Muslim Middle Class Research Articles

Intertwining Beauty and Piety: Cosmetics, Beauty Treatments, and Ḥalāl Lifestyle in Urban Indonesia

This article discusses the intertwinement of beauty and piety among middle-class Muslim women in urban Indonesia through the use of cosmetics and beauty treatments within the broader trends of ḥalāl lifestyle. It uses an anthropological approach with case studies in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and Serang, the capital city of Banten Province. Jakarta and Serang were chosen because Jakarta is a picture-perfect example of an older area characterized by the abundance of middle-class Muslims and the vehemence of ḥalāl lifestyle, while Serang represents a newer area in this regard. Moreover, this article explores the understanding and practices of religious rituals, as well as the responses of urban middle-class Muslim women towards commodified goods and services, consumerism behavior, and communal piety. We argue that the use of cosmetics and beauty treatments has become one of the most glaring public expressions that has concurrently influenced the way urban middle-class Muslim women perceive themselves, beauty, and piety. In addition, we contend that the understanding and practices of beauty and piety are becoming increasingly complex in urban areas. Finally, we maintain that ḥalāl lifestyle has played an important role in strengthening Islamic identity in contemporary Indonesia.

Ruang dan Identitas Sosial: Reproduksi Identitas Kelas Menengah Muslim di Pesantren Ar Risalah Padang

This study discusses the reproduction of the social identity of the Muslim middle class through space; boarding school. Data were collected using interviews and observations. This study departs from the argument that the Indonesian Muslim middle class and the middle class in general have different characteristics. The findings of this study are that Islamic boarding schools have an influence on the social, political, and religious views of the middle class. Even the Muslim middle class has different religious practices and different socio-political views. This makes the face of the Indonesian middle class very diverse. The Indonesian middle class generally expresses their urban side closely with an educated urban life. The middle class presents themselves with local, urban and global values. Middle class identity is formed with values ​​oriented to religious-nationalism values.

Upper Middle-Class Muslims and Market-Oriented Umroh Program Dissemination on Social Media

The emergence of upper middle-class Muslims in Indonesia does display not only religious piety on the one hand but also new consumption patterns on the other. This change in new consumption patterns simultaneously influences Islamic business people to manage their business activities in new ways oriented to market logic. This article discusses the market-based Umroh program in contemporary Indonesia. Based on nethnographic work on social media, this study found that the Umroh business captures economic opportunities from the identity and lifestyle of upper-middle-class Muslims. For middle and upper-class Muslims in Indonesia, pilgrimage to the holy land is a matter of worship and an experience to enjoy other countries, which are their modern identities. Umroh businesses capture this Islamic expression to provide umroh services and tours to visit countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, this Umroh program is massively distributed through their social media channels.

Mainstreaming Religious Moderation in the Digital Space: An Examination of Islami.co Web Portal in the Perspective of Jürgen Habermas’ Communicative Rationality

The development of popular Islamic media in the digital era, associated with an authority shift from traditional to popular religion, has enhanced peoples’ ways of thinking. Ironically, conservative and radical Islamic models have dominated the digital space. Therefore, in response to this phenomenon, this research examines how the mainstreaming strategy of religious moderation is carried out by moderate groups, specifically a non-affiliated Islamic portal called Islami.co, with the tagline “Enlightening and Friendly Islamic Media.” This research also analyzed articles, concepts, and perspectives to determine whether they are in the moderate category using the Jürgen Habermas’ theory of communicative rationality. Furthermore, the essays in the islami.co were analyzed according to three kinds of validity claims, namely truth, accuracy, and honesty. This study concluded that mainstreaming religious moderation through this islami.co’s media significantly impacts the community as a filter from news content or thoughts that do not reflect the Islamic value of mercy to all mankind. Islami.co’s writers continuously endeavor to test conservative-radical Islamic narratives that develop in a society with logical (aqli) and religious (naqli) arguments presented with brief and uncomplicated explanations. The strategy of popular Islamic portals such as islami.co is quite acceptable to middle-class Muslims, as often preached by the fundamentalist groups. Therefore, it is very appropriate to direct islami.co’s target audience to readers from the general public. Keywords: Religious moderation, digital space, Islami.co, communicative rationality, religious authority.

