We traveled in Muslim majority countries in Southeast Asia for about six months straight: about four and half months in Malaysia, one month in Indonesia, and a few days in Brunei. News of and fear of attacks by radical Islamists around the world is widespread. Discussions of, and fear of, Sharia law is also a common subject in the Western world. Even though I have a very small following for our blog, I have received questions about our experiences while traveling in these Muslim majority countries. I wrote this post to answer some of the questions we get and to describe our experiences and observations while visiting these countries.
Please note that the information in this post is strictly our personal experience and is limited to where we have been in these three countries. We have spent over 5 months total in the past couple of years in Malaysia and have visited 11 of the 13 states and all three federal territories and feel like we have a pretty solid knowledge of Malaysia. We have only spent a month in Indonesia, half of that was on Bali, which is 75% Hindu, and a half on Lombok, which is majority Muslim. We spent 3 days in Brunei. Experiences of others and in other parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei may be different.
What does it mean to be Muslim?
The word Muslim is used to describe a follower of the religion of Islam. Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. The Quran is the holy book of Islam and is believed to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammed. Like many religions around the world, there are different branches, teachings, schools, of Islam. The major ones are Sunni and Shia. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei mainly practice the Sunni branch of Islam.
Signs that you are in a Muslim majority country
Besides doing research before your trip, which I highly recommend from just a common sense and planning perspective, there are some telltale signs that you are in a Muslim majority country.
Mosques and the daily call to prayer
When you see a lot of mosques or even just the spires of minarets, you know you are in a Muslim area. A mosque is the place of worship and a minaret is a tall spire, usually part of or near the mosque, where loudspeakers broadcast the call to prayer five times a day.
One of the requirements of Islam is to pray five times a day. The time that you are to pray is based on the sun and geography, so they vary slightly every day throughout the year and vary by your longitude and latitude. If you want to know the prayer times in advance, they are published in the newspaper daily. Many apps and websites will also tell you the prayer times.
The prayer time is one of the things that will affect you as a traveler. The first prayer of the day is the Fajr (dawn). Depending on where you are, this is around 5:00 am. If the place you are staying is near a mosque, you will likely be awakened in the morning by the first call to prayer. These calls to prayer are amplified melodic sayings urging followers to pray. They can be quite loud depending on the mosque and how far away you are from it. One of the things we do when we book a hotel room is find out where the nearest mosques are. All things being equal, we will try to find a hotel that is not close to a mosque. In my working days, I was an early riser. However, being awakened daily around 5:00 am is a little too early for us most of the time.
This is the Crystal Mosque in Kota Terengganu. It is a little fancier than most mosques but gives you an idea of what they look like. One of the spires will have a loudspeaker that broadcasts the call to prayer five times a day.
Kiblat pointer and prayer rugs in hotel rooms
One of the requirements for prayer for Muslims is that they must face Meca during their prayer. For this reason, there is always a kiblat pointer somewhere in the hotel room. This is another dead giveaway that you are in a Muslim country or area. Usually, you find it on the ceiling, although we have seen this on the floor and even in a desk drawer before. The kiblat pointer is an arrow that points toward Meca.
Many hotels also have a prayer rug hanging in the closet. Interestingly, we have only been in one place with a Quran in the room. This was at an Airbnb. In the USA, most hotel rooms will have a Gideon Bible in the room. Around the world at Marriott hotels, you will find a Bible and Book of Mormon – even in Muslim majority countries. I believe that Muslims revere the Quran so highly that they would not leave it lying around in a hotel room where it may not be treated with the reverence they feel is due.
Prayer rug and prayer times. This was hanging in the closet of our hotel room at the Sheraton Four Points in Sandakan, Malaysia.
In just about every hotel room or Airbnb in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, you will see a kiblat pointer somewhere in the room indicating the direction to Mecca.
No pork and other halal issues
Like some other religions, there are dietary restrictions for Muslims. The main ones are no alcohol or intoxicants, and no pork. We are non-drinkers, so the no alcohol policy has zero effect on us. We haven’t paid much attention to where you can and can’t get alcohol, but it seems that there are restaurants that serve alcohol. We also know that many don’t.
As far as pork goes, it can be hard to find. The breakfast buffet at hotels will not have bacon, ham, or pork sausage. Most international hotels will have chicken or beef sausage, beef bacon (not that great), or turkey ham at breakfast. Many of the large grocery stores will have a “non-halal” section. This is a separate section of the store where you can buy things like pork, and alcohol. You must purchase the items in that section, you can’t take them to the main cashier.
