Demographics on Religion in Maritime Southeast Asia

2010

Research Article, 2020

Indonesian Journal of Theology

This is editorial introduction to Special Issue "Christianities in Southeast Asia."

ISEAS Publishing eBooks, 2014

Al-Albab, 2022

Institute of Islamic Studies, Pontianak. Our academic publication concern includes the studies of world religions of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Chinese religions and other religions. Interdisciplinary studies may include the studies of religion in the fields of anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, education, cultural studies and other social sciences. Since the journal is published twice a year, special issue would be made available for special condition. The regular issues include June and December editions each year. The journal publishes research-based articles in the area of religious studies. All prospective contributors from various background are welcome to contribute to the journal publication. Contributions in English should be typed single-space and contain minimum of 4.000 and maximum of 8.000 words. The citation should follow APA style with footnotes.

Please direct all applications and inquiries to the convenors of the panels. Convenors should send the final list of papers of the panel to the EuroSEAS email ([email protected]) no later than the 15 th December 2012. Institutional affiliation(s) and title(s) Heidelberg University -Prof. Dr. / Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin -M.A.

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2014

Religion is a fundamental characteristic of humankind. While it is possible to find commonalities in different religions across history, peoples, languages, and cultures, it is also true that "religion" encompasses a dizzying array of rituals, practices, doctrines, sacred spaces, and personalities. This diversity is found even within major religions. For the purposes of creating a taxonomy it is possible to refer to seven or eight major religions, and to approximately 10,000 total different religions. 1 At the same time, a significant minority of people claim no religion. Even in the past 100 years this "group" has waxed and waned as a percentage of the world's population. Any serious treatment of religious demography must take both religionists and non-religionists into account. Viewing the world's religions on a global scale reveals a striking demographic reality. 2 Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and even agnostics live side-by-side in many countries, often showing diversity within a province or state. 3 These huge blocs represent to some extent cultural realities (for example, Arabs as Muslims, South Asians as Hindus), but each of these religions also has enormous cultural diversity (for example, most Muslims are not Arabs). This clustering gives rise to other seeming contradictions as well. For example, the Muslim world is perceived as stronger at its core than on the periphery (e.g., Muslims constitute a higher percentage of the population in Saudi Arabia than in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population). Yet, at the same time, the majority of Muslims live in Asia, not the Middle East or North Africa. Chinese folk-religionists are an absolute majority in no country or province, although they make up over 6% of the global population; most live in China (which is majority agnostic). Conversely, Sikhism and Judaism-although less than 0.3% of the global total each-have local majorities in the Indian state of Punjab and in Israel, respectively. India is also notable for having the highest number of different provincial majority religions (five) in a single country.

Malaysians need more than historical explanation to substantiate the reasons for their coexistence and understanding of each other. This paper is to share part of our research endeavor in gathering and managing data on religions in Malaysia through an academic research. Using a combination of approaches; we try to go beyond the phenomenological approach in developing a profile of religions in Malaysia. We have identified two major categories as the criteria for the profile; the permanent and the dynamic. The permanent pertains to; God as the Creator, the universe and creation, the relationship between the creator and the creation, the concept of good and evil and the destiny of the universe. The dynamic pertains to the philosophy, concept, notion, and methods and approaches for understanding the permanent. This paper therefore advocates the profile as potential standard for embarking into inter-faith discourses among religions in Malaysia.

International Journal of Islamic Thought

Religion affects an individual's perception and the way in which people behave. The Malays in Malaysia observe religious rites and rituals and portray Islamic values in their behavior. Based upon a sample survey, this study examines respondents' belief in the deity, the frequency and intensity of their involvement in religious rites and rituals, and their devotion to religious ceremonies. It is hypothesized that a person with a higher level of religiosity is more likely to align his/her behavior in compliance with religious belief and practices. This study finds that the Malays are polite in their behavior to their parents, try to help others, refrain from taking interests on loans to friends, and the like. Islam seems to influence all aspects of the behavior of the Malays in Malaysia. Most of them would abide by most of the dictates of their religion in their dealings with others. Religiosity is not significantly related to age, education, gender, and marital status. However, the rural population consistently scores high on all measures of religiosity.