Malaysia's multi-racial society contains many ethnic groups. Malays comprise a majority of over 50%. By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim and Muslims total over 60 percent of the Malaysian population. Although the official religion is Islam, under the constitution, other races are allowed to freely profess and practice any religion in an atmosphere of acceptance and tolerance.

As Malaysia is a predominantly Islamic country, Islamic practices and values are widely observed in the country. As a result, fulfilling your religious obligations, while living in Malaysia, is easy.

Mosques are located in almost all residential localities. In addition, all commercial buildings and shopping malls have prayers rooms marked with a sign 'surau' - Malay word for mosque. All hotel rooms have signs showing the direction of Qiblah marked usually with the sign 'Kiblat'. If you are using a compass to find the direction of Qiblah from around Kuala Lumpur, 293 degrees is the direction of Qiblah.

Prayer Times: You can find the prayer times of all major cities in Malaysia on http://solah.home.net.my/prayertime/MY/MY.

Prayer Times in Bahasa Melayu and Dhivehi (Bahasa Melayu - Dhivehi):
Subuh - Fathis, Syuruk - Iru araa, Zohor - Mendhuru, Asar - Asru, Maghrib - Maghrib, Isyak - Ishaa

In Malaysia, the mandate for collection of Zakat is with the Islamic Council of each state in the country. There are 14 Islamic Councils, one for each of the 13 states and one for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. Each state has its own religious Administration Enactment while the Federal Territory has its own Act to manage zakat.

In addition to the main Zakat offices, zakat payments can be easily made through post, special bank counters located in various places such as shopping malls, Internet banking and phone banking. All major banks such as Maybank, Public Bank, CIMB Bank, HSBC etc provide zakat payment services.

If you are in Selangor area Pusat Zakat Selangor (PZS) is the agency in charge of zakat. You can get detailed information on both personal zakat (zakat al-fitr) and zakat on wealth (zakat al-mal) from the website of PZS, http://zakat.com.my/indexenglish.cfm.

In Malaysia, the period of fasting starts when the new moon is sighted on the evening of the last day of the month of Sha’ban. The actual sighting is conducted by state appointed religious officials at various vantage points throughout the country. If the crescent is sighted, the following day is then declared the first day of Ramadan. The announcements are made on local radio and television channels.

During the month of Ramadan, special traditional food stalls and restaurants serve varieties of specially prepared food during the time of breaking the fast (buka puasa).

The end of Ramadan and the arrival of Eid al-Fitr locally known as 'Hari Raya Aidilfitri' is celebrated for the whole month of Shawwal, but only the first two days are observed as public holidays. The Muslims usher in the first day of Aidilfitri by congregating at mosques for morning prayers and it is customary to greet Muslims with the traditional Malay greeting "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri" (that is said with a handshake) during Aidilfitri.

Pilgrimage Board commonly known as Lembaga Tabung Haji is the agency that manages hajj for Muslims in Malaysia. Tabung Haji services to Malaysian Muslims include:

• Providing Malaysians passport for pilgrimage
• Management of pilgrimage affairs
• Health services
• Courses on performing pilgrimage
• Transportation to and from the Holy Land
• Protection, supervision, welfare and security to pilgrims at the Holy Land