Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimen-

sions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina 

Press, 1975); Sara Sviri, “Hakim Tirmidhi and the Mala-

mati Movement in Early Sufism.” In Classical Persian 

Sufism: From Its Origins to Rumi, edited by L. Lewisohn 

(New York: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1993), 

583–613; J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in 

Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).

Malaysia

The modern nation of Malaysia consists of the 

southern half of the Malay Peninsula and the 

states of Sarawak and Sabah on the northern coast 

of the island of Borneo. Each of the three compo-

K  450  

maktab

---

nents were British colonies, with Malaysia obtain-

ing its independence in 1957. Sabah, Sarawak, 

and Singapore obtained their independence six 

years later and joined with Malaysia to create the 

Federation of Malaysia. At this time, the Sultanate 

of Brunei (also on Borneo) declined the invitation 

to join the federation. Singapore was expelled 

from the federation in 1965.

The present state of Malaysia covers 125,584 

square miles, comparable to the area of the state 

of New Mexico. In 2008, it had a population of 

approximately 25.3 million. The country’s people 

are ethnically diverse, with Malays constituting 

50.8 percent, Chinese 23.8 percent, and Indians 

7.1 percent. About 10 percent of the people, pri-

marily residing in Sarawak, are indigenous people 

who have inhabited the land since prehistoric 

times. Religiously, the country is about 69 per-

cent Muslim, with almost all Malays professing 

Sunni Islam. Most of Malaysia’s Muslims, includ-

ing immigrants from Indonesia, follow the s

haFii

legal

 

school

, which was introduced in the 15th 

century. Islam is also the religion of many of the 

Indo-Pakistani community, and about one-third 

of the indigenous people of Sarawak. s

UFism

 has 

broad popularity in the country, and there is also 

a sizeable community of Shii Muslims. Buddhism 

is professed by about 20 percent of the people, 

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—one of the largest in Southeast Asia

(J. Gordon Melton)