Perception on Inter-Religious Interaction among Muslim and Non-Muslim: A Case Study in Kedah and Selangor (Persepsi Terhadap Interaksi antara Agama dalam kalangan Muslim dan bukan Muslim: Kajian Kes di Kedah dan Selangor)

Abstract

Perception is one of the substantial elements that shapes the way an individual understands realities and interacts them. In Malaysia, perception either it is positive or negative, is observed as one the main factors that influence the ways their multi-ethnics societies interact to each other. This article reveals the perception levels among the multi ethnics and religious communities on the issue of inter religious relationship in the states of Kedah and Selangor, Malaysia. The findings are based on the quantitative research conducted that involves 555 respondents selected from the different religious domains i.e Islam represents the Muslim community meanwhile Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity represent the non-Muslim community. The research data analysed using descriptive statistical test which includes frequency, percentage, min and inference statistic tests like the Mann Whitney-U and Kruskal Wallis-H to explain the respondents’ background and to evaluate the perception level of Malaysia society. The study finds that the perception level among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities with regard to the subject of inter-religious relationship is high even though there is significant difference on Mann Whitney-U: (Z -8.264, p = .000). Furthermore, there is a significant difference between the ethnic composition and states that been involved which records Kruskal Wallis-H: [x2 (1, N=555) = 70.857, p=.000] and [x2 (1, N=555) = 26.229, p=.000] respectively. The finding shows that the reality inter-religious relationship among the Malaysian society today is manageable.

Keywords: Perception level; inter-religious relations; sociology; society; statistical analysis

Abstract

Persepsi adalah salah satu unsur penting yang membentuk cara seseorang memahami realiti dan berinteraksi dengannya. Di Malaysia, persepsi sama ada positif atau negatif, diperhatikan sebagai salah satu faktor utama yang mempengaruhi cara masyarakat pelbagai etnik berinteraksi antara satu sama lain. Artikel ini mendedahkan tahap persepsi antara pelbagai etnik dan masyarakat agama mengenai isu hubungan antara agama di negeri Kedah dan Selangor, Malaysia. Penemuan ini berdasarkan kepada penyelidikan kuantitatif yang melibatkan 555 responden dipilih dari domain agama yang berbeza-beza iaitu Islam mewakili masyarakat Islam sementara itu Buddha, Hindu dan Kristian mewakili masyarakat bukan Islam. Data penyelidikan dianalisis menggunakan ujian statistik deskriptif yang merangkumi ujian statistik kekerapan, peratusan, min dan statistik kesenjangan seperti Mann Whitney-U dan Kruskal Wallis-H untuk menerangkan latar belakang responden dan menilai tahap persepsi masyarakat Malaysia. Kajian mendapati bahawa tahap persepsi dalam kalangan masyarakat Islam dan bukan Islam berkaitan hubungan antara agama adalah tinggi walaupun terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan terhadap Mann Whitney-U: (Z -8.264, p = .000). Selain itu, terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan antara komposisi etnik dan negara yang terlibat yang mencatatkan Kruskal Wallis-H: [x2 (1, N = 555) = 70.857, p = .000] dan [x2 (1, N = 555) = 26.229, p = .000] masing-masing. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa realiti hubungan antara agama dalam kalangan masyarakat Malaysia hari ini boleh diurus.

Kata kunci: Tahap persepsi, hubungan antara agama, sosiologi, masyarakat dan analisa statistik.