Characteristics of Religious Orientations of the Malays

Why Study Orientations?

 Attitude/perspectives/modes of
thinking that condition understanding
and experience of religion
 Awareness of distinction between
religious teachings and values and the
religious orientations of followers
 Understanding of varieties and
competing religious orientations
Cont…
 Avoidance of misleading diagnosis of
problems
 Religious issues as a function of
religious orientation
 Danger of over-generalization of
complexity of religious understanding
and experience
 Dominant types of religious
orientation and their traits
Dominant types of religious
orientation
 TRADITIONALISM
 Tradition
Cultural or value systems which shapes the
world-view of a given people for a significant
period of their cultural history. Provides them
with a common identity and belonging which
marks them out as a distinct group from others.
Serves as anchorage and guidance in facilitating
adjustment to social change, its demands and
challenges. Reflected in political, religious,
cultural, economic life and thought
Traditionalism

 Mode of thinking
 Universal tendency to cling to old

ways of life
 Ambivalence, fear and reluctance to

change
 Emotional/irrational/ unconscious
Cont…
 Reactive and predictable
 Manifested in many areas of life. Not

confined to particular ideology, belief

system or culture.
 May co-exist with other types of

orientations
 Dominant in societies where change is

slow
 Function to maintain the status quo
Traditionalism as a religious
orientation
 Reverence for selective religious
traditions of pious savants of the past
 Religious traditions transmitted from
the past are deemed complete,
infallible and immutable
 Unquestioning acceptance of the
certainty of religious traditions
Cont…
 Strong sense of “obligatoriness” -of the
necessity of believing rather that what is
believed
 Return to tradition is the rallying call and

emphasis
 Over-glorification of the past
Cont…
 Non-distinction between religious
teachings which are conditioned by
socio-historical epochs and their
eternal, absolute underlying principles

 Religious traditions are deemed

supra-temporal
 Emphasis on application of religious

tradition at the expense of concern for

principles
Cont….
 Fear/ambivalence towards reason in
understanding religious teachings
 Irrationality woven into religious belief
 Religious teaching characterised by

sycretism –myths, folk beliefs,

animism, magic, etc.
 Strong inclination towards personal

salvation and individual piety as basis

for a good society
Cont…
 Lack of emphasis on development of social
philosophy
 Emphasis on doctrinal affirmation (akidah)

and rituals
 Fear of “deviant teachings” and moral

degeneration of the individual

 Strengthening of faith (iman) to combat

social problems
Cont…
 Attitude towards change and reform(gender
roles, modern institutions and scientific
discoveries egs education of girls, sighting
of the moon, modern scientific knowledge,
western education, organ donation,
usury/interest, rethinking Shariah law etc.)
Respond to change on basis of exigency
Cont….
 Non-integration/dichotomy between the
hereafter and the world (this world verses
afterlife, materialism verses spiritualism,
religion verses secular) and the quest for
balance
 Preoccupation with afterlife (sin and

retribution, heaven and hell, bodily

resurrection on judgment day)
 Conception of man and image of human

personality –generally weak and powerless as

opposed to emphasis on creativity, positive
individualism and moral accountability
Cont….
 Hierarchy of knowledge-religious
knowledge deemed fundamental,
knowledge of the world secondary
 Obedience to religious authority

(taklid) as opposed to independent

reasoning (ijtihad)
Cont…
 Bases of influence
 Exposed to classical thought and tradition
 Accept plurality of religious traditions
 Generally non-political
 Emphasis on religious devotion and individual

piety