Mediating role of socio-religious behavior on consumption pattern changes of middle-class Muslims: An analysis using SEM

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of socio-religious behavior on consumption pattern changes of middle-class Muslims in the new normal era. In terms of methodology, this study is a correlational survey research. Research data were collected through questionnaires as many as 553 middle-class Muslim respondents who live in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Reliability was accepted with cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and validity was accepted by confirmatory factor analysis. Data analysis and hypothesis testing were carried out through structural equation modeling and multiple regression. Two softwares (SPSS and LISREL) were used for statistical data processing. The results of the study indicate that the full mediation of socio-religious behavior was found in the relationship between religiosity, attitude, and consumption pattern changes, while in the relationship of subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and consumption pattern changes, socio-religious behavior was found as a partial mediation. In other words, the model proposed to form a fundamental change in consumption patterns of the middle-class Muslims does not work optimally. However, this study still finds an important thing that socio-religious behavior is able to mediate the relationship between religiosity, attitude, and consumption pattern changes.

URBAN SUFISM: SPIRITULITY EDUCATION FOR MIDDLE CLASS MUSLIM

The development of civilization does not mean ending the need for spirituality. The development of technology and the increasingly independent human life does not mean that the presence of God is not a necessity. Even amidst the increasingly glamorous millennial life, the need for spirituality is increasing. Islamic pop culture is followed by a religious spirit that is increasingly becoming the keyword and nowadays the need for spirituality is even more visible. In the midst of the aridity of worldly life, Sufism is an alternative answer by some classes of Muslim society. This research tries to explore how the development of urban Sufism is currently developing in our society. This type of research is literary research (library). Primary and secondary data sources are used as data. The results of the study show that the identity of middle-class Muslims in urban areas is experiencing a new chapter in the world of Sufism. Precisely after the New Order, along with the flow of globalization that gave birth to modernism, the urban middle-class Muslim Sufism movement appeared as the antithesis of the previously established conventional tarekat movement.

Doria Shafik: A Staunch Egyptian Feminist Ahead of Her Time—Damnatio Memoriae

Doria Shafik:A Staunch Egyptian Feminist Ahead of Her Time—Damnatio Memoriae Samia I. Spencer (bio) I was getting more and more conscious that Freedom is one entity—Freedom of Women being inseparable from Freedom of the Nation. I was convinced that there would be no free women in an occupied country and no occupied country with free women. Doria Shafik1 I decided to fight to the last drop of blood to break the chains shackling the women of my country in the invisible prison in which they continued to live, a prison, which being invisible, was all the more oppressive. Doria Shafik2 Today, if you ask educated and well-informed Egyptians who is Doria Shafik (1908-1975), no one is likely to know. If you ask the same question of Middle Eastern scholars or international feminists, the great majority will also have no idea. Yet in the middle of the twentieth century, Shafik was a household name in Egypt and beyond, not only as a dashing and controversial figure but, more importantly, as a renowned journalist, published poet and novelist, militant feminist, and political activist. Unlike [End Page 39] her distinguished mentor Huda Shaarawi (1879-1947)—the eminent grande dame of Egyptian and Arab feminism, and founder (1923) of the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU)—whose name has made it into academic circles and textbooks, Shafik has gone from the pinnacle of celebrity to the oubliette of history.3 This article will focus on the consistency of Shafik's principles and action throughout her life, and her unparalleled determination and courage as she sought to achieve equality, freedom, justice, and political rights for Egyptian women. The Early Years (1908-1928) Doria was born at the dawn of the twentieth century, December 14, 1908, when harem life was nearing its end and slavery recently banned (1889) and totally abolished (1904), yet her grandmother still owned two slaves. The third of a brood of six, she grew up in a middle-class Muslim family, her childhood spent between two provincial towns in the Nile Delta: Mansoura, where her father, a civil engineer, worked for the railroad; and Tanta, with her grandmother, to attend Notre Dame des Apôtres, the same French school where her mother was educated. In this conservative environment, the precautious and perceptive child developed the unique aspects of her identity: aesthetics and feminism. A gentle and affectionate daughter, Doria was close to her mother with whom she shared an appreciation for beauty and the arts. Watching the Nile from her window, she bonded with the river, its eternal flow arousing in her a yearning for the absolute and enhancing her predisposition for poetry. Socially, she was surrounded by women: a score of female servants, including her French-speaking Syrian nanny, and numerous relatives, friends, and family members. The conversations they shared and the stories they told raised many questions in the mind of [End Page 40] the bright young girl: Why were boys always more privileged than girls? Why did women resort to witchcraft to have sons, not daughters? Why was she not allowed to go to mosque, but her brothers could? Why did husbands take second wives? Reflecting on her observation of the prejudice, humiliation, and injustice experienced by women, especially within the institution of marriage, she hoped to evade that fate. Early on, the seeds of feminism were rooted in her mind and continued to grow as various events and encounters magnified it. Shortly after the traumatic experience of losing her mother at age thirteen, the teenager went to live with her broadminded and understanding father, whose job had taken him to the port city of Alexandria, Egypt's commercial and financial capital, its most modern and most cosmopolitan center.4 Discovering a different world and starting a distinct chapter of her life, Doria relished a newfound freedom in a vibrant multicultural urban setting. Moving to another French school, Saint Vincent de Paul, she focused on her studies, passing the Brevet national exam—equivalent to ninth grade in the United States—with highest honor. Beyond that level, no secondary education was available for girls.5 Undeterred, Doria and a friend decided to study on...

