In J.Finucane and M.Feener, Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Platform in Contemporary Asia, Chapter 10, Springer, 05 September 2013
In Malaysia, the political articulation and social perception of religion, more specifically of proselytism and conversion, are at the source of recurrent tensions between religious groups, and jeopardize the balance of this plural society. The first part of this paper explores the reality of Malaysian religious pluralism from a legal perspective, focusing in particular on the space occupied by Islam in the public sphere, and the management of religious diversity by state institutions and the judiciary. The second part of this paper explains the political aspects of faith propagation and conversion. This paper shows that the tensions and controversies arising from these two issues reveal the ambiguities and, ultimately, the failure of governmental efforts to manage interreligious relations. The fundamental aim of this chapter is to understand the socio-political impact of conversion and proselytism, and the political implications of proselytism.