Malaysia has observed remarkable social change since the 1970s as a result of Islamic revival (dakwah movement). Some previous studies have described the social change as “Islamization” by attributing the change through the policies under the Mahathir’s government that integrated Islamic elements into various aspects of official administration, such as the establishment of Islamic banking systems and enhancement of Islamic judicial system. With these policies, Malaysia’s progress in terms of Islam was hailed as a result of “Islamization policy.” However, the meaning of “Islamization” has not been explicitly discussed. Because of the lack of discussion, previous studies give impression that as if there is a single direction toward something “more Islamic,” even though it is obvious that Muslim have various interpretations about what is “Islamic.” Thus this study aims to reconsider the concept of “Islamization” by investigating how the interpretation of Islamic terms has changed under the banner of “Islamization.”
As a case study, this paper focuses on the content of textbooks for the subject of “Islamic education” in Malaysian secondary schools. The subject was introduced and refined during the time of intensive implementation of “Islamization policy.” The analysis employs the idea of “functionalization” suggested by an anthropologist, Gregory Starrett [1998] to explain how the meaning of religious concepts may change when they are transferred from a traditional religious context into a social and political context.
The analysis of textbooks in comparison with some classical texts that are used in traditional Islamic learning shows that the explanation of religious elements are reinterpreted in a way that may “function” positively for the national integration and social and economic development of Malaysia. This implies that the official discourses produced under the “Islamization” policy have changed the interpretation of the religious concepts. The various directions of such transformation should be understood in order to evaluate the “function” of Islam in Malaysia.
