Exploring Nonreligious Identities Among Malaysian University Students: An Exploratory Study of an Emerging Subculture

ABSTRACT This article offers an exploratory, mixed‐methods account of how nonreligious orientations are articulated and managed by a specific subpopulation of university students in Malaysia's Klang Valley. Because open atheism and public nonreligious carry social and legal risks in Malaysia, the study relied on an anonymous online survey disseminated through a combination of purposive and snowball recruitment, complemented by narrative comments and a small number of follow‑up interviews. The resulting dataset ( N = 397) is not a probabilistic or representative sample of “Malaysian university students” and therefore does not support population‑level prevalence claims. Instead, it illuminates patterns of belief, doubt, and critique within a topic‑engaged and urban student network where nonreligious identities appear as an emergent subculture. Within this sample, theism remains common but often coexists with ambivalence and individualized questioning; explicit atheist self‑identification is uncommon, while nonreligious and selective skepticism toward religious authority and institutions are more visible. Interpreted in light of secularization and nonreligion studies, the findings suggest a context‑dependent and socially constrained form of secularizing change in higher‑education settings, best understood as uneven, strategic, and relational rather than a linear decline of religion. The article concludes with methodological implications for researching “hidden” nonreligious populations in Muslim‑majority societies.