Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Power of Disenchantment

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Divine Bureaucracy and Disenchantment of Social Life

Part of the book series: Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia ((CCSA))

  • 295 Accesses

Abstract

This final chapter restates the main analytical framework of this study as an alternative to understanding the wide and deep mobilisation of religious symbols and material resources in the transformation of state and society in Malaysia. The expanding palpability of Islamic piety has strong links to the proliferation, enlargement and accretion of institutions of religious governance, almost wholly funded by the state. This immense reorganisation and disenchantment of social life is not only driven by spiritual devotion or cultural ideology but crucially by the instrumentalist goals of power and control. This final chapter reviews some of the nascent reform overtures and policies, with regard to Islamic matters, by Malaysia’s newly elected Pakatan Harapan government which ousted the 61-year-old government of the Barisan Nasional in 2018. The Divine Bureaucracy is shown to be a formidable edifice to contend with, given that its power has enlarged beyond any elected authority. The advancement of religion and religiosity has inevitably taken on a secularising form, becoming more rationalised, differentiated, measurable, accountable and worldly. These qualities of disenchantment are not necessarily unappealing, but in fact, powerful.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Primarily in his work, Discipline and Punish, and also in History of Madness, Foucault expounds the notion of how power is linked to norms and normalisation. His “technologies of disciplinary power” is appropriate in the understanding of how coercion works through a normalised process, involving “hierarchical observation, normalizing judgement, and examination” resulting in positive and unquestionable compliance (Lawlor and Nale 2014, 113).

  2. 2.

    From Islamicstudies.info, http://islamicstudies.info/reference.php?sura=21&verse=107, accessed 19 April 2019.

  3. 3.

    See some 40 comments to Nidhal’s article (2019), the majority of which are not supportive of the interpretation, claiming that it had a liberal slant.

