Reconstructing the Concept of Malay Identity

By Bahril Hidayat

Among many interpretations of Malay identity in the mind of people in Indonesia, some deviate from what it actually signifies. Malay-is-Malaysia notion is a kind of stigma often conceived by common people whereas really Malay is not only Malaysia. In Indonesia exclusively, Malay is understood to be the categorical identity of some regions in Sumatra such as Riau and Deli Serdang. There should be a correction on this stereotyping so that people will understand the right concept of Malay identity.

According to Mahyudin Al Mudra in his article entitled Melayu Online Mempersatukan Seluruh Diasporian Melayu Sedunia (2010), these days the concept of Malayness has eroded as, at some points, the interpretation deviates from the original Malay principles and customs. Malayness should not be restricted within socio-linguistic categorical aspects that will in fact compartmentalize Malay groups spread the world over such as those in South Africa, Madagascar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Furthermore, Al Mudra also asserts that in an exclusive way, Malay culture is viewed to belong to certain ethnic groups or people. It is such an understanding that would actually break Malay people apart. Malay identity should be seen not only as of a certain people, ethnicity, or even religion, especially Islam. A Muslim Malay who converts into other religion does not necessarily lose his Malay identity although he will surely be considered an apostate of Islam. In an exclusive view, hence, Malay view of life becomes identical with that of Islam.

Such an exclusive opinion is a part of the narrow definition saying that Malay people are the indigenous who speak Malay, embrace Islam, and practice Malay traditions and customs. If prevail, this definition will be likely to cause an ambiguity in the concept of Malay identity.

Basically, Malay is not a group of people closing their eyes and heart to global community. Malay is a cultural heritage that belongs to various groups of people around Indonesia and the world. The Malays are open-minded people who uphold the spirit of pluralism and value friendship and tolerance. The Malays, as stated by Tengku H. M. Lah Husny (in Al Mudra, 2010), have assimilated themselves into inter-ethnical marriages and at the same time practiced their customs and traditions consciously and continually. The definition of Malay identity that can accommodate differences is one of the significations of Islamic rahmatan lil alamin (blessings for the whole universe) principle.

If the fundamental principle of Malay identity is an implementation of Islamic universal value as rahmatan lil alamiin, study on the principle must consequentially be based on the history and biography of Prophet Muhammad SAW. A study on the biography is important to know how Islam strives to unify various cultural groups or even religions of ahlul kitab (literally “People of the Book”, people who adhere monotheism other than Islam) and paganisms, protect people’s rights and duties, and take up its commitment of unifying people in an integral understanding.

Islamic View on Difference

To lay out Islam’s acceptance and understanding of the concepts of inter-religious, inter-beliefs, and inter-cultural tolerance, we must first deal with the history and biographical story of Muhammad’s prophecy. In the first year of Hijra (the holy migration) to Yatsrib (Medina), Prophet Muhammad SAW signed a peace treaty with religious and pagan groups in town in the form of Medina Charter. One important point in Medina Charter was Prophet Muhammad SAW’s assurance of Jewish people well-being that was stated in the following redaction: Verily, the Jewish citizen loyal to us all (our state) shall have the right to helps and protections, their rights shall not be diminished and they shall not be alienated from society. Article 16 of the redaction indicates Islam recognition of the minority of different religious beliefs. There was no discrimination and diminution of rights and protections.  There was no justification for any acts of marginalization in the forms of stigmatization or stereotyping. All religious and cultural groups in Yatsrib at that time were entitled with equal rights and duties assured by state regulations.

We can as well see in the historical records about Fathul Makkah, the story of Mecca conquest by Muslim soldiers as a reaction to Quraish people violation of Hudaibiyah Treaty. Prophet Muhammad SAW as the leader of Fathul Makkah carried 10.000 Muslim soldiers with him on Ramadan 10 year 8 Hijria. Islam soldiers conquered their enemies without any bloodshed in the Holy Land of Mecca.

