The concept of religious freedom based on the Islamic perspective and National Constitution is not absolute and limited. Because of that, several groups of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) emerged, such as Islam Interfaith Commision (IFC) or Inter Religious Centre (IRC), Group of Article 11 and the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO) whereby calling for an absolute understanding of religious freedom as its set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948. Among the issues repeatedly associated with religious freedom in Malaysia is the issue of apostasy. Therefore, this research is conducted to identify the level of Muslim students understanding on the concept of religious freedom in Malaysia. This research is qualitative and exploratory based which used set of questionnaire as an instrument to collect data. By using purposive sampling method, a total of 404 respondents were selected among Muslim students at government or private higher learning institution in Klang Valley. The research found that the level of Muslim students understanding on the concept of religious freedom at Klang Valley is high with a min score 4.32 (sd = 0.82). This finding shows that although there are several issues concerning religious freedom and variety of demands from NGOs who are promoting the new and liberal concept of religious freedom, Muslim students still continue to understand the concept as it was institutionalized in the National Constitution and Islamic principle.
ABSTRAK
Konsep hak kebebasan beragama yang difahami berdasarkan kepada prinsip Islam dan Perlembagaan Negara tidak bersifat mutlak dan terbatas. Rentetan itu, terbentuknya beberapa kumpulan Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) baru seperti IFC (Islam Interfaith Commision) atau nama sebenarnya IRC (Inter Religious Centre), Kumpulan Artikel 11 dan COMANGO (Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process) atau Gabungan Pertubuhan Bukan Kerajaan Malaysia yang menuntut agar hak kebebasan beragama difahami secara terbuka sepertimana yang termaktub di dalam Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948. Antara isu yang seringkali dikaitkan dengan hak kebebasan beragama di Malaysia ialah isu murtad atau menukar agama. Oleh yang demikian, kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti tahap kefahaman mahasiswa Muslim di Lembah Klang tentang konsep hak kebebasan beragama di Malaysia. Kajian adalah berbentuk kuantitatif dan tinjauan yang akan menggunakan set soal selidik sebagai instrumen untuk mendapatkan data. Sampel seramai 404 orang responden telah dipilih dengan menggunakan kaedah persampelan bertujuan (purposive sampling) dalam kalangan mahasiswa Muslim yang sedang mengikuti pengajian di institusi pengajian tinggi awam dan swasta di sekitar Lembah Klang. Kajian mendapati tahap kefahaman mahasiswa Muslim di Lembah Klang tentang konsep hak kebebasan beragama adalah tinggi dengan skor min 4.32 (sp = 0.82). Dapatan ini menunjukkan bahawa walaupun terdapat isu tentang hak kebebasan beragama serta pelbagai tuntutan yang telah dibuat oleh beberapa NGO yang mempromosikan konsep hak kebebasan yang baru dan terbuka, mahasiswa Muslim masih lagi mengekalkan konsep kefahaman hak kebebasan beragama yang menepati Perlembagaan Negara dan prinsip Islam.
Human dignity and religious freedom in the context of post-secular dialogue