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religion in Malaysia

Malaysia Religion

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The percentage distribution of  population by religion in Malaysia based on 2024 census

The constitution grants freedom of religion and makes Malaysia an officially secular state, while establishing Islam as the “religion of the Federation”.

According to the Population and Housing Census 2024 figures, ethnicity and religious beliefs correlate highly. Approximately 63.7% of the population practice Islam, 17.7% practice Buddhism, 9.4% Christianity, 6.0% Hinduism and 1.2% practice Confucianism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions. 2% other religions or did not provide any information.

To know more about Malaysia Culture visit “Malaysia Culture” and start a journey through Malaysia’s diverse cultural landscape.

Sunni Islam of Shafi’i school of jurisprudence is the dominant branch of Islam in Malaysia, while 18% are nondenominational Muslims.

The Malaysian constitution strictly defines what makes a “Malay”, considering Malays those who are Muslim, speak Malay regularly, practice Malay customs, and lived in or have ancestors from Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

Statistics from the 2020 Census indicate that 83.6% of the Chinese population identify as Buddhist, with significant numbers of adherents following Taoism (3.4%) and Christianity (11.1%), along with small Hui-Muslim populations in areas like Penang.

Interested in the linguistic diversity of Malaysia? See “Malaysia Languages” and discover the languages that form the country’s culture.

The majority of the Indian population follow Hinduism (86.2%), with a significant minority identifying as Christians (6.0%) or Muslims (4.1%). Christianity is the predominant religion of the non-Malay bumiputera community (46.5%) with an additional 40.4% identifying as Muslims.[7]

putra-mosque-putrajaya

Putra Mosque in Putrajaya

Muslims must follow the decisions of Syariah courts in matters concerning their religion. The Islamic judges are expected to adhere to the Shafi’i legal school of Islam. It is the main madh’hab of Malaysia.

Syariah courts have jurisdiction limited to Muslims in matters such as marriage, inheritance, divorce, apostasy, religious conversion, and custody, among others.

No other criminal or civil offenses are under the jurisdiction of the Shariah courts, which have a similar hierarchy to the Civil Courts. Despite being the supreme courts of the land, the Civil Courts do not hear matters related to Islamic practices.

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The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque

Malaysia’s largest mosque is capable for up to 24000 prayers. The mosque’s construction was completed in 1988 by Dato Baharuddin Abu Kassim. The mosque has the distinction of having one of the largest religious dome in the world, measuring 51 meters in diameter and reaching 107 meters above ground level.

National Mosque of Malaysia

Masjid Negara Malaysia, a Malay mosque in Kuala Lumpur, has a prayer capacity of 15,000. They completed mosque in 1965. On March 5th, 1958, the Chief Ministers of the 11 states in the Federation of Malaya made a proposal to name the mosque Masjid Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, in recognition of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s efforts in guiding the country to gain independence.

However, Tunku refused this honor; on the contrary, he named it Masjid Negara in thanksgiving for the country’s peaceful independence without bloodshed.

FAQs

1. How many Muslims will be in Malaysia in 2050?

  • In terms of statistics, this indicates that there will be more than 32.7 million Muslims out of a predicted 45.2 million population in 2050, up from approximately 18 million out of 28.4 million in 2010.

2. What was Malaysia’s religion before Islam?

  • Before the introduction and expansion of Islam in the 15th century and the spread of Christianity in the 19th century, the country’s population were either Hindu-Buddhists or worshipped local religions.

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