From Mat Kilau to flying Malays: How communal anxieties fuel alternative history publishers

From claiming that ancient Malays could fly to asserting that they taught the Romans naval shipbuilding, former linguistics professor Solehah Yaacob has garnered international ridicule while stirring passionate debate in Malaysia. Her revisionist claims, which include dismissing the country's pre-Islamic heritage as "mere propaganda" and asserting that the prophet Abraham was Malay, have been met with skepticism from cultural historians and academics.

The phenomenon is traced back to contemporary communal insecurities, with sociologists pointing to the multicultural landscape of Malaysia and Malay socio-political and economic anxieties as factors fueling nativist and right-wing support for alternative history narratives.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.