Islam Hadhari

This research study explored the problem of Malay identity and society in the discourse of Malay politics. The purpose of this study was to understand how the discourse of Islam Hadhari as spoken by Malaysian Prime Minister and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) President Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the years 2004-2008 demonstrated the hegemony of his administration and party. 19 speeches given by Badawi in various communicative events throughout 2004-2008 were deliberately selected to infer the ideological discourse of Islam Hadhari, the UMNO ideological approach to Islamism of the Malays. The study advanced two conclusions: First, Malayness is the constant conflict and correspondence with ethnicity and religiosity, Malay and Muslim; and second, a theory of Malay identity should extend to describe Malayness as a civilization, as has been suggested by Milner (2007).