Securing Muslim Boundaries: Religious Freedom and Public Order in Pakistan and Malaysia

Nelson, Matthew J.

Abstract

This chapter examines the construction of religious identity boundaries via the identification of outsiders (here, so-called ‘heretics’) in Muslim-majority Pakistan and Malaysia. Specifically, it shows how constitutional formulations concerning religious freedom are politically operationalised in a boundary-defining description of heretics as ‘a source of public disorder’. As a source of ‘disorder’, heretics are relegated to the margins of each country’s constitutional community: situated on the margins of the community, they help to define those who remain inside.

Citation

Nelson, M. J. (2023). Securing Muslim Boundaries: Religious Freedom and Public Order in Pakistan and Malaysia. In I. Lumina (Ed.), The Politics of Muslim Identities in Asia (48-65). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474466837.003.0004

• Acceptance Date: Nov 1, 2021
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 7, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2123
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Pages: 48-65
• Book Title: The Politics of Muslim Identities in Asia
• ISBN: 9781474466837
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474466837.003.0004
• Keywords: Islam, Muslim identities, Malaysia, Pakistan, Public order, Freedom of religion, Heresy, Heretics, Blasphemy, securitisation