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In Malaysia, legal restrictions on criticizing Islam limit former Malay Muslims from openly sharing their views offline. However, social media provides a platform for expression and personalized discourse on Islam. In this chapter, we discuss findings from a qualitative virtual ethnographic study exploring the discursive construction of religion among 14 purposively recruited Malay former Muslims. Data were collected through a year-long virtual ethnographic observation on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook resulting in 325 unique posts. Using (van Dijk, 1997, 2009) discourse analysis framework, the chapter examines how former Muslims employ discursive actions—such as claiming, blaming, negotiating, challenging, falsifying, accusing, disputing, defending, assessing, and condemning Islam and its normative beliefs. The findings highlight their cognitive mediation of socially shared beliefs and the race-religion nexus in Malay society while constructing personalized religious discourse online.

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The Discursive Construction of Religion by Malay Former Muslims on Social Media

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Umair Munir Hashmi,
  • Radzuwan Ab. Rashid,
  • Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid

摘要

In Malaysia, legal restrictions on criticizing Islam limit former Malay Muslims from openly sharing their views offline. However, social media provides a platform for expression and personalized discourse on Islam. In this chapter, we discuss findings from a qualitative virtual ethnographic study exploring the discursive construction of religion among 14 purposively recruited Malay former Muslims. Data were collected through a year-long virtual ethnographic observation on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook resulting in 325 unique posts. Using (van Dijk, 1997, 2009) discourse analysis framework, the chapter examines how former Muslims employ discursive actions—such as claiming, blaming, negotiating, challenging, falsifying, accusing, disputing, defending, assessing, and condemning Islam and its normative beliefs. The findings highlight their cognitive mediation of socially shared beliefs and the race-religion nexus in Malay society while constructing personalized religious discourse online.