References

  • Abdul Ghafar, Don (2018) “‘Rahmatan lil alamin’ perlu ditafsir secara hikmah, cermat’, Berita Harian Online, 28 September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad Fauzi, Abdul Hamid (2007) “Patterns of State Interaction with Islamic Movement in Malaysia during the Formative Years of Islamic Resurgence”, Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 44, No. 4, 444–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, Ibrahim and Mahmud Saedon Awang Othman (1988) Ke Arah Islamisasi Undang-Undang Islam di Malaysia (Towards the Islamization of Law in Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan Dakwah Islamiyah Malaysia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad Sanusi, Azmi and Mohd Yusuf Ismail (2018) “Konsep Rahmatan lil alamin dalam Hadith: Penerokaan Makna Serta Aplikasi di Malaysia”, Journal of Hadith Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, Kieran (2004) Max Weber: A critical introduction, London, Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alyaa, Alhadjri (2018) “Dr M: Islam doesn’t teach us to pry into others’ lives to find sin”, Malaysiakini, 6 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anne, Muhammad (2017) “Khalid tuntut bos Iksim mohon maaf, bayar RM1 juta”, Malaysiakini, 17 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018) “Memperkasa Islam: Jawatankuasa Tertinggi akan panggil lebih 100 institusi”, Malaysiakini, 9 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anne, Muhammad and Annabelle Lee (2019) “Jais confirms probe into ‘de-hijabbing’ forum”, Malaysiakini, 16 April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aslani, M (2019) “‘Rahmatan Lil Alamin’ tanpa ikatan Akidah”, Harakah Daily, 1 February.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin, Geoffrey (2014) Temiar Religion 1964–2012: Enchantment, disenchantment and re-enchantment in Malaysia’s uplands, Singapore: NUS Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bernama (2018a) “Meeting Nisha Ayub doesn’t mean agreeing to LGBT struggle – Mujahid”, Malaysiakini, 11 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018b) “Gov’t launches e-book on LGBT rehabilitation”, Malaysiakini, 23 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018c) “Pahang will continue with vice raids, says regent”, Malaysiakini, 7 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018d) “Anggota Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Institusi Hal Ehwal Islam terima watikah pelantikan”, 9 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, Martin (2018) “G25 wants sweeping reforms to key public institutions”, The Star Online, 31 May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constas, Helen (1958) “Max Weber’s Two Conceptions of Bureaucracy”, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 63, No. 4, 400–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danial, Dzulkifly (2018) “Suspended by Putrajaya, Iksim blames audit for untraceable RM7.4m allocation”, Malay Mail, 7 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniels, Timothy P (2017) Living Sharia: Law and practice in Malaysia, Seattle: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dina, Murad (2014) “No to Syariah police, says Dr Mahathir”, The Star Online, 28 January.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faisal, Asyraf (2018) “New group to rally against gov’t to ‘save’ Islamic institutions”, Malaysiakini, 19 June.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faruqi, Shad Saleem (2017) “Religious radicalism on the rise”, The Star Online, 23 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisk, Sylva (2009) Submitting to God: Women and Islam in urban Malaysia, Copenhagen: NIAS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hariz, Mohd and Fakhrull Halim (2018) “Harapan gov’t does not need Icerd unlike others, says Dzulkefly”, Malaysiakini, 16 December.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffstaedter, Gerhard (2014) “Islamic Praxis and Theory: Negotiating orthodoxy in contemporary Malaysia” in Bernard Platzdasch and Johan Saravanamuttu (eds) Religious Diversity in Muslim-majority States in Southeast Asia, Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 253–267.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ismail, Mat (2018) “Raja-raja Melayu tubuhkan Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Hal Ehwal Islam”, Berita Harian Online, 30 July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izra, Abdul Rahman (2015) “Dr Mahathir: Jakim imposing ‘its version of Islam’”, The Star Online, 20 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakim (2012) Keputusan Muzakarah Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam Malaysia, Putrajaya: Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamaludeen, Mohamed Nasir, Alexius A Pereira and Bryan S Turner (2010) Muslims in Singapore: Piety, politics and policies, London, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khairil, Ashraf (2017) “Mujahid persoal pembentangan Iksim label golongan liberal berbahaya”, Free Malaysia Today, 28 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawlor, Leonard and John Nale (2014) “Discipline” in Leonard Lawlor and John Nale (eds), The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 110–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liow, Joseph Chinyong (2009) Piety and Politics: Islamism in contemporary Malaysia, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mahamad Naser, Disa (2018) “Iksim bukan ‘ghanimah’ untuk direbut politikus”, Harakah Daily, 22 July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmood, Saba (2005) Politics of Piety: The Islamic revival and the feminist subject, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmood Zuhdi, Hj. Ab. Majid (2001) (ed). Bidang Kuasa Jenayah Mahkamah Syariah di Malaysia (Jurisdiction of Syariah Criminal Court), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malaysiakini (2018a) “Muftis split on Mujahid’s call to end vice raids”, 6 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018b) “‘No khalwat raid’ headline didn’t come from my mouth – Mujahid”, 7 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018c) “Mujahid’s aide issue ultimatum to the Star over ‘khalwat’ article”, 7 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018d) “PM: Kerajaan mahu Islam bukan berimej zalim, keras”, 30 May.