Introduction

Abstract

The author introduces himself, provides a brief background, and explains that the book is the outcome of a research programme he carried out to obtain his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Western Australia, completed in late 2018. He explains what prompted him to choose the topic of the Islamic Revival in Malaysia, namely, that he had been living and working in the country for many years, and had observed the phenomenon first-hand. He was surprised at how the upper echelons of society, with whom he mixed due to his company’s activities, were accepting the manifestations of the Revival almost without question, even though he was sure that many of those manifestations were most unwelcome to them. His research therefore was aimed at determining how this sub-set of the overall population actually felt about the changes that were taking place. He points out that, because most of the participants either knew him, or at least knew who he was, and because he had been living in Malaysia for decades, he was trusted and thus able to obtain very frank feedback, despite the fact that the subject is very sensitive. He also defends the fact that he is a non-Muslim writing about matters Islamic, pointing out that many Muslim academics are critical of non-Muslims so intruding.