RELIGION AND SOCIETY

Malaysia

Although Malaysia is a ‘multicultural society’ with only 62% Muslim, Islam is central to and dominant in Malay culture. It appeared to me, that there were two types of religious people we encountered in Kuala Lumpur; people who are willingly religious and the people who have Islam forced upon them, born into the religion. From meeting with a journalist  and talking to our guide in the Batu caves, it became apparent that the younger generation in Malaysia is becoming more aware of their freedom of choice and less obedient to the religion. Although the journalist we met with who i wont name, was a born and raised Muslim, she still drank, she didn't dress traditionally and she didn't appear to have the respect for the culture.  Although she slandered the pressure on her to be Muslim she still said that she would never marry someone who wasn't Muslim because she didn't want her parents to disown her, which is a powerful thing to say.

Islam in Malaysia is no longer just culture or religion, it is now also law. Islamic bank, Islamic court system, Islamic police. I believe this to be a negative aspect of the religion in Malaysia.  This turns a peaceful religion into a more authoritarian regime. 

When we met with a professor at ISTAC, he said that Islamic state wasn't popularised until the 20th century. He went on to say that Malaysia and Turkey are good examples of Islam and are becoming Islamic role models for other Islamic countries. "It is the individual who must discover their own Islam and there is a fundamental problem with how religion is understood in the 21st century" he said. 

During our meeting with Dr Tun Mahatir he began by saying that religion is a way of life and that Islam is the same faith but has been interpreted differently. He also said that although Malaysia is multicultural, it has also been separated by religion, race and income. Mahatir believes for the religion to be successful again, it needs to be taken back to the Quranic teachings.

I found religion in Malaysia to be extremely dominant which meant the beauty of it was hidden. 

Turkey

Islam in Istanbul is extremely important to the people. Turkey is officially secular with no registered religion but 98% of the population are Muslim. Islam in Turkey is a positive practice and very much everyday life, more rather a choice of faith other than it being enforced like Malaysia. 

We had a meeting with the editor and chief at Zaman Media and he said that 'Islam doesn't work in the government, Islamism and political Islam has nothing to do with Islam. All religions believe they have the absolute truth, secularism is the true way of a Muslim country and under a secular country, only then can a religion prosper'

Although Islam in Turkey has its issues, it appeared peaceful and created a togetherness of the people. Whiles there my alarm clock became the call to prayer which i believe made the experience more real this was apart of their everyday lives. 

Spain

Religion in Spain wasn't as prominent as the previous countries we had visited, instead it appeared to play a quiet role in the lives of the few Spaniards who followed the religion. Although majority are Catholic, as we visited the Granada Mosque, Abdul Hakim Praena spoke about Islamic faith beginning to regain prominence and how he converted from Catholic to Muslim. His pure views on Islam were refreshing and converting to Islam appeared to be a positive change in his life. When asked why we weren't required to cover ourselves with a hiijab when entering his mosque, his response was simple, first he corrected the statement saying it was a head scarf, not hiijab and continued with' Well why should you, no where in the Quran does it say you are required to wear a head scarf"? The Granada mosque was the first mosque we were invited into with overwhelming warmth. We were able to sit on the floor and share in a discussion with Hakim. Hakim was modest and i believe embodied the true form of Islam. 

Morocco

Islam in Morocco is apparent through its citizens and is the dominant religion. Much like Malaysia, Islam appeared to be expected of people.  On the 20th of the January we met with Professor Muhammed at EGE Unversity who had some interesting views on his perception of Islam in Morocco. Professor Muhammed said that Morocco is battling with religiosity and secularism.He also mentioned that the burka is actually a new accept in Morocco and symbols of religion in Morocco are changing. 

As alcohol is prohibited in Morocco, we met with students from EGE for dinner and a drink at a bar that seemed completely hidden, if you were looking from the street you would be none the wiser as to what was inside. Whether or not this was due to the alcohol restrictions, i'm not sure but as young Moroccans were letting their hair down, we had a chance to ask the students what it was like growing up in a place with such restricting views. Only to be informed that we had a misconstrued ideology of Morocco and this was highly dependent on your family, and family wealth. We were told that the least wealthy families were more conservative and traditional in regards to religion. 

Another example is in the video below. When we ventured to Cafe Barcelona, we were expecting to hear some traditional Moroccan music, only to be surrounded by the younger generation of Fes. Although Muslim, they were dancing with each other to the music, singing, and smoking  which was completely unexpected, this was one of my memorable experiences on the tour.