Irreligion in Malaysia

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Malaysia is a mainly Muslim country in Southeast Asia, where Islamic influences shape government and law. Some leaders have spoken against atheism and other non-religious views.

In 2017, a government minister threatened to “hunt down” atheists after a meeting of Atheist Republic members, which led to criticism and a government crackdown to check if Muslims were involved.

The 2010 census estimated about 300,000 irreligious people out of 30 million Malaysians. About 97.9% of the population identified a religion such as Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, or traditional Chinese beliefs. The remaining 2.1% were listed as irreligious Malaysians and Sikhs, roughly 350,000, with the rest potentially including atheists, animists, and other beliefs. Some groups think the real number could be higher because people might fear disclosing their beliefs or there could be bias in counting.

Blasphemy (insulting religion) is a crime in Malaysia, but atheism itself is not. Apostasy is not a federal crime, but state-level Shariah courts often restrict Muslims from leaving Islam, and may require counseling or impose fines or jail time. Ethnic Malays are legally required to be Muslim, and Shariah law operates at the state level.

In 2016, Prime Minister Najib Razak called atheism, secularism, liberalism, and humanism threats to Islam and the state. After the 2017 meeting, the government pursued actions against atheists, an approach criticized by atheist activists and some Muslims.

There have been cases where people openly identifying as having no religion have sought official recognition, such as in 2007 when Cecilia John registered as “no religion” on her MyKad identity card.

Concerns about violence toward atheists exist, with parallels drawn to attacks on atheist bloggers in places like Bangladesh. Some observers note that public criticism of religion can be easier in other countries than for Malaysian atheists who discuss religion in everyday settings.

Overall, irreligion in Malaysia is a small and often stigmatized group, with legal and social challenges shaped by the country’s religious politics.