Urban Muslim Religiosity in Malaysia: Adapting Islamic Values in the Context of Social Modernity

Abstract

This study examines the dynamics of urban Muslim religiosity in Malaysia and the patterns of adaptation of Islamic values ​​in the context of contemporary social modernity. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, this study began with a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). Then it involved twenty urban Muslim informants aged 25–55 years in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Putrajaya through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and field documentation. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six-stage thematic analysis. The findings identified five main sub-themes: the intensification of exoteric religiosity that is not always balanced by interior spiritual depth; digital piety mediated by social media platforms with tensions between authenticity and performativity; consumption-based religiosity through the halal economy and modest fashion ecosystem; the agency of urban Muslim women who actively negotiate religious identity among state, market, and community pressures; and the influence of political Islam and state-sponsored Islamization on the construction of urban Muslim identity. This study argues that modernity does not erode the religiosity of Malaysian urban Muslims, but rather transforms it into a more reflexive, individualistic, and hybrid form. The classical secularization thesis has proven inadequate to explain the trajectory of Malaysian urban Islam; what is taking place is a complex reconfiguration of religious expression and authority amidst constantly shifting global-local dynamics.