page_title: Islam in Malaysia
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Malaysia / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: muslim self-identification
context_page_description: Malaysia is a country whose most professed religion is Islam. As of 2013, there were approximately 19.5 million Muslim adherents, or 61.3% of the population.
  Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi‘i version of Sunni theology and jurisprudence, while defining Malaysia constitutionally a secular state. Islam was introduced by traders arriving from Arabia, China and the Indian subcontinent. It became firmly established in the 15th century. In the Constitution of Malaysia, Islam is granted as the "religion of the Federation" to symbolize its importance to Malaysian society. However, other religions can be practiced freely. According to Pew Research, 18% of Malaysian Muslims are non-denominational Muslims whilst another 7% adhere to smaller branches.
  Various Islamic holidays such as Mawlid have been declared national holidays alongside Christmas, Chinese New Year and Deepavali.
context_section_description: The draft Constitution of Malaysia did not specify an official religion. This move was supported by the rulers of the nine Malay states, who felt that it was sufficient that Islam was the official religion of each of their individual states. However, Justice Hakim Abdul Hamid of the Reid Commission which drafted the constitution came out strongly in favour of making Islam the official religion, and as a result the final constitution named Islam as the official religion of Malaysia. All ethnic Malays are Muslim, as defined by Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia.
caption: Many diverse Islamic denominations are practised within Malaysia.
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