Vision and Motivation
Malaysian society was in a period of constant upheaval after gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957. This upheaval, including the 1969 race riots between indigenous and non-indigenous Malays, rapid modernization and industrialization, and nationalist economic and social policies that disenfranchised poor Malaysian Muslims, served as catalysts for Malaysia's Islamic Revival in the late 1970s. Gradual governmental changes implementing pro-Islamic policies propagated by the Dakwah students' movement finalized Malaysia's conversion into an Islamic state by the early 1980s.[1] The ideological shift in Malaysia meant that Muslims were expected to live under Sharia, a system of Islamic laws that quickly superseded the laws set forth in Malaysia's constitution.[2] Since the Islamic Revival, women's rights have been under attack in a judicial system that stripped women of fundamental human rights and enabled men to justify spousal abuse and polygamous marriages.