Proper Islamic Consumption

Book excerpt: The West has seen the rise of the organic movement. In the Muslim world, a similar halal movement is rapidly spreading. Malaysia is at the forefront of this new global phenomenon. Examining the powerful linkages between class, consumption, market relations, Islam and the state in contemporary Malaysia, this is the first book to explore how Malaysia's emerging Malay middle class is constituted through consumer practices and Islamic revivalism. By exploring consumption practices in urban Malaysia, this book shows how diverse forms of Malay middle-class consumption (of food, clothing, and cars, for example) are understood, practiced, and contested as a particular mode of modern Islamic practice. It illustrates ways in which the issue of "proper Islamic consumption" for consumers, the marketplace, and the state in contemporary Malaysia evokes a whole range of contradictory Islamic visions, lifestyles, and debates articulating what Islam is or ought to be.