Transnational Islam and Muslim Politics: Policies, Identities, and Ideologies

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DOI :10.26650/B/SS30AA25.2024.003.002   IUP :10.26650/B/SS30AA25.2024.003.002    Full Text (PDF)

Analyzing Push and Pull Factors for the Sustainable Impact of Inbound International Muslims in Malaysia: An Emerging Diaspora of Integrated Transnational Islam

Shamima Raihan Manzoor, Abdullah Al Mahmud

The idea of a transnational Muslim community has always had great appeal, perhaps more so now than ever before. The rise of transnational Islamic civil societies in the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country of Malaysia in recent years has deepened its Muslim implantation mostly through educational and expatriate migrations, as well as due to Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa holders. However, this has not been duly reflected in the literature, as most of the studies related to transnational Islam only cover the Western context. Therefore, the current study analyzes under the theory of migration the push and pull factors influencing the international Muslim migration toward Malaysia. A self-administered survey was conducted based on the snowball sampling method among 100 international Muslims residing in Malaysia. Every effort was made to diversify the samples and make them as representational as possible by assigning a certain quota to the respondents’ country of origin, profession, age, marital status, and duration of stay in Malaysia. Six in-depth interviews were conducted based on purposive sampling with the international Muslim immigrants who had been residing in Malaysia for over 5 years. The outcome of this study can provide thoughtful insights into the impact of certain pull factors from the host country of Malaysia on maintaining the same mind frame in the migrants even after migration and thus building optimism for a sustainable transnational Islamic diaspora. This study may also inspire ideas among Muslim scholars and activists on how to initiate a sustainable integrated public sphere that is beneficial for the ummah at large.


Keywords: Higher education institutions, integrated Islamic community, international students, Malaysia, transnational Islam

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