Countering Ethnocentrism: The Discursive Strategies of Malaysia’s Islamic Movements

Malaysia's political landscape has long oscillated between the ethnocentric vision of a "Malay's Malaysia" and the multicultural ideal of a "Malaysian's Malaysia". The former vision, which ignores and excludes the non-Malay and non-Muslim groups that make up almost 40% of the total population, has gained more ground in the last two consecutive elections. This shift poses significant risks to the country's democratic system and threatens both ethnic and national unity. In this changing context, two Islamic movements with thousands of members have played a central role in shaping Malaysia's political discourse. This paper examines how the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, ABIM) and the Malaysia Ikram Movement (Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia, IKRAM), two major Islamic movements in Malaysia, have collaborated to resist the growing ethnocentric trend through their discursive strategies.

Using Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse analysis, this paper examines how both sides of this political spectrum strategically use Islamic concepts and references to advance competing visions for Malaysia. The analysis focuses on the meaning-making processes of ABIM and IKRAM, which use these concepts to promote a multicultural vision and counter the ethnocentric appropriation of the same Islamic concepts. Drawing on the case of the ABIM and IKRAM movements in the Malaysian context, this paper will reveal the meaning-making dynamics in the complex interplay between religion, politics and identity.