A Muslim Seletar family in Malaysia: Negotiating a liminal religious and ethnic identity

This article is drawn from ethnographic research undertaken in Johor state in Malaysia, referring also to related historical, theoretical and anthropological literature. I make some key observations about the modern practices and identity of a group of Muslims in Malaysia who can be seen to form a particular subset of their Seletar ethnic group. This is discussed in the context of the ongoing debate and contestation of Muslim / Malay and bumiputera identity and status. The article examines how these Muslim Orang Asli appear to negotiate their Muslim identity in relation to their Seletar identity and how they still subscribe to being Seletar in terms of language and specific aspects of culture which remain important to them. The research draws conclusions about how their agency in their chosen hybridity of cultural practice and religion provides a kind of emblematic model highlighting the potential multiplicity in Malaysian bumiputera indigineity (or Malayness).