Religion vs. culture

I am hosting three Malaysian academics this week. One is a professor of anthropology and faculty dean, the other an associate professor in Middle Eastern studies, and another from Islamic studies. I plan to exploit their presence to explore three issues: 1. culture vs. religion as a source of group identity 2. multiculturalism vs. pluralism 3. voluntarism in Malaysia First on group identity. The after dinner discussion last night was a steep learning curve for me, which is not a surprise when you speak to a specialist on the subject!!! My conclusion: 1. The issue of religion / race / culture is really an issue of identity. People hold on to a certain sense of identity. It is how we define ourselves. Muslim; Malay; from Perlis; speaks northern dialect; went to Sekolah XYZ; work as a lecturer; subscribe to certain political ideology; etc; are all how people define themselves. 2. People tend to give more importance to certain elements of their identities. For example, they may say it is more important to wear suit and tie to show “belonging” to a “professional culture” than actually being professional in what they do (e.g.: getting involved in corruption). In this case, they define themselves as belonging to the “professional” group, but define it as how they dress-up rather than in terms of work ethics. 3. It is also possible for people to give the same importance to certain elements of their identities. For example, for some, being a Malay is just equally as important to being a Muslim. This is prevalent in the Malay Archipelago and is especially prominent in Southern Thailand now, when the Malay Muslims are being prosecuted by the Buddhist government. 4. By clinging on to this sense of identity, people who usually differ in so many things can group together under one banner. They can group together to bring benefit to their identity group, or they can group together to fight off threats. From the discussion, it became clear to me why people are willing to go to extremes for reasons that may be incomprehensible to others. For example, it is easy to understand why people of various racial and cultural origins are willing to die under the banner of one unifying religion. Once they group themselves into the religious group, and define their identity as Christians / Muslims / Buddhists / etc, rather than Malay or Persian or Arab or British or American or whatever, they will be willing to do whatever is necessary to protect that “self-identity”. The thesis is, people seek a unifying factor that defines themselves into specific identity groupings. If that identity is threatened, a reaction will result. Different individuals view the world differently and they seek to define themselves according to this worldview. If they feel their racial origin is important, then they will react if their race is belittled. If they define themselves by their profession, they will react if that profession is under threat. It is similar if they define themselves according to religion. One comment made in last night’s discussion was that, as a marker of identity, religion is unique in that it transcends geographical, ethnicity and cultural boundaries. Many people are willing to die for their religion, but not that many are willing to die for their race, language, profession, culture, etc. Only religion can consistently unite people who are otherwise very different. I suppose this is why, in commenting to one of Abidin’s postings, I said that I am not too bothered if the Malay culture, or the Malay race for that matter, is lost. I am not that attached to the Malay culture. I am indifferent when it comes to being a Malay or a Chinese or a Tibetan or a Red Indian or an Afro-Caribbean. Issues of race just do not matter to me. Instead, I prefer to go straight to the very factor that makes Malays proud to be Malays. If we look at the Malay archipelago, stretching from Pattani and Acheh to the Philippines, we Malays are proud of our Islamic history. Acheh, Pattani, Malacca, parts of the Philippines, were all once centres of Islamic learning. It is Islam that makes us who we are, not our race. Our pride to being Malay stems from our primordial instinct that we were once part of the glorious empire of Islam. Thus, does Malay-ness matter? My answer is no. What really counts is our way of life - Islam. Being a Muslim is much more important than being a Malay. Without Islam, no one knows where the Malays would be.