{
  "id": 10329436,
  "title": "From Mat Kilau to flying Malays: How communal anxieties fuel alternative history publishers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/from-mat-kilau-to-flying-malays-how-communal-anxieties-fuel",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T01:11:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/09/28/from-mat-kilau-to-flying-malays-how-communal-anxieties-fuel-alternative-history-publishers/236803"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "From Mat Kilau to flying Malays: How communal anxieties fuel alternative history publishers",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/from-mat-kilau-to-flying-malays-how-communal-anxieties-fuel-10331176",
        "published": "2026-09-28T01:11:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}