Malaysian Malay or
Malaysians of Malay Muslim origin (
Malaysian:
Melayu Malaysia,
Jawi:
ملايو مليسيا) are an
ethnoreligious group that are recognised as Malay by the government by using the term of
Malay race. The Malaysian Malays form the largest ethnic group in the country with 50% of the population or 19 million people. In Malaysia there are two types of Malay classification that is
Melayu Anak Jati (refers to ethnic Malays that are native to the region) and
Melayu Anak Dagang (refers to non-Malays that migrated to the region and later assimilated into Malay culture). The
Melayu Anak Jati is made up of Malays that have long been established in the country such as
Kedahan Malays,
Bruneian Malays and others while
Melayu Anak Dagang is made up of mostly native Indonesian (primarily
Javanese,
Banjarese,
Acehnese and
Buginese) but also includes
Chams of
Cambodia and
Vietnam as well as other ethnic groups that have assimilated into the Malay culture and follow or convert to the religion of
Islam (see
Malayisation). All Malaysian Malays are considered Muslim by the Malaysian government (except for some cases like
Lina Joy), majority followed the
Shafi'i branch of
Sunni Islam while very small and low-profiled minority followed
Twelver Shia Islam and
Christianity. Most Malaysian Malay are of
Austronesian stock but there are many Malays that intermarried with
Arabs,
Indians,
Siamese and
Chinese as well as
Europeans, making Malaysian Malay an ethnic group of diverse origins.