Are you legally allowed to be an atheist in Malaysia

With how religion is intertwined with the daily lives of Malaysians and also our government. This is a pretty sensitive topic. But here in AskLegal, we do not discuss what the law should be….but what the law is. 

We have been asked this question before – Can someone in Malaysia be an atheist? While most people know what atheism is (it is the lack or disbelief in God), it is an ideology which has drawn controversy before, with ministers actually threatening to hunt atheists in Malaysia down. This then begs the question, if the government can hunt atheists down – does that mean atheism is a crime?

Maka kami?

If you remember your Monday mornings in school, you would remember putting your right hand up and reciting the ‘Rukun Negara’. If your memory serves you well, you would remember the words “Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan” which roughly translates to “Believe/Belief in God”.

So when you put your right hand up and basically pledge to believe in God, are you then legally obliged to believe in God? Would it then be a crime to not believe in God?

The answer is NO. This is because the Rukun Negara is not a law. Historically the Rukun Negara pledge was created to be more of a guide to lead Malaysia to a more harmonious setting.

Federal Constitution

If we are asking whether it is a crime to be an atheist, we can also ask if people have the right to be an atheist. Of course, it’s kinda asking the same question in a different way, but it’s easier to look for rights because most of them are contained in one legal document….the Federal Constitution. 

Our Federal Constitution doesn’t expressly state that Malaysians have a right to be an atheist, but Article 11 does mention this: 

“Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.”

The article basically states that the government must leave you alone when it comes to religion. To illustrate – let’s say you are a Christian, the government cannot force you to become a Buddhist. Or if let’s say you are a Christian who wants to convert to Buddhism, the government cannot prevent from doing so.

But let’s say you are an atheist, does it mean that government can force you to believe in a religion or charge you for not having a religion? Well we do not the answer to that, but we did get some opinions from a former deputy minister and a lawyer.
 

Last year when addressing whether atheism is protected in the constitution, former Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Asyraf stated: 

“We need to understand, that in the Malaysian context, our Federal Constitution states that freedom of religion is not freedom from religion” – Datuk Dr Asyraf

In reply to the minister, lawyer Syahredzan Johan said:

 “The Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of religion under Article 11, and this includes the freedom not to believe.” 

You can’t be an atheist if you are a muslim

Earlier we discussed how the government cannot interfere with your right to choose a religion, because “Freedom of Religion” is a right guaranteed by Article 11 of the Federal Constitution. However, there are certain exceptions to the right