Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia

There are always debates on the freedom of expression in today’s modern world more so in response to issues like freedom of religion, religious expression, hate speech, inter-faith dialogues etc. In Malaysia, issues especially those concerning race and religion are considered sensitive and therefore...

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Main Authors: Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin, Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UUM Press 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/7259/1/jis73-1.pdf
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author Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana
author_facet Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana
author_sort Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
collection UUM
description There are always debates on the freedom of expression in today’s modern world more so in response to issues like freedom of religion, religious expression, hate speech, inter-faith dialogues etc. In Malaysia, issues especially those concerning race and religion are considered sensitive and therefore pose as obstacles to the implementation of complete religious freedom.Great care is taken not to impinge on the religious sensitivities of the various groups.It is understood that no one including the media can carry articles that question the faith or ridicule the religion and culture of the people in the country.Given that Islam is the religion of the Federation, great care is taken not to publish articles that cast slur, intended or otherwise, on the religion or its adherents.All media, including those operated by the opposition, follow this policy.Thus, religious expression has always been monitored by the government in order to protect the racial harmony in the multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious society of Malaysia.And this protection is provided for in the Constitution.This paper looks into some important issues that has caused some concern recently such as the position of Islam and freedom of religion, use of religion in politics, religious expression in the media, use of the word Allah by Christians, the publication of the Bible in the Malay language and the controversy over the so called attempt by an opposition party to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia.The paper explains how these issues have been tackled by the government and society.
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spelling uum-72592013-02-24T07:15:15Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/7259/ Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana JQ Political institutions Asia There are always debates on the freedom of expression in today’s modern world more so in response to issues like freedom of religion, religious expression, hate speech, inter-faith dialogues etc. In Malaysia, issues especially those concerning race and religion are considered sensitive and therefore pose as obstacles to the implementation of complete religious freedom.Great care is taken not to impinge on the religious sensitivities of the various groups.It is understood that no one including the media can carry articles that question the faith or ridicule the religion and culture of the people in the country.Given that Islam is the religion of the Federation, great care is taken not to publish articles that cast slur, intended or otherwise, on the religion or its adherents.All media, including those operated by the opposition, follow this policy.Thus, religious expression has always been monitored by the government in order to protect the racial harmony in the multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious society of Malaysia.And this protection is provided for in the Constitution.This paper looks into some important issues that has caused some concern recently such as the position of Islam and freedom of religion, use of religion in politics, religious expression in the media, use of the word Allah by Christians, the publication of the Bible in the Malay language and the controversy over the so called attempt by an opposition party to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia.The paper explains how these issues have been tackled by the government and society. UUM Press 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/7259/1/jis73-1.pdf Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin and Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana (2011) Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia. Journal of International Studies , 7. pp. 33-49. ISSN 1823-691X http://jis.uum.edu.my/index.php/joomla-forums/category/8-journal-of-international-studies-vol.-7-2011
spellingShingle JQ Political institutions Asia
Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
Abdul Hamed Shah, Dian Diana
Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title_full Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title_fullStr Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title_short Freedom of religious expression in Malaysia
title_sort freedom of religious expression in malaysia
topic JQ Political institutions Asia
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/7259/1/jis73-1.pdf
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