Lecturer: Mohd Faizal Musa (affiliation at the date recorded)

Duration: 1 hour

Date Recorded: July 2022

Subject: This lecture looks at the existence of Shia followers in the Malay Archipelago. It is important to note that Islam has 240 million adherents in Southeast Asia covering a wide range of areas including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, as well Southern Thailand and parts of Mindanao in the Philippines respectively. It is a common perception that most Muslims in this region are Sunni and follow the Shafi`i school of fiqh, or jurisprudential law. However, significant numbers of Shias do exist in this area, where they can be detected through archaeological sites and influences in the Malay culture. This presentation shows how Muslims in this region positioned iconic Shia figures such as Imam Ali (the first Imam within Imamate Shia Islam), his wife Saidatina Fatimah Zahra, the twelfth Imam known as the Saviour Imam Mahdi, and Imam Hussein who was martyred in Karbala (today’s Iraq). Shi’ism has been very much embedded in Malay culture, despite being dominated by Sunnism. In fact, most of the Shia doctrines and pillars were widely accepted and embraced including the manifestations of Ashura (the 10th of Muharram). At the end of this lecture, the commonly accepted fact that Southeast Asia is a region moulded by Sunnism will be challenged.

Readings: 

Wieringa, E. P. “A Taʿziya from Twenty-First-Century Malaysia: Faisal Tehrani’s Passion Play Karbala.” Shiʻism in Southeast Asia: ʻAlid Piety and Sectarian Constructions (2015): 223.

Musa, Mohd Faizal. “Malaysian Shi’ites Lonely Struggle.” World Public Forum, Dialogue of Civilizations. 2013.

Musa, Mohd Faizal. “The Malaysian Shi’a: A Preliminary Study of Their History, Oppression, and Denied Rights.” Journal of Shi’a Islamic Studies 6.4 (2013): 411-463.

Musa, Mohd Faizal, and beng hui tan. “State-Backed Discrimination against Shia Muslims in Malaysia.” Critical Asian Studies 49.3 (2017): 308-329.

Musa, Mohd Faizal. “Axiology of Pilgrimage: Malaysian Shi’ites Ziyarat in Iran and Iraq.” Cultura 10.1 (2013): 67-84.

Musa, Mohd Faizal Bin. “Sunni Shia Reconciliation in Malaysia.” In Saat, Norshahril, and Azhar Ibrahim, eds. Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia: Discourses and Struggles. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2019.

Musa, Mohd Faizal Bin. “Shia Influence in the Axiology of Malay Culture.” Cultura 17.1 (2020): 99-119.

Bio: Mohd Faizal Musa is a Research Fellow at Institute of Malay World and Civilisations, National University of Malaysia, and Visiting Fellow with the Regional Social and Cultural Studies program at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, as well as an Associate at The Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at the Harvard Divinity School. He is also a screenwriter, playwright and novelist and goes by the pen name Faisal Tehrani. He holds a record of having 7 books banned in Malaysia. His latest novel, published by Penerbit Circa in Indonesia, is a piece of satire called Koro. He also has an upcoming screenplay and story titled Maryam Pagi ke Malam currently in the post-production process. Scheduled for release next year, it is co-written with Malaysian director Badrul Hisham Ismail, and stars Malaysian actress Sofia Jane.