Since the new millennium, deep political divisions arising from a disembedded Islamic conservatism in the enmeshment between Malaysian ethno-religious nationalism and global Islamism have severely debilitated political opposition, putting into question the future direction of radical politics in Malaysia. The basis of political mobilization has been eroded in three major ways by the politicization of Islam. First, there is a loss of hope in statist and institutional reforms as internal bickering over the issue of Islamic law implementation has derailed plans for a united oppositional coalition in the coming 2018 General Elections. Second, there is an equal loss in hope of civil society to bring about change as it is deeply split down the middle by groups advocating for Islam and those defending secularism. Third, class and ideological affiliations no longer suffice as basis of collective mobilization as the politicization of Islam has blurred, confused, and made indecipherable traditional political cleavages.
This sacralization of politics has made strange bed-fellows of people who otherwise have little in common as they band together to defend or oppose Islamization. The quarrels over Islamization have generated endless political stalemates alongside protracted street protests and violence on both sides of the divide. What is disconcerting is that both sides are equally dogmatic and unable to reconcile differences in their imaginaries of Malaysian public life. What is sinister is that this political bifurcation over Islam falls in tune with statist rhetoric of placing Islamic and Western conceptions of human rights, justice and freedom in binary opposition. Criticisms of Islam are quickly flattened as proxies of Western designs and rejected. Even when nuances from Western critical categories are articulated, they are glossed over, and misunderstood. This incapacitation of resistance suggests that radical resistance will need to change course and seek alternative strategies that can mobilize common concerns to struggle for a convivial, just and hopeful Malaysian future.