Dina Miza Suhaimi
Purpose: The objective of research study was to review the chronology of Malay assimilations based on early scholars of Kajai (1935), Nagaraj (1974) and Hirschman (1987).
Theoretical framework: Recent literature has reported that since 1786, Francis Light was glorified as the founder of Penang (Mohamed, et al. 2006). Light was not the founder of Penang. He was a developer of Penang, at best (FMT, 2021). Hence, it is vital to understand who the Malays are, based on early scholars of Kajai (1935), Nagaraj (1974) and Hirschman (1987).
Design/methodology/approach: I reviewed the chronology of Malay assimilations based on early scholars of Kajai (1935), Nagaraj (1974) and Hirschman (1987). The review explores how multi-ethnic Muslim groups have evolved and been classified as Malays.
Findings: The findings showed that there are four typologies of takrif Melayu (definition of Malay) according to Kajai (1935), Nagata (1974), Hirschman (1987) and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia (1963).
Research, Practical & Social implications: I suggest future research to particularly focus on the contributions of each multi-ethnic Muslim community in Penang.
Originality/value: The findings showed that very a few articles about the definition of multi-ethnic Muslim community were published, and this is where the research comes in – to fill up the gap.