ADAT, ISLAM, AND IDENTITY POLITICS: Negotiating Malayness in Postcolonial Southeast Asia

Abstract

This article examines the position of adat in relation to Islam and identity politics in the formation of Malayness in postcolonial Southeast Asia. Departing from the tension between the concepts of “Melayu Beradat” and “Adat Bermelayu,” it positions adat not merely as cultural heritage, but as an epistemological arena where authority, authenticity, and social legitimacy are negotiated. Using an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Islam that combines anthropological, sociological, and political perspectives, this article investigates the dynamics of Malay identity in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Two main focuses are explored: first, the transformation of the definitions of ethnicity and race in the configuration of modern nation-states; second, the impact of capitalist modernity on the values of egalitarianism and social solidarity that have long been attached to adat and Islamic teachings. This article argues that in the context of urbanization, Islamization, and global economic competition, adat has undergone symbolic reduction and politicization, often functioning as an instrument of identity exclusion. Therefore, a reinterpretation of adat through the lens of progressive Islamic humanism is needed so that it can function as a source of social ethics that is inclusive, contextual, and relevant in a multicultural society. Thus, Malayness is not understood as a closed ethnic category, but as a historical-dynamic construction that is continuously negotiated in the relationship between religion, culture, and power.