At that time, Abu Sufyan as the leader of the enemy side accepted his defeat. He was fear-stricken and decided to meet Prophet Muhammad SAM and converted to Islam. Prophet Muhammad SAW gave him a warm welcome and gave the people assurance, “Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan he shall be safe. Whoever enters his house and close the door, he shall be safe. And whoever enters the Masjidil Haram, he shall be safe.”

Prophet Muhammad SAW gave us an example of the attitude reflecting the basic principle of Islam, i.e. love, gentleness, and acceptance of other people of different groups and ranks as well as assurance of their security and safety (salam). Usually when a king or leader defeats his enemies, he will then spread his influence forcefully, either religion, language, or other cultural aspects. But Prophet Muhammad SAW showed the example of how a war could be won without bloodshed or oppression towards non-Muslim of Mecca to convert to Islam, either through swords or other ideological subjugation. He in fact assured the security and safety of the people although it was their leader who triggered the war after violating the Hudaibiyah Treaty. Such an attitude is an example of the basic principle of Islam, i.e. loving the whole universe and its contents and understanding the difference of ethnic groups, sex, and cultures as a way to recognize each other (Quran Sura Al Hujurat: 13).

The base of Islamic teachings strictly asserts that Allah is God that people have to worship and Muhammad is His last Prophet and Messenger sent to deliver Islamic teachings based on Al-Quran. Moreover, Rukun Iman (Islamic religious principles) and Rukun Islam (five obligatory Muslim duties) are other bases of faith that regulate the intrinsic aspects (faith) and extrinsic aspects (fundamental observances) according to Islam. However, Islam never imposes the belief to people because it is considered clear already what is right and what is wrong (Quran Sura Al-Baqarah: 256). Such imposition is considered unnecessary because Islam has persuasive scriptural arguments (Al-Quran and Hadiths for instance) to be one of the Abrahamic religions gifted by Allah SWT. 

The history of Islamic proselytizing led in person by Prophet Muhammad SAW never recorded any ideological fascism. Prophet Muhammad SAW would only decide to engage war after Allah commanded him, and even that was only for defensive purpose from Quraish abuse. Prophet Muhammad SAW never taught an Islamic teaching that based on the aggressive attitude, either physically or psychologically, towards people who were the objects of the proselytizing. Misinterpretation of the jihad hadiths and the post-Muhammad proselytizing that have so far been occurring results from the false understanding of the reasons behind the coming forth of the hadiths (asbabul wurud) or the partial understanding of the hadith. The concept of jihad in the battlefield according to Islam is actually in the context of self-defending, not of aggressing or hurting other people or community.

Malay People and the Spirit of Rahmatan Lil Alamin

If Malay culture is really built upon Islam as the ground for thinking and behaving, the basic principle of rahmatan lil alamin should be made the foundation for understanding Malay identity. It should be understood that the basic principles of Islam and Malay culture suggest that essentially all human beings are one integral entity. Malay culture and traditions also teach people to be fair and objective in dealing with differences and similarities among human beings.

Good deeds and open-mindedness towards the truth are the principles of interpersonal relationship as maintained by Islam and Malay culture. This is the foundation of knowledge Islamic Law experts have been trying to spread out, namely the attitude that values love, gentleness, and openness towards truths. Related to that, Imam Ghazali states that human beings should emulate the nature of Allah SWT in bearing their characters. Allah SWT already establishes love as the core of all His names and natures as illustrated in a Qudsi hadith, “Verily, my grace goes before my anger.” It will surely be beautiful if Malay people can go back to the principle of rahmatan lil alamin.

