economic, and political spheres, has meant that the factor of Islam has enjoyed considerable influence and attention in Malaysian politics. While 'Islamism' remains in some respects a contested term, there is broad consensus among social science scholars: it is a political ideology premised on the primacy of Islam as an organising principle for government. The prominence that Islamism has gained in Malaysian politics is best demonstrated in a number of controversial, high-profile issues.