Pendidikan Sufistik Bagi Masyarakat Kelas Menengah Muslim (Konstruksi Identitas Keberagamaan Berbasis Tarekat)

<span lang="IN">Sufistic education and the rise of the tarekat community in Muslim middle class groups is a phenomenon that shows the rise of religion in the public sphere. The religious expression displayed by the Muslim middle class is a form of religious accommodation to current life which turns out to be able to work harmoniously. Even religion can be a solution to life on the problems experienced by modern society. This article explains that the sufistic education that was followed by the Muslim middle class became a medium to construct their religiousity. They make the tarekat an identity that distinguishes them from other Muslim communities. Sufistic education that is followed by Muslim middle class can be seen in two dimensions, <em>First</em>, the individual dimension that emphasizes the efforts of Muslim middle class to carry out the practice of the tarekat in order to build piety, improve themselves, build better character, uphold the values moral and religious values </span><span lang="IN">in daily life. <em>Second</em>, the social dimension is about the needs of the Muslim middle class to join in the tarekat community in order to build a collective identity that functions strategically in a better social life</span>

Autonomous care? Muslim transnational giving networks and perceptions of welfare responsibilities in India

In Uttar Pradesh, many middle-class Muslims increasingly view local and transnational religious giving as a pragmatic way to create tangible socioeconomic improvements in the lives of underprivileged Muslims and mitigate their growing marginalization in India. How does their turn toward transnational religious giving influence their perception of the state’s responsibilities regarding social welfare provision? Based on ethnographic fieldwork research with registered non-profit organizations collecting and distributing Islamic alms ( zakat and sadaqa) in the state of Uttar Pradesh, this article examines how local and transnational religious giving affects the ways in which members of these Muslim philanthropic organizations imagine citizenship and welfare responsibilities in India. Distributive practices within these organizations show a dual focus on fostering Muslims’ economic independence and self-sufficiency by mobilizing local and transnational charitable networks on the one hand and improving access to state welfare on the other. The co-existence of these somewhat divergent strategies suggests that while the state is considered partial and uncaring, it also remains viewed as an indispensable welfare provider. More generally, these observations bring forth a discussion on the extent and effects of the transnationalisation and privatisation of welfare in globally connected South-Asia.

