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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

A dispute over where churches and temples can operate in Malaysia’s richest state has become an awkward political test for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition, which came to power promising to protect the country’s multiracial and multi-faith society.
The row centres on planning guidelines in Selangor, a wealthy and densely populated state surrounding Kuala Lumpur, that critics say could restrict non-Islamic places of worship in commercial areas, where many religious groups have long operated because formally gazetted land is scarce.
The backlash has exposed wider anxiety among non-Muslim voters in the Muslim-majority country and lands at a sensitive moment for Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
Recent flashpoints involving pig farms, Hindu temples and unauthorised worship sites on government land have raised concerns over minority rights.
The dispute began after Petaling Jaya Member of Parliament Lee Chean Chung flagged clauses in the Selangor State Planning Guidelines and Standards for Community Facilities, which were approved by the state executive council on November 12.

Drawn up by PLANMalaysia Selangor, the rules state that non-Islamic places of worship cannot be located in commercial zones, and that existing buildings cannot be converted for such use.
Lee said the guidelines could have “far-reaching implications” for Selangor, including Petaling Jaya, where churches, temples and other religious centres have for years operated from commercial or industrial premises because of a shortage of land gazetted for non-Islamic worship.
“Rather than intensifying efforts to address the long-standing shortage of land for non-Islamic places of worship, why introduce restrictions on arrangements that have largely not posed problems?” Lee said on Saturday.
Selangor’s special committee for non-Islamic affairs later said the guidelines had not been implemented or enforced by any local authority and would be reviewed with religious groups at a meeting in early June.
“No enforcement action will take place while this review is ongoing,” said Ng Sze Han, the committee’s co-chairman, adding that the state wanted to resolve the matter through “constructive dialogue” to ensure Selangor remained “progressive, fair and inclusive”.


Selangor is Malaysia’s most populous state, with an estimated 7.4 million people in 2025, including about 4 million Malays, according to official data. It is also one of Malaysia’s most ethnically mixed urban areas, with Chinese and Indian communities forming a sizeable share of the population around the Klang Valley, the country’s main economic corridor.
No recent official count is available of how many non-Muslim worship centres operate specifically from commercial shoplots, but Selangor in 2009 put the total number of registered and unregistered non-Muslim houses of worship in the state at 2,510.
In Kuala Lumpur, federal authorities said in April that 163 unauthorised non-Muslim worship sites had been identified on government land.
‘Huge flashpoint’
James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, said the row had become a “huge flashpoint” because it came on the heels of Selangor’s pig farming controversy, another issue seen by some non-Muslims as touching on minority rights.
“The non-Muslims in Selangor, especially the Chinese, feel that this is an attack on their rights,” Chin said. “Malaysians take their religions seriously. It is part of their identity. And suddenly they see all these rules coming out.”
The pig farming row erupted earlier this year after Selangor moved to stop issuing new licences and phase out existing farms, following its sultan’s call for pig farming to be barred on environmental, land-use and social grounds.
Chin said the political danger for PH was that many non-Malay voters in Selangor had backed the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a key component of Anwar’s coalition that had long campaigned on a secular and multiracial platform.
“DAP has always said that they believe in a secular state and they will treat all religions fairly,” Chin said. “So it came as a shock that some of the exco who approved this were actually from the DAP.”

Any rule touching on religion in Malaysia had to be handled carefully, said Azmi Hassan, a fellow at the Malaysian National Council of Professors.
“Anything that touches between the different religions, especially the three most important communities – Malays, Chinese and Indians – is very sensitive indeed,” Azmi said.
Although there was a case for regulation because many non-Muslim worship centres had emerged in commercial areas without a clear legal framework, a sudden change “could trigger blowback if poorly handled”, he said.
“From no regulation to having a regulation, even though it is good for administrative purposes, it’s going to be a blowback within the PH government, especially in Selangor,” he said. “If not [handled properly], it will create the perception that non-Muslims are being pressured.”
In recent years, disputes over temples and churches have often turned on land status and local planning approvals rather than doctrine, with some decades-old shrines and worship centres later classified as illegal after estates or old settlements were redeveloped.
The Selangor issue quickly spread online, with some users accusing the state government of poor consultation.
Social media user Xavier Mah said the process itself “feels confusing”, adding that “good governance requires clarity before communication, consultation before enforcement”.
“Before information of this nature reaches the public, there should be stronger internal review, clearer policy alignment, and proper consultation with the relevant stakeholders. When this process feels unsettled, it creates confusion. And confusion weakens public confidence,” he said.
Another user, Ong See Lian, said the state should provide alternative premises before imposing any blanket ban, while Rajiv Ravindran wrote that “it doesn’t matter” that the rules had not been enforced, because “the very fact that such an idea can be conceived is problematic enough”.


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The dispute began after an MP flagged state planning guidelines stating that non-Islamic places of worship cannot be in commercial zones


The dispute began after an MP flagged state planning guidelines stating that non-Islamic places of worship cannot be in commercial zones.


Malaysia’s ruling coalition faces test over Selangor non-Muslim worship house rules

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The dispute began after an MP flagged state planning guidelines stating that non-Islamic places of worship cannot be in commercial zones

The dispute began after an MP flagged state planning guidelines stating that non-Islamic places of worship cannot be in commercial zones