Bangsa Malaysia only way to unite the ummah, not a ‘grand coalition’

[superadmin]

Ummah is an Arabic word which means a community. But over time, the word has now become a synonym for the Islamic community in general. In the Malaysian context, it had always referred to the Malay/Muslim community.

As a far as I can remember, Malay-based parties Umno and PAS were always calling for the unity of the ummah, meaning Malays and Muslims. It was accepted that the other races were not in this equation and no one complained.

Similarly, another oft-used phrase by the leaders that had always bothered me was agama, bangsa and negara (religion, race and nation) to marshal all Malaysians. I always wondered if it encompassed all races and religions or was it only used to rally Malays and Muslims.


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