HISTORY, GOALS, AND HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN INTEGRATED ISLAMIC SCHOOL

Towards the 21st century, there are quite interesting changes regarding the trend of education in Indonesia. The dominance of Islamic educational institutions consisting of islamic boarding schools, madrasas, and schools began to shift, this was due to the emergence of Integrated Islamic Schools throughout the country. This Islamic educational institution has spread throughout Indonesia, first established by activists of the ITB campus mosque and UI. Such a rapid distribution of schools shows that the Integrated Islamic School is a new trend of Islamic education in Indonesia, this school emphasizes the education of religious moral values and excellent modern education today, this school also provides a new pattern regarding the reislamization of the Indonesian Muslim middle class. So the author is interested in conducting research related to the Integrated Islamic Coding Institute. In this study, the author uses a qualitative descriptive approach, which the author uses library research, namely collecting books related to the object of research or research that is literature. The Integrated Islamic School has the aim offostering students to become intelligent, noble muttaqien people who have skills that provide benefits and benefits for mankind, to achieve these goals, to implement good human resource management which includes various activities and processes namely, qualifications, recruitment patterns, employee orientation, employee wages, employee rules, coaching and development, employee assessment, employee career and rank, and welfare.

Gendered Moralities and Cinematic Representations of Indonesian Muslims and their Arab Others

ABSTRACT In Indonesia, the trope of the Arab Muslim has long served as a counterpoint to the Indonesian Muslim, who is imagined as more tolerant and peaceful. The enduring force of this trope is evident in the important role it continues to play in 21st-century Indonesian cinema. This article discusses two films in which the contrast between Arab and Indonesian Muslims plays a prominent role: Ayat-ayat Cinta (Verses of Love) and the Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (When Love Glorifies God) duology. It considers the films’ place in an Indonesian Muslim middle-class cultural politics that has evolved post 9/11. By depicting Indonesian Islam as more tolerant of, yet also distinct from, Western gender norms, the films work to distance Indonesian Muslims from the stereotypes of violence and misogyny amplified by 9/11 and reassure middle-class Muslims in Indonesia that their interpretations of the faith are somehow superior.

HALAL PRODUCTS AND FORMAL PIETY MUSLIM MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE IN THE ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS RECEPTION THEORY


 The Muslim middle class is a religious group that lives in commodified Islam and is self-commodified with Islam for the benefit of life. Their presence represents two entities, the middle class is attached to material and Muslims are attached to religiosity. These two entities emphasize their existence as new religious communities. This article is an exploratory-verificative research from the results of field research on the Muslim middle class, especially in the study of religious behavior (religious performance). This article focuses on analyzing research gaps, data, theory and theorizing of research results into the scientific development of the sociology of religion. The analytical framework used is the analysis of religion as a tradition and doctrinal reception. With this analytical framework, this article finds several conclusions: The Muslim middle class has a strong dependence on halal products. There are two models of halal in products and social cognition of the Muslim middle class, namely: Islamic products and Islamicized products. Halal status is a driving factor that directs the consumption and consumption of halal products for the middle class, providing assurance of religious morals and an Islamic life. The Muslim middle class also expresses popular culture and formal/symbolic piety in public spaces. Formal piety includes: Islamic pants, beards, syar'i hijab, syar'i robes, veils, syar'i fashion, syar'i cosmetics and other economic artifacts. By characterizing the consumption of halal products and formal piety, the religious behavior of the Muslim middle class is in the low tradition plains. Religious traditions themselves are formed from clashes and greetings from the reality or habitus around them. In piety mapping, the Muslim middle class is in the Islamic category in the form of active piety.”

HALAL INDUSTRIES

This article deals with the marketing strategies of halal certified products by Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) amid the rising middle-class Muslims in contemporary Java, Indonesia. These SMEs’ entrepreneurs compromise of the middle-class Muslims who are particularly concerned with fashion industries, snacks, and beverages with halal-certified label. Taking into account Benefit Opportunities Cost Risk (BOCR)-Analytic Network Process (ANP) as an approach, this article tries to identify both the proliferation of halal-certified products and the dominant mixed-factors in marketisation of halal products, including the marketing strategies used by SMEs. This article concludes that promotion—both conventional and digital—is widely essential, besides the product, price, and place aspects. Along with the rise of the middle-class Muslim in contemporary Indonesia, the commodification of religious symbols through halal-certification is one important factor that encourages the production of Muslim middle-class economy in contemporary Indonesia.