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018e) “Mujahid meets with Islamic NGOs, lawyers, academicians to discuss Icerd”, 8 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2019) “BN-era Iksim protests audit over alleged zakat fund mismanagement”, 6 May.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2019a) “Defending LGBTs at Women’s March an abuse of democracy”, 9 March.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2019b) “Marina accuses Mujahid, Wan Saiful of ‘misogyny’ over Women’s March remarks’, 10 March.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2019c) “Why fear intellectual discourse on de-hijabbing, ask forum panelists”, 17 April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohd Aizam, bin Mas’od (2015) Diskusi Isu Akidah dan Pemikiran Semasa Di Malaysia, Putrajaya: Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohd Anwar, Patho Rohman (2018) “Jangan guna konsep ‘Rahmatan lil’alamin’ untul raih undi”, Berita Harian Online, 29 September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohd Iskandar, Ibrahim (2018) “102 institusi akan dipanggil – Ahmad Sarji”, Berita Harian Online, 9 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohd Izani, Mohd Zain (2005) Islam dan Demokrasi: Cabaran politik Muslim kontemporari di Malaysia (Islam and Democracy: Contemporary challenges to Muslim politics in Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Universiti Malaya.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moustafa, Tamir (2018) “The Judicialization of Religion”, Law and Society Review, Vol. 52, No. 3, 685–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mujahid, bin Yusof (2019) “Gagasan Pentadbiran Islam di Era Malaysia Baharu”, speech given at Sempena Perhimpunan Agensi-Agensi di Bawah YB Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Hal Ehwal Agama), Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia, Putrajaya, 7 January.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza (2001) Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the making of state power, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nidhal, Rawa (2019) “Ada apa dengan Islam Rahmatan lil alamin?”, Malaysiakini, 25 February.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norhashimah, Mohd Yasin (1996) Islamisation/Malayanisation: A study on the role of Islamic law in the economic development of Malaysia, 1969–1993, Kuala Lumpur: AS Noordeen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norshahril, Saat (2018) The State, Ulama and Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuridah, Mohd Salleh (2019) “Provokasi Syariah: Apa tindakan selepas Jais siasat?”, Harakah Daily, 19 April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peletz, Michael G (1993) “Sacred Texts and Dangerous Words: The Politics of Law and Cultural Rationalization in Malaysia”, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 35, No. 1, 66–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rizanizam, Abdul Hamid (2018) “Serah memorandum sebelum 1 Oktober”, Berita Harian Online, 20 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, Francis (2004) “Other-Worldly and This-Worldly Islam and the Islamic Revival. A Memorial Lecture for Wilfred Cantwell Smith”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 14, No. 1, 47–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roketkini.com (2018) “Jangan guna pendekatan Isis dalam politik Malaysia, pendakwah terkenal tegur Iksim”, 26 January.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakira, Buang (2018) “Gov’t working on syariah-compliant dress code for private sector”, Malaysiakini, 6 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloane-White, Patricia (2017) Corporate Islam: Sharia and the modern workplace, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • The Star Online (2015) “Iksim: Students should take anti-IS module”, 31 December.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Star Online (2017a) “Say no to RUU355 for Malaysia’s sake”, 7 May.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2017b) “G25 voices concern over police investigation into Prof Shad’s article”, 23 December.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018a) “Jakim, Iksim appear on the radar”, 1 June.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018b) “The Star clarifies Mujahid interview on khalwat raids”, 9 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— (2018c) “Iksim’s allocation frozen, Parliament told”, 19 July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utusan Online (2018) “Ada bukti kukuh mengenai perbelanjaan Iksim – Mujahid”, 8 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber (1991) “Science as a Vocation”, in HH Gerth and C Wright Mills (trans and eds), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology, London: Routledge, 129–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Women’s Aid Organisation (2018) “Stop Policing Women’s clothing”, Malaysiakini, 7 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zakiah, Koya (2018) “No more night khalwat raids or intrusion into Muslims’ private lives says Mujahid”, The Star Online, 6 October.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zan, Azlee (2018) “Will our handling of Islamic affairs really be reformed?”, Malaysiakini, 20 July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zanariah, Abd Mutalib (2018) “‘Rahmatan lil alamin’ bukan berlembut dengan perbuatan mungkar”, Berita Harian Online, 7 September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zulkifli, Sulong, Sheridan Mahavera and Diyana Ibrahim (2017) “So why is Umno helping Pas with RUU355 again?”, The Malaysian Insight, 11 October.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Malay Studies and Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Maznah Mohamad

Authors
  1. Maznah Mohamad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maznah Mohamad .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mohamad, M. (2020). The Power of Disenchantment. In: The Divine Bureaucracy and Disenchantment of Social Life. Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2093-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation