Wan Muhamad Nazhif bin Wan Yusoff

Final Paper Proposal

GOVT 433-01
Prof. Banchoff

Islam, Ethnic Identity, and Multi-Party Politics: A Comparative Analysis of Malaysia and

Turkey

Islam as a religion often regarded by many as being antithetical to the concept of Western

liberal democracy, with its insistence on a separation of church and state. In many Muslim

countries, nascent experiments with democracy through multi-party elections have either

restricted the participation of so-called Islamist parties (Egypt, Algeria) or allowed for their

inclusion in the electoral process. In this paper, I intend to compare the intersection of Islam,

ethnic identity and the multi-party political framework of two majority Muslim nations: Malaysia

and Turkey.

The Case for Comparison:

Post-9/11, both Malaysia and Turkey have been hailed as newly-industrialized,

“moderate” Muslim nations with robust economies and extensive trade relations with the West.

Both are majority Muslim nations (around 60% and 90% respectively) that are geographically

located on the fringes of the Islamic World, areas characterized by significant exchange and

tension between different religious, ethnic and cultural identities. In the case of Turkey, the

question of whether its national identity is more closely aligned with that of Europe and the West

is contrasted with its overwhelmingly ethnic Turkish and Muslim character. Malaysia on the

other hand is also a majority Muslim country with a Malay-dominated indigenous historical

background, but struggles to balance the demands and needs of its immigrant ethnic Chinese and

Indian populations. In both countries, political parties (AKP in Turkey and PAS and UMNO in

Malaysia) are characterized by their involvement in identity politics. Therefore, questions of

1
Wan Muhamad Nazhif bin Wan Yusoff
Final Paper Proposal
GOVT 433-01
Prof. Banchoff

secularism versus religion, the supremacy of national or ethnic identity versus religion, and the

proper place and influence of Islam in government in the context of a multi-party electoral

system are all pressing issues in both countries.

Purpose and Central Argument:

The purpose of this paper is not only to provide a descriptive comparison of the role of

religion (Islam) in the politics of these two countries. The greater objective of this paper is to

demonstrate that despite Islam being the religion of the majority, the inherent demographic and

electoral climates in both countries have continued to favor a marginalization of extremist and

ultra-religious tendencies in government in favor of stability and moderation in matters

concerning politics and religion. The intersection of Islam and politics in these two countries

does not lead to a systematic and gradual implementation of classical Islamic precepts in

government (hudud laws in Sharia for example) at the expense of the rights of ethnic and

political minorities. Rather, what is commonly regarded as “Islamization” in these countries is

instead a readjustment of the national identity in terms that balance the differing notions of what

exactly constitutes the primary collective national aspiration: religious, ethnic, and/or national

identity. Ultimately, this paper will argue that the concept of secularization and state-religion

separation that are characteristic of most Western nations cannot be wholly grafted onto

Malaysia and Turkey, as these concepts were developed in a specific European Enlightenment

context. However, the balancing of different identities (of which religion is a major component)

in the framework of multi-party politics is the driving factor that sustains an essentially

representative system.