Meta Analisis Studi Kelas Menengah Muslim di Indonesia

The emergence of the Islamic populism movement marked by the "212 Movement" is one of the reasons why the Indonesian Muslim middle class is interesting to be discussed again. Studies on the Muslim middle class in Indonesia have basically been carried out since the 1970s until now. With the abundance of literature on the Muslim middle class in Indonesia, on this basis this article aims to map out existing studies of the Muslim middle class. This article is a meta-analysis study that uses a literature study approach. Literature such as journals and articles are collected through online tools such as google and publis or perish 7 by searching using two keywords namely “Indonesian Middle Class” and “Indonesian Muslim Middle Class”. This study finds that there are three patterns of study of the Muslim middle class in Indonesia: first, the study of the politics of the Muslim middle class; the second is a study of the ideology of the Muslim middle class in Indonesia; The third study is about the lifestyle of the Muslim middle class. There were 12 articles that discussed the politics of the Muslim middle class in Indonesia. For the study of the ideology of the Muslim middle class found as many as 5 articles. Meanwhile, 39 articles were found discussing the lifestyle of the Muslim middle class in Indonesia. In the end, this study concludes that the study of the Muslim middle class in Indonesia is more dominant in discussing behavioral aspects than theoretical and conceptual aspects.

BRANDS OF PIETY? Islamic Commodification of Polygamous Community in Indonesia

The interrelation between the Islamic faith and consumerism has evoked abundant of religious expressions among Indonesian Muslims as well as identity contests and public piety. Despite the fact that consumerism is irrelevant to many developed countries and has shifted into post-consumerism culture, Indonesian Muslims are keen on practicing consumerism in every aspect of life, including religious practices. This article discusses religious commodification aspects within the practice of polygamy among Indonesian urban Muslims, especially the trend of polygamous marriage promoted on online media . It is through virtual ethnography methods on two distinctive polygamous groups, namely Forum Poligami Indonesia (Indonesian Polygamy Forum) and Rabbanian Family , that the data were gathered. We propose that polygamy has become commodified like any other economic objects due to freedom of expression brought about by democratic atmosphere and development of online media. Moreover, the rise of popular Islam that has conservative tendency, as expressed by middle-class Muslims in Indonesia, has become a strong indication of such a practice.

Rekognisi Pemberdayaan Ekonomi Masyarakat Berbasis Zakat Community Development di Lembaga Amil Zakat Al-Azhar Surabaya

We cannot underestimate the potential of ZISWAF funds (Zakat, Infaq, Alms, and Waqf) among Muslims in Indonesia. In the last 10 years, almost all of the emergence of ZISWAF management and channeling agencies in Indonesia have transformed itself into a new business competition. Many factors cause or underlie the emergence of ZISWAF management institutions which are quite complex. Besides the significant economic growth and the religious awareness of the Muslim middle class and above, the management of ZISWAF funds in Indonesia is still classified as traditional. The purpose of writing this journal is to find out about how zakat managers utilize the existing ZISWAF funds for people who need them and of course, they are right on target. So that later there will be many people or muzakki who believe that the funds they have provided are well managed by the zakat management institution. In addition, another goal is for the community to feel the impact of this empowerment so that the community can be more effective, for example with this empowerment program, where initially the community could not develop the skills they had with the assistance and training from this program, the community would later more able to generate their income. That way the unemployment rate and poverty in the community will be slightly reduced.

Factors That Drive the Choice of Schools for Children in Middle-Class Muslim Families in Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

Every different community has different family educational goals. The educational goals can encourage forming a lifestyle that becomes the identity of a particular community, as is the case in the middle-class Muslim family community in Indonesia. While there is no caste system in Indonesia, middle-class Muslim communities have found ways to merge Islamic values and privilege into a new subgroup. This phenomenon mainly appears in urban areas with more advanced socio-economic development than other areas, such as Yogyakarta. This study explores factors that drive the choice of schools for children of middle-class Muslim families in Indonesia. We used qualitative research methods in the data collection and data analysis process. Participants in this study are seven parents from several modern Islamic-based elementary schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The results show, factors that drive the choice of schools for children of the middle-class family in Indonesia are connectivity between the goals of education in schools and the goals of family education is to build good children’s morals based on Islamic values and to provide a balanced provision of both religious and non-religious knowledge for the future welfare of their children.