Halal refers to the whole dietary law that applies to Muslims. It includes what can and can’t be eaten. It also prescribes how an animal must be killed for eating. Most large restaurant chains will have a large halal certification sticker on their restaurant door. Other restaurants simply have signs that say, “Serve No Pork” to indicate they don’t serve pork. I understand that Muslims will not even enter a restaurant that is not halal.
This is the Non-Halal section of the Aeon supermarket in Sitiawan, Malaysia. Here you can buy pork, alcohol, and a few other non-halal items.
Conservative dress
It is pretty easy to tell you that you are in a Muslim majority country by the way people are dressed, particularly the women. Women are required to wear a hijab, a head covering that covers their head and chest. The face is visible most of the time in the countries we have visited, but we have seen some women with a veil on their face as well. I believe that the women with the veil over the face are visitors from Saudia Arabia or other countries with different standards of dress. In Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei women wear a particular type of hijab called a tudong. This covers the hair, ears, and throat and often covers the upper chest as well. There is a stretchy cap that is part of this headgear that covers all of the women’s hair. No hair is visible at all.
Women also cover the rest of their bodies except for their hands: long sleeves, covering on their legs, etc. Men do not seem to have the same requirements to cover up, although they tend to dress more conservatively than Westerners. I have seen men with shorts, short sleeves, shirt open a few inches, etc. You will see some men, particularly older men, wearing caps that identify them as Muslim.
While swimming, women wear basically the same clothes as when not swimming except that their swimwear is made of swimsuit fabric. Most men wear a swim shirt and long swim shorts.
As a non-Muslim and visitor, you are not expected or required to follow these standards of dress. However, one of the local hotels we stayed in had a sign by the pool showing the required attire for swimming, which included a hijab, etc. My wife asked at the front desk if the pool was open and was told that, “The pool is only for children.” I am not sure if that was just a polite way of saying that we could not swim in the pool. Perhaps they were afraid that Susan would show up in her thong bikini. (For those of you who know Susan, you know that would never happen.)
Susan with a number of young ladies at the tourist information center in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. These ladies are dressed pretty fancy, but the basic dress for Muslim women is the same around Malaysia.
Sign at our hotel in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. This is the hotel where Susan was told that, “The pool is for children only.”
It doesn’t seem to be a requirement, but many Muslim men will wear a similar cap to the one this gentleman is wearing. Typically, you see older men wearing these caps.
Signs in Arabic in addition to Malay and English
When we first entered the Malaysian state of Kelantan, we noticed that all businesses had their main sign in English and Arabic, even McDonalds, KFC, gas stations, etc. The reason for this is to encourage people to learn Arabic for the purpose of reading the Quran. No one converses in Arabic. Apparently, it is felt that the Quran is best understood when it is read in the original Arabic. We saw this only in the Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu, and the country of Brunei.
In the upper right-hand corner, you can see the Arabic translation for the name of the restaurant.
Traffic jams and closed stores on Friday
Friday is the day for Muslims to go to the mosque for prayers. Although they are supposed to pray five times every day, it is not required to pray in the mosque all five times. Friday is when most people go to the mosque for prayers. Noon to 2:00 pm seems to be the most popular time and anywhere around a mosque at this time will be jammed with traffic. Many people double and triple park near the mosque so navigating roads at this time can be very slow.
Depending on where you are, stores will be closed on Friday. Even 24-hour stores like McDonald’s, Seven-11, etc. are closed between noon and 2:00 pm in some places. We found this to be the case in the Malaysian states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and the country of Brunei.
Sign at a 24 hour McDonald’s stating that the store will be closed on Friday’s from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm for prayer time. You can also see the Halal certification sticker. Most Muslims will not even enter a restaurant that is not halal.
Ramadan
The month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar based on the lunar Islamic calendar. During this month all Muslims are expected to fast from food and drink from sun up to sun down. This applies to all adults with a few exceptions for the elderly, infirmed, etc. During this time, it may be difficult to find restaurants open during daylight hours depending on where you are. We never had any difficulty finding a place to eat during the day during Ramadan, but choices were definitely limited. A side benefit for travelers during Ramadan is that many restaurants and hotels have special, elaborate dinners and buffets in the evening and pre-dawn during Ramadan. We have taken part in a few of these buffets and the food is fantastic! If you hadn’t had anything to eat all day, I am sure you would be hungry at sundown too! The meal in the evening is called Iftar and is a time when families come together to celebrate and enjoy time together – think of it kind of like a month of Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners.
What is Sharia law and how does it apply to me as a visitor?
