This research study explored the problem the Malay identity and society in the discourse of Malay politics. The purpose of this study was to understand how the discourse of Islam "Hadhari" as spoken by prime minister and UMNO president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the years 2004-2008 demonstrated the hegemony of his administration and party. This study assumed that discourses function within society and is only understood in the "interplay of social situation, action, actor and societal structures" (Meyer, 2001, p. 21). The study also assumed ideologies as the social representations that have specific social functions for social groups (van Dijk, 2001). van Dijk (2001) proposed that discourse is privileged in the (re)production of ideologies as, unlike other social practices, properties of text and talk "allow social members to actually "express" or "formulate" ideological beliefs" (p. 192). For the purposes of this study, the critical discourse analysis approach of ideological discourse analysis was used to observe the micro level of ideological (re)production being expressed by UMNO President Badawi in speeches. 19 speeches given by Badawi in various communicative events throughout 2004-2008 were selected to infer the ideological discourse of Islam "Hadhari," the UMNO ideological approach to Islamism of the Malays, in this study referred to variously as Malay Islamism or Islamist Malayness. The study found that UMNO sought to persuade and influence the divided Malay constituency by engaging PAS in the discourse of the Malay Islamist state through the party ideology of Islam "Hadhari." The study advanced two conclusions: First, Malayness is the constant conflict and correspondence with ethnicity and religiosity, Malay and Muslim; and second, a theory of Malay identity should extend to describe Malayness as a civilization, as proposed by Milner (2007). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]