The Muslim Religiosity-Personality Inventory (MRPI):Towards Understanding Differences in the Islamic Religiosity among the Malaysian Youth

As Malaysia continues towards its goal ofVision 2020, the youth oftoday move closer to becomingthe first leaders of a fully developed Malaysia. Currently, however, youth s - the Muslim youth inparticular - lifestyles are changing and there is great concern over the socially precariousbehaviours in which many young people are engaging. Though Islam and its rich history areevidence of the efficacy of religion in upwardly transforming human beings in any time or place,the current prevalence of a variety of social problems among Muslims has raised many questionsin relation to the Islamic understanding and practice. As such, there is an urgent need tounderstand and assess the key areas of the re ligious commitment among the youth - also known as religiosity - and begin to explore in the what ways it rnight act in as an asset within the nationbuilding process. In response to this need, the Institute for Community and Peace Studies (PEKKA)at UPM, along with the researchers from UKM:, undertook a two-and-a-half year IRPA initiative todevelop the religio~ity no~ms ~o: t~e ~elected groups of Malaysian Muslim youth as a first steptoward understandmg their religiosity in a broader con text. Overall, the three-phase initiativeaimed to: I) define religiosity from the Islamic perspective; 2) develop a measurement instrumentfor asse~sing Islamic religiosity; and 3) obtain religiosity normed scores for the selected groupsof Muslim youth. The current paper presents the Islamic religiosity model and instrumentconstructs, along with some initial findings that indicate relatively higher scores by the respondentson the Islamic ~or~dview const:uct (Isl~mic.understanding) than on the Religious Personalityconstruct (application of Islamic teachmgs m everyday life). This research ultimately aims toinform policy makers and practitioners at all levels of youth work with the goal of developinginterventions to enhance the aspects of the youth religiosity.