Religious Bourgeois Lifestyle of Celebrity Hijrah: Reading the Resurrection of the Muslim Middle Class Based on Cultural Imperalism and Global Economic Factors

This paper attempts to analyze the bourgeois religious lifestyle of celebrities' hijrah from the perspective of globalization by focusing on how imperialism influences this lifestyle and why it is in line with the global economy. The theory used is the globalization theory of Gill Branston and Roy Stafford. The qualitative research approach is based on online and printed literature from books, websites, journals, and relevant research results. After the data is collected, the data analysis uses the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, namely data reduction, data display, interpretation, and conclusion. This study concludes that a bourgeois religious lifestyle is a form of Islamic identity for hijrah celebrities. The lifestyle displayed is bourgeois but does not leave Islam a symbol of Piety. The interpretation of the hijrah celebrity towards globalization is to construct it as a religious bourgeois identity. Cultural imperialism is a factor in forming the religious bourgeois lifestyle of celebrities who migrate in the identity displayed in the public space outside the network and in the public space in the network. The bourgeois religious lifestyle of hijrah celebrities can be in line with the interests of the global economy because they both need and complement each other.

The Islamic Lifestyle of the Muslim Middle Economy Class and the Opportunities for the Halal Tourism Industry in Indonesia

In the last two decades there have been several social changes, such as the rise of industries based on sharia provisions from banking products, cosmetics, as well as Sharia tourism. Along with this growth, there have also been changes in attitudes and lifestyles such as the widespread use of the hijab which is often called the hijab revolution. This does not only occur in the lower economic class but also in the middle economic class. The economic lifestyle of the Muslim middle class also affects the demand for halal products. This paper aims to explain the relationship between the lifestyle of the Muslim economic middle class and its relationship with the opportunities for the halal tourism industry in Indonesia. The research method used is qualitative with a literature study and a descriptive approach. The results of this study are the relationship between middle class status, lifestyle and sharia products in Indonesia is very close. Halal tourism is also part of an industry that seeks to capture the opportunities generated by this market. Seeing the relationship between the middle class and the opportunities possessed by Halal Tourism is very large, and in the future it is expected that various industries that support sharia tourism will emerge, from lodging, restaurants, to various types of culinary delights that adapt to the needs of the Muslim middle class, which is always growing from year to year.

Consumption and Piety: Raising the Curtain on the Islamization of Taste and Fashion in Kendari's Muslim Middle Class

The social phenomenon that was born from the expression of piety of the Muslim middle class in Southeast Sulawesi is no longer only concerned with Ansich’s faith. This is interesting to explore because it involes specific actors and capital (industry), and furthermore it also involves a religious dimension in which the Muslim community struggles with a space that continues to experience globalization and economic contestation in the midst of becoming devout Muslims. In this paper, Bayat’s post- Islamic approach was used to portray the atmosphere of the trend of Islamization of tastes and fashion of the Muslim middle class in Kendari City.The results of this research found that the relationship between consumption and piety in the Muslim midle class community in Southeast Sulawesi has occurred in the space of Islamization through three popular Islamic da’wah institutions: Wahdah Islam, Muaz bin Jabal and and the congregation of the recitation of Abdullah Taslim. The resulting segmentation can be seen in the Muslim middle class in the city of Kendari who like to use Islamic symbols in fashion and halal food. They are scattered in government institutions, bahtera mas hospital, and other government offices, as well as public campuses in the region. The resulting impact can be seen in the development of sharia-labeled industries and stalls related to fashion and halal food. The owner of the sharia industry in Kendari City is related ideologically and fiqh with the three groups of da’wah. This indicates that the trend of Islamization of Muslim societies does not only concern politics and the state. There is a preference for the soft (non-political) Islamic path where the satisfaction of Islamization is achieved through the inclusion of a sharia identity in daily life.
 Keywords: piety, Islamization, taste and fashion