One of the big concerns expressed in Western countries is the implementation of Sharia law. Sharia law is Islamic law that governs various aspects of the life of Muslims. In Malaysia, it is spelled Syariah. In Malaysia, there is a dual legal system. Civil law applies to all Malaysians. Syariah law applies only to Muslims. I have done some research into this, but I am not an expert. It appears that Syariah law is administered by the states rather than on a Federal basis.
Here are the things that are covered under Syariah law in Malaysia:
- Family law – marriage, divorce, child custody, etc.
- Inheritance
- Religious law – rules about and penalties for violating Islamic principles such as not fasting during Ramadan, eating non-halal, missing Friday prayers, indecent dressing and behavior, apostasy, etc.
- Banking and insurance
Sharia law does not apply to non-Muslims, whether visitors or Malaysian citizens. Every Malaysian is issued and required to carry a national identity card. The law says that the card must be carried at all times and not carrying the card can result in a fine of $750 to $4800 USD and up to three years in prison. The minimum fine was abolished in 2006 and the amount of the fine is now up to the court’s discretion.
If you are a Muslim Malaysian citizen, the word “Islam” will appear on the card below your photo. This allows the religious officials to identify Muslims and apply Syariah law.
Syariah law is administered by the states and people tell us that penalties and strictness of enforcement vary by state. The Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu are over 97% Muslim and have some of the strictest implementations of Syariah law. Here are some links to newspaper articles we saw related to Syariah law while we were in Malaysia.
Citations issued to people for “dressing sexy”
Two women caned for attempting a lesbian sexual act
Side note: Religious Freedom in Malaysia
Although beyond the scope of interest of a typical visitor, I find the subject of “religious freedom” in Malaysia to be very interesting. The Malaysian constitution says that every individual has the right to profess, propagate, and practice their own religion. The constitution further says that Islam is the official religion of the state, although other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony.
In practice, religious freedom in Malaysia is a little different than what one would infer from the words of the constitution. First, for all intents and purposes, Judaism is not allowed in Malaysia. A Malaysian citizen is not allowed to visit Israel. Jewish symbols are not allowed in Malaysia, etc.
The other thing about religious freedom in Malaysia is that it is a one-way street with regard to Islam. What I mean by that is that you can convert into Islam, but you can not convert from Islam to another religion or no religion. If you are Malay by race, you are Muslim. If you a marry a Muslim, you must convert to Islam. The children of Muslim parents are automatically Muslim. Your national identity card will say ‘Islam’ on it and you are subject to Shariah law. The only way to get the “Islam” removed from your national identity card is to get approval from the religious court, which will never happen since leaving Islam is considered to be the sin of apostasy and is punishable under Syariah law.
What about personal safety as a visitor? Terrorist attacks? Kidnapping?
One of the questions we get from people back in the USA and Canada as we travel is, “Aren’t you worried about your safety? What about terrorists, typhoons, and tigers?” When some people hear that a country is majority Muslim, they automatically assume that we are at high risk for harm due to terrorism or kidnapping. While there are safety issues that we are concerned with wherever we travel, just because a country is majority Muslim does not automatically mean it will be unsafe.
Statistically, the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei are much safer than the USA. Here are a couple of statistics that show the relative safety of the USA, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.
Intentional Death Rate
This is the statistic that most closely relates to personal safety, the chances of being intentionally killed. I looked at several websites and most of the sites were similar in the ranking of intentional death rates by country. This is the data from the website www.worldhealthexpectancy.com. In the table below are the homicide per capita rates by country for the USA and the three Muslim majority countries we have visited. As you can see, the chances of us being killed are greater in the USA than they are in any of the other countries listed.
USA 5.53 deaths by violence per 100,000 inhabitants
Indonesia 4.35 deaths by violence per 100,000 inhabitants
Malaysia 3.92 deaths by violence per 100,000 inhabitants
Brunei 1.32 deaths by violence per 100,000 inhabitants
Quality of Life Index – Safety and Security – Internations 2018 Expat Survey
Internations is a group that supports expats around the world, i.e. people who live and often work in a country other than their home country. Every year they do a survey of their members worldwide on various aspects of their life in their adopted country. The 2018 survey had over 18,000 respondents. Details of the 68 countries with the most respondents were published online. The respondents ranked the USA less safe and secure than Malaysia or Indonesia. (Results for Brunei were not published, I assume due to too few respondents.)
Malaysia rank 43rd out of 68 countries on safety and security
Indonesia rank 54th out of 68 countries on safety and security
USA rank 56th out of 68 countries on safety and security
Link to Expat Insider 2018 Quality of Life Index
So there you have it! Our experiences and observations traveling in the Muslim majority countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. We have really enjoyed Malaysia: the people, the food, the history. The fact that the country is majority Muslim is just another interesting aspect of adventures around the world.
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