Muslim Religious Practice and Non-Muslim Response in Malaysian Inter-Religious Discourse

In Malaysia, Islam has the highest number of adherents followed by Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and other religions. This different religious background sometimes causes misunderstanding and disagreement among multi-religious people. This study discusses Muslim religious practice and the response from non-Muslim in Malaysian inter-religious discourse, with the objectives of (1) identifying the meanings of Muslim practice disagreed by non-Muslim, and (2) analysing the factors that create the disagreement. The discussion of meaning is based on the language interpretation, either literal or figurative meanings while the analysis of factor of disagreement applies the pragmatic approach proposed by Crystal (1999). The data in the discussion relate to the four Muslim’s practices, namely azan, korban during Hari Raya Aidil Adha, hudud, and Zakir Naik’s talk. The data were the controversial religious issues from 2013 to 2016 taken from local newspapers and interviews with religious authorities. The discussion shows that the disagreement emerges due to the practice are interpreted as insensitive and ignorance about others. The result also shows that there are political and media factors behind the disagreement. The findings reveal that tolerance and mutual understanding among people from different religions are crucial in empowering inter-religious discourse and enjoying their differences.