Islam in Malaysia

Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi'i school of Sunni jurisprudence. Islam was introduced to Malaysia by traders arriving from Persia, Arabia, China and the Indian subcontinent. It became firmly established in the 15th century. Today Malaysia is a country whose most professed religion is Sunni Islam. As of 2024, there were approximately 22.4 million Muslim adherents, or 65% of the population. Various Islamic holidays such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Mawlid have been declared national holidays.

The Constitution of Malaysia grants Islam the status of "religion of the Federation" to represent its importance to Malaysian society, but this is often interpreted as being primarily for ceremonial purposes, while defining Malaysia constitutionally as a de jure secular state. Despite this, freedom of religion is severely limited and religious discrimination is institutionalised; Malaysian Malays are legally forbidden from practicing any religion other than Sunni Islam, and other faiths are only tolerated for non-Malays. The state enforces a strict religious monopoly that excludes Shia Islam, which is deemed as a "deviant sect" and officially banned and unrecognised. Consequently, authorities systematically target the Shia community through raids and forced closures of gatherings, as there are no public, recognised Shia mosques allowed in the country.