Accordingly, Islam also emphasizes the truth and fairness in thinking and acting. The truth should also go in line with a fair perspective, that is to say, putting facts and truths in proportion. These two basic thoughts are important points of Tunjuk Ajar Melayu (The Verses of Malay Wisdom) by Tenas Effendy about a notion of Malayness:

Apa tanda Melayu bijak, pada yang adil tiada beranjak, pada yang benar tiada berganjak//apa tanda Melayu berakal, pada yang adil ia berpangkal, pada yang benar ia bertawakal//apa tanda Melayu berilmu, pada yang adil ia bertumpu, pada yang benar ia berguru//apa tanda Melayu bermarwah, adil dan benar tempat berumah.[1]

The attitude that upholds and favors true and fair facts implies the good life quality of a group of people and their civilization. Malay civilization that values knowledge as the ground for thinking in the attempts of reaching fair and true behaviors in living within the community, culture, and nation is also reflected in some verses of Raja Ali Haji’s heart-moving work, Gurindam Dua Belas. Article 5 of the gurindam especially denotes the importance of good-social behavior and knowledge:

Jika hendak mengenal orang berbangsa, lihat kepada budi dan bahasa//… jika hendak orang mulia, lihatlah kepada kelakuan dia//… jika hendak mengenal orang yang berilmu, bertanya dan belajarlah tiadalah jemu//… jika hendak mengenal orang yang baik perangai, lihat pada ketika bercampur dengan orang ramai.[2]

MelayuOnline.com reflects the integrity of Malay people to live with determination, putting knowledge ahead in behaving, being always friendly, and willing to adjust to changes as stated by Raja Ali Haji and Tenas Effendy in the Gurindam Dua Belas and Tunjuk Ajar Melayu respectively. Malay diasporians have proven in history that they had the character of people ready and willing to learn to mingle with the indigenous. The Malays were a type of people who were ready to face changes and adjust themselves to various situations resulting from the changes. The adaptation is the essence of learning process, as maintained by the theory of Education Psychology, in their process of mingling or acculturation with the new culture without giving up their identity of Malayness which had formed since thousands of years ago. With such a strong personality, Malay people will separate people’s political interests from their group affiliation as they will live in the praxis dimension of the noble and egalitarian Malay culture (treating people fairly and equally).

Malay civilization is a product of culture as well as a beautiful part of kauniyah verses (signs of Allah’s greatness through the universe). Malay culture can be analogized as a diamond. Diamonds have different uniqueness and marvelous beauty from different angles. Each side of the diamond sparks a glittering light. The analogy of the beauty of diasporic Malay culture with a diamond seems to be proper as a diamond has many angles and sides yet every one of them sparks.

Malay people dissemination spans to Madagascar, South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and almost all of Indonesian archipelago. However, essentially, all of these Malay ethnic groups root from one cultural beauty. Like a beautifully sparkling diamond, Malay culture should maintain living within the Islamic nature of personality that upholds the principle of rahmatan lil alamin in associating with members of Malay family. Similar to a diamond, Malay people should be open-minded to fair and objective thoughts on the fact about familial relatedness of Malay people spreading across the world. Basically their Malay identities root from the single and holistic beauty of a diamond. This is the ideal of Malay civilization that is based on a hadith, “Verily, Allah is omnibeautiful and loves beauty.” To reach the ideal, MelayuOnline is trying to preserve Malay values and culture by opening itself to supports from others to bring Malay civilization back to the true nature of Malayness.

The activities of MelayuOnline.com and the Center for Research and Development of Malay Culture (BKPBM) attempt to get people back to the true nature of Malay civilization. By this, the paradigm shift from exclusive Malay understanding to inclusive is expected to go faster in order to achieve the goal of unifying Malay across the world. Among the attempts to do that are accommodating scientific studies on the dissemination of Malay diaspora, reconstructing the concept of Malay identity, and accepting the fact of Islam is basically tolerant of religious, cultural, and other social difference.

The concept of Islam that puts forward love as the basis of the fair and egalitarian attitude is an important value for contemporary Malay civilization. The value of rahmatan lil alamin should be the behavioral guidance for all Malay people who maintain their Islamic belief so that they will open themselves in societal and cultural life. This is the basic principle of Islam Malay people should follow inclusively, instead of drawing limitations of Malay identity that contravenes Islamic teaching and the essential ideal of Malay civilization. Malay people should be able to make their way back to the true nature of Islam and Malay as what MelayuOnline.com has been doing for several years now.

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Bahril Hidayat, culture redactor, MelayuOnline.com

Translation by Reza Daffi (terj/02/04-10)

Source of Photo: Document of BKPBM

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