About Identity Politics: Islam in Malay Culture

If you are not a Malay, and you ask “What is your religion?” to a Malay, then the possible answer you will get would be Islam. Even if you do not ask, when you get to meet a Malay, most of you will think that this Malay person must be a Moslem.

Malay is identical with Islam. In a workshop held by MelayuOnline.Com last January 18-19, it was revealed that Islam is such an irreplaceable aspect of Malay culture. Despite the fact that the workshop participants agreed not to include religion as one of the characteristics of Malay culture, the concept that “not all Malay are Moslem” still gives goosebump to whoever hear or say it.

Islam is so closely related to Malay that the acculturation of both produces a mind construction implanted in mind for centuries, that Malay people are Moslem. It is so strongly implanted that very few cultural observers, anthropologists, authors or common Malay are eager to unravel the correlation between Islam and Malay. “Please, let’s not talk about it,” reply a Malay friend, when the writer asked him to have an online discussion in a social network. “Why should we talk about it anyway? You are a Moslem yourself,” he added.

The expression “Why should we talk about it anyway?” makes the writer excited to study more in depth about the implication of the correlation between Islam and Malay. The writer does not focus on the historical-genealogical aspect such as the influence of Islam to Malay culture. Instead, the writer focuses on the influence of the correlation in the identity politics construction which, as a matter of fact, has so much power in the mind construction yet gets little awareness.

Culture and Identity

Before revealing the identity politics construction we need to begin with attitude developing an attitude that the cultural reality differences often provokes particulturalism. It means that anything that is different tends to create its own identity. In practice, these identities interact to one another and have the potential to control over another. Consequently, identity articulation always has a hegemonic tendency, and therefore triggers conflict. Thus, despite the good, noble and embelish quality of the identity, still, it has a tendency to become a hegemony.

In their journey, cultural identities enter socio-cultural constellation, and become very resistant if they get pressure from other cultural identity. As a defense, there emerge the essentialism attitude. Essentialism is an attitude tendency to perceive a cultural substance as an intact and static unity.

By means of the above analitycal blade, Islam and Malay culture become an inseparable identity because as a culture, Malay has the quality to become an identity. Meanwhile, the cultural constellation which strengthens the identity is the colonial culture which certainly has the instinct to suppress and hegemonize. Islam as a religion and theological belief then presents dan is used as a bargaining and a resistance toward colonial hegemony. The combination then develops into an onthological frame of Malay people, so that when it is said that Malay does not neccessarily Moslem, the statement does not only attack the defense of Malay culture identity but also the onthological frame of Malay people.

Is It A Problem?

From essentialism perspective, the concept that not all Malay people are necessarily Moslem is certainly a problem. The intact and static value which serves as the basis of essentialist’s construction will be unacceptable if one of the most substantive aspects is omitted or put off. As is the case with other cultural identities, Malay also has this essentialists group. This group perceives cultural changes in the constellation as something resistant, thus, it will defend the aspect of essentialist identity even if it has to be a conflict. This context is commonly called the identity politics which later opens the possibility for identity conflict.

Currently, the conflict potential has not been found in the constellation of Malay culture, but it is obvious that Malay as a cultural identity has experienced politicization. It begins from the outside, i.e. by the colonial identiy. For example, in the colonial era, social stratification by the colonizer classified Malay as inferior native class than the white, so that the colonial government had the freedom for actions of humiliation. Politics upon Malay identity continued in post-colonial era. In Indonesia, for instance, the New Order identified Malay as Riau and stigmatized it into sub-culture class in the identity of the New Order (Java).

So, if identity politics exemplified above is conducted by external factor, namely cultural identity which controls over cultural constellation, then the identity of Islam as the identity of Malay is a concept of an identity which derived from the inside of Malay itself. Most Malay people choose Islam to be their religion. This choice has been able to integrate Malay culture in the colonial era. However, when colonialism ended, Islam as a cultural aspect finally dominated Malay culture. From this point of view, it is certainly difficult to counter the hegemony.

The clause “Islam hegemonizes” may sound impolite. Yet again, the writer does not focus on the implicit meaning of the clause, instead, the writer focusses on the essentialist attitude which eventually becomes the boomerang for Malay culture itself.

The writer agrees that culture is a dialectical process that moves, open and relational. Its scope is not restricted by the concepts of identity. The process of cultural interaction is a reciprocal interaction of evey single thing in the constellation of cultural journey. The interaction is diametrally different from the characteristics of the cultural interaction of essentialist group who perceives culture as something exists (product) not as something being (process).

Cultural interaction is different if it is interpreted as a relational interaction. A relational interaction is a process of cultural interaction which continually develops through a process of reciprocal interaction with other culture. Interaction relationality may change cultural identity into various and have other possibility than hegemonic. Relational interaction needs identity, but the identity vision does not have the quality to turn into an essentialist attitude, because identity is positioned as an early identity which is likely to become various identities and able to fill the (being) process of a culture. By such a relation, culture will have an independent position.

By analogy, Islam in Malay is almost similar to the Arab identity in Islam. Any moslem who agrees with the vision of Islamic belief and theological conviction will find it hard to accept if Islam is identified with Arab, eventhough the history of Islam is dominated by the spatial context of Arab. Likewise, Malay will become narrower if Islam serves as its main identity, and vice versa.

Malay as A Relational Interaction

Lastly, if Malay is positioned ro interact relationally, despite Islam or other religions as Malayness elements, then Malay will become more open in absorbing the development which in turn will correlate positively with independency. Such situation keeps culture going  with no doubt, unlike the current situation where Malay people in Singapore start to worry about the Chinese and Jewish expansion. Or else, supposed SBY reincarnates as Soeharto, Malay can still be traced not only in Riau but also in other islands.

This concept is what the writer sees as being enthusiastically missionized by melayuonline.com. Melayuonline.com version of Malay has, more or less, shown the implication of relational interaction between Malay and internet technology. From the interaction it can be seen that a country borders and identity is so minor compared to Malay tamadun (civilization). Melayuonline.com investigation found that its constellation Malay once “embraced” Hinduism and Buddhism. However, as far as the writer knows, that identity does not bother the activists of melayuonline.com to convert. The concept of relational interaction in fact enriches the religious features, eventhough some people refer melayuonline.com as a “misleading Malay”.

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Adi Tri Pramono, editor of wisatamelayu.com

Translation by Apri Widiastuti (trns/08/02-10)

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