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The predominant Malaysian religions include:  Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity. 

 The most practiced religion in Malaysia is Islam.  This belief is practiced by millions of Malaysians across Malaysia and across the world.  In modern Malaysia, the religion of Islam is protected as the National Religion of Malaysia in the Constitution of the country. The Constitution, however, guarantees absolute freedom of religious practice for everybody, yet it does not allow the broadcast of another faith to one who is a Muslim. Also under the Constitution is the provision that Islam is a state matter, and that only state governments have the authority to pass legislation concerning Islam, and to exert executive authority over Islamic matters in their own state. Each state government is responsible for the setting up and operation of statutory bodies such as Muslim (or Syariah) Courts and State Religious Councils.  Through these bodies, they are responsible for a whole range of Islamic laws and practices such as the collection of religious dues for disbursement to the poor and needy. Syariah Courts only have jurisdiction over Muslims.  However, since 1988, Muslims are no longer under the jurisdiction of the secular courts of the country. 

Another major religion in Malaysia is Hindu.  Hinduism is the religion of the bulk of Indians living in Malaysia today, most of who came to Malaysia from Tamil Nadu State in southern India.  Because of this, the most found form of Hinduism in Malaysia is the Shaivite form, which has as its major deities Murugan (or Subramaniam) and Mariamman.  Modern Hinduism is practiced much differently than how it was practiced 150 years ago.  They worship in temples just like the Sikhs, Muslims and the Buddhist. The most renowned of these temples is the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Kuala Lumpur.

Sikhism received its start from the British.  The Sikhs are a group the size of about 40,000 to 50,000.  Sikhism is the religion where the soul of the Sidhist worshipper goes through life, birth, and death until it reaches the true human form.  They believe there only to be one formless God and, as a result, idol worship is banned. Their ideas of how they reach perfection are much different than most western views. Originally made up of police and other security personnel, later arrivals of Sikhs included the business and professional classes.

Buddhism began with the Chinese, and is the religion of most of the Chinese in Malaysia.  Buddhism was the earliest Malaysian religion to surface.  Its roots emerged around 1 AD and started out very small.  Buddhism is now just as highly practiced as many of the other religions. There are many Chinese Buddhist Temples to be found throughout Malaysia, each attached to a Buddhist Association or Society.  Another type of Buddhist religion is the Theravada, which is Buddhism for non-Chinese Buddhists. The Theravada worship in temples like most of the other religions.  Followers of Theravada Buddhism are located mainly in the northern part of the country, in the States of Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan.

Christianity was started in the early 15th century by Portuguese settlers looking to establish a community and spread Christianity.  One million of Malaysia’s population, or about eight percent are Christian and practice Christianity as their religion of choice.  All the Christian bodies in Malaysia have come together under one organization called the Christian Federation of Churches.

     
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