Religion and History in Brunei

Brunei Darussalam is an absolute monarchy under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and its official state philosophy, Melayu Islam Beraja or Malay Islamic Monarchy, fuses Malay culture, Islamic religion and monarchical rule into a single governing ideology taught in schools and invoked across public life. The constitution names the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam the official religion, and the Sultan, who holds the title Head of the Islamic Faith, is advised on religious matters by an Islamic Religious Council, giving the monarchy itself a formal religious as well as political role unusual even among Muslim-majority states.

Ethnic Chinese and indigenous minority communities practice Buddhism and Christianity relatively openly in private and in longstanding places of worship, and the government generally does not interfere with their internal religious affairs. Public religious life outside Islam is more constrained: proselytizing to Muslims, importing non-Islamic religious materials for public distribution, and public celebration of non-Muslim festivals are all restricted by law, drawing a firm line between private minority worship and any public non-Muslim religious expression.