Abstract
It is not commonly acknowledged that most Muslim-majority states possess secular-based constitutional and political frameworks. In these multireligious societies, the status and role of Islam in the state and political system were purposefully restricted, with only a limited number of references to Islam incorporated in their constitutions. In particular, the status of sharia (Islamic law) had been restricted to the realms of personal status law. Thus while Islam may have been pronounced the national religion, postcolonial elites envisioned a largely ceremonial role for religion. Acknowledging the secular foundations of the constitution, Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman pronounced shortly after independence in 1957 that “this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood, we merely provide that Islam shall be the official religion of the state.”1
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© 2013 Lily Zubaidah Rahim
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Rahim, L.Z. (2013). The Crisis of State-led Islamization and Communal Governance in Malaysia. In: Rahim, L.Z. (eds) Muslim Secular Democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137282057_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137282057_8
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