The Divine Bureaucracy and Disenchantment of Social Life: A Study of Bureaucratic Islam in Malaysia (Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia)

https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811520921 This book traces the expansion of Islamisation within a modern and plural state such as Malaysia. It elaborates on how elements of theology, sacred space, resources, and their interactivity with secular instruments such as legislative, electoral, and new social technological platforms are all instrumentally employed to consolidate a divine bureaucracy. The book makes the point that religious social movements and political parties are only few of the important agents of Islamisation in society. The other is the modern and secular state structure itself. Weber’s legal rational bureaucracy or Hegel’s ethical bureaucracy predominantly characterises a modern feature of governmentality. In this instance an Islamic bureaucracy is advantageously situated not only within an ambit of modernity and therefore legality, but divinity and therefore sacrality as well. This positioning gives religious state agents more salience than any other form of bureaucracy leading to their unquestioned authority in the current contexts of societies with Muslim majority rule. One of the requisites of this condition is the homogenisation of Islam followed by ring-fencing of its constituents. The latter can involve contestations with women, other genders, ‘secular’ Muslims, non-Muslims as well as dissenting Muslims with their differing truthful ‘Islams’. Preface and Acknowledgements Contents A Note on Abbreviations and Acronyms, Non-English Words or Terms, Malay Names and Terminology Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Diagram and Charts List of Tables Chapter 1: Bureaucratisation and Disenchantment Introduction Bureaucratisation and the Rationalisation of Religion Secular, Secularism, Secularisation Enchantment, Disenchantment Bureaucratising Islam From Sacred Authority to Ulama to Divine Bureaucracy Bureaucratisation, Judicialisation, Corporatisation Why Divine Bureaucracy, Why Disenchantment of Social Life? What is in This Book Conclusion References Chapter 2: Origins of the Divine Bureaucracy Introduction Colonial Construction of a Divine Proto-Bureaucracy Formal Court System and Secular Statutes The Codification of Traditions Decentralised Islamic Authority and Administration Territorial Identities in Laws and Courts System Postcolonial Malaysia: Augmenting the Administration of Islam Islam and Malay Populist Support Postcolonial Enlargement of the Muslim Public Sphere Ways of Re-Enchantment Accommodation and Solution in State and Muslim Society Engagement Conclusion References Chapter 3: Features of the Divine Bureaucracy Introduction The Divine Bureaucracy and Its Components Negeri Islamic Bureaucracy Federal Islamic Bureaucracy Corporate Islamic Bureaucracy Centralising the Civil Administration of Islamic Development Jakim as the Face of Central and Dominant Islam Islamic Affairs Budget Courts and the Judiciary The Aftermath of Article 121(1)(A) Corporatisation of Religious Resources Zakat Wakaf Baitulmal Halal-isation Conclusion References Chapter 4: Standardising Faith Introduction Establishing the Official Islam of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Clearing the Path to One Islam The Case of Shi’ism The Case of Jemaah Al-Quran and Kassim Ahmad The Case of Muslim Women in Beauty Pageants The Case of Sisters in Islam The Threat of Liberals, Pluralists, Feminists and Others The Standardisation of Faith Through Women’s Dressing Conclusion References Chapter 5: Ring-Fencing Constituents Introduction Disenchanting the Enchanters: The ‘No-Exit’ Rule Forbidden Marriages Casting the Ring-Fencing Net Wider: Sexual and Gender Marginals Conclusion References Chapter 6: Perfecting Family Introduction Masculine Protectionism in the Islamic Family Objectification of Muslim Marriage Syariah Codification Bureaucratisation of Marriage and Family Perfecting Family Through Contentious, Gendered Syariah Litigation Marriage and Divorce Under Masculine Protectionism Men Versus Women: “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” Perfecting Family Through Teaching and Learning Marriage Moral Panic and Proper Marriage Norms Justifying Premarital Courses Gender Differentiation and Masculine Protectionism Marriage Education: Survey Results Perfecting Family Through Displacement of the Muslim-non-Muslim The Judicialisation of Displacement Conclusion References Chapter 7: Purifying Money Introduction What Constitutes the Corporate Islamic Bureaucracy? ‘Exceptionalisms’ of Islamic Finance Capitalism Extraordinary Exceptionalisms A Syariah Sphere Insulated from the Judiciary Ijtihad as the Cornerstone of Islamic Finance Corporate Islamic Bureaucracy Versus Traditional Bureaucracy Everyday Dissensions Against Corporate Islam Conclusion References Chapter 8: The Power of Disenchantment Introduction Nilai, Syariah, Akidah and Syariah Compliance Divine Bureaucracy and Political Transition New Government, Old Orientations Compassionate Islam: New Vision or Platitude? Bureaucratisation, Rationalisation and Disenchantment Restated Conclusion References Appendixes Glossary Index This book traces the expansion of Islamisation within a modern and plural state such as Malaysia. It elaborates on how elements of theology, sacred space, resources, and their interactivity with secular instruments such as legislative, electoral, and new social technological platforms are all instrumentally employed to consolidate a divine bureaucracy. The book makes the point that religious social movements and political parties are only few of the important agents of Islamisation in society. The other is the modern and secular state structure itself. Weber's legal rational bureaucracy or Hegel's ethical bureaucracy predominantly characterises a modern feature of governmentality. In this instance an Islamic bureaucracy is advantageously situated not only within an ambit of modernity and therefore legality, but divinity and therefore sacrality as well. This positioning gives religious state agents more salience than any other form of bureaucracy leading to their unquestioned authority in the current contexts of societies with Muslim majority rule. One of the requisites of this condition is the homogenisation of Islam followed by ring-fencing of its constituents. The latter can involve contestations with women, other genders, 'secular' Muslims, non-Muslims as well as dissenting Muslims with their differing truthful 'Islams'. Maznah Mohamad is an Associate Professor with joint-affiliation at the Department of Malay Studies and the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. She joined NUS in 2006. Prior to this she was an Associate Professor of Development Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. She teaches courses on Gender in Malay Societies, Religion and Politics in Southeast Asia and Malaysian politics. Her areas of research include the Muslim family, Islamic law and bureaucracy and Malaysian electoral politics. Her books include Feminism and the Women's Movement in Malaysia (2006), Melayu: The Politics, Poetics and Paradoxes of Malayness (co-edited, 2011), and Family Ambiguity and Domestic Violence in Asia (co-edited, 2013). Her recent publications include articles on matrilineal land rights and Islam in JMBRAS (2016), Malay-Islamic colonial law in Kajian Malaysia (2016), Islamic finance and business in Pacific Affairs (2015) and the monetisation of Malaysian politics in Journal of Contemporary Asia (2019)