Muslim Minority Research Articles

Problematika Dakwah Lembaga Pendidikan dan Dakwah Addakwah Sumatera Utara dalam Meningkatkan Ibadah Shalat Berjamaah di Daerah Minoritas Muslim Desa Penampen Kecamatan Tiganderket Kabupaten Karo

This study aims to determine the problems faced by the Addakwah Institute of North Sumatra in increasing congregational prayer services in Muslim minority areas, especially in Penampen Village, Tiganderket District, Karo Regency. This study uses a qualitative method with a type of field research. This study uses data collection techniques by means of interviews, observation, and documentation. The informants in this study were the Director of the North Sumatra Addakwah Institute, the dai of the North Sumatra Addakwah Institute who preached in the area, and the people of Penampen Village. The results of the research conducted in this study show: first, the implementation of da'wah by the Addakwah Institute of North Sumatra is very good, especially in terms of socializing with the community to gain the trust of the community because their trust is an important part of a relationship. After a relationship is created, the preachers will invite the public to pray in congregation at the mosque. In the implementation of da'wah each of the elements of da'wah has its own role, namely competent preachers, mad'u who are the objects of da'wah, effective methods, materials that are in accordance with needs, and media that assist in the spread of da'wah. Second, in carrying out da'wah there are several problems, the biggest problems of da'wah come from the community itself because they have different backgrounds and also the community does not fully accept the da'wah that is being carried out. Limited methods and media are also a problem in this regard. The preachers also have low self-confidence in carrying out their da'wah. The three solutions that Dai can use are preaching from house to house and providing understanding to the public about Islamic teachings and utilizing methods and media by relying on technology that can be used even if they don't have an internet network. At the same time increasing self-confidence in the da'i itself.

“In Other News”: China’s International Media Strategy on Xinjiang—CGTN and New China TV on YouTube

In the Western world China stands accused of severe human rights violations regarding its treatment of the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in its northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This is the first article to systematically analyze the response of China’s international state media to these allegations. By studying the YouTube channels of two leading Chinese state media, China Global Television Network (CGTN) and New China TV (operated by Xinhua News Agency), it presents an in-depth understanding of how China’s foreign-facing propaganda works in a crucial case. The quantitative content analysis highlights how China reacted to increasing international (mostly United States) pressure regarding its Xinjiang policies by producing higher volumes of videos and putting out new counternarratives. The qualitative analysis that follows provides in-depth treatment of the most important discourses that Chinese media engage in to salvage the nation’s international image, namely those on development, culture, nature, and terrorism. It finds several ways of countering criticism, ranging from presenting a positive image of China, in line with traditional propaganda guidelines and President Xi Jinping’s assignment to state media to “tell the China story well,” to more innovative approaches. Thus the development narrative becomes more personalized, the discourse on culture supports the “heritagization process” to incorporate minority cultures into a harmonized “Chinese civilization,” representations of nature firmly tie Xinjiang into the discourse of “beautiful China,” the “terror narrative” strategically employs shocking footage in an attempt to gain international “discourse power,” etc. The article provides an up-to-date picture of China’s state media strategy on a highly contentious international issue.

The Dakwah Communication Model of the Post-Persecution Muslim Minority: The Case of the Restoration of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Congregation (JAI)

Ahmadiyya is a Muslim minority with distinctive teachings contradictory to mainstream Islam that has been entrenched in Indonesia since the Dutch colonial era. After independence, the sect enjoyed the freedom of religion and belief under the law's guarantee and the state's power during the reign of the first two presidents (1945-1998). However, the power of orthodox Muslims strengthened during the Reformation Order, and in 2005, a fatwa regarding the heresy of the Ahmadiyya was issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). This was followed by the Joint Decree of the Three High State Institutions, which limited the movement of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Congregation (JAI). Regional regulations emerged, followed by a violent crusade against this sect. Consequently, this research examined the communication model used by the Ahmadiyya Muslim minority to preach post-persecution. The qualitative methods employed for data collection were observation, interviews, and documentation, which intensively occurred in October-December 2019 and August 2022. The respondents were six JAI central/branch managers and three missionaries. The research results show that the Ahmadiyya teachings naming Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (MGA) as a prophet are the trigger for persecution. Although orthodox Muslims allow the unhindered performance of activities, providing Ahmadiyya is labeled a religion and not a part of Islam, JAI refused because it believes MGA is the non-shari'at Prophet. After the persecution, JAI proposed four models of dakwah communication that internally strengthen Ahmadi beliefs and invite sympathy and new converts.
 
 Received: 24 January 2023 / Accepted: 12 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023

Preference of Non-Muslim Customers towards Islamic Banks within Muslim Minority Areas in Indonesia

Preference of Non-Muslim Customers towards Islamic Banks within Muslim Minority Areas in Indonesia

Halal Food in Muslim Minority Tourism Destinations: Perspective of Toraja, Indonesia

Despite growing scholarly interest in halal tourism, there is still a gap on the study on the availability of halal food in areas where Muslims are not the dominant demographic. This has become an unresolved problem in the Indonesian tourism sector. Therefore, this current research examined the availability of halal food and the potential for developing halal cuisine in Tana Toraja,Indonesia. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation from four informants consisting of the Tourism officers, the Indonesian Ulema Council, food sellers, and visitors. The data were analyzed through a process of data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings revealed that Toraja, as a Muslim minority region, has limited access to halal food. Furthermore, the research identified a significant opportunity and potential for halal cuisine development through collaboration among stakeholders. Consequently, it is imperative that the government and tourism managers prioritize the availability of halal food in Tana Toraja.

Big data-mediated repression: a novel form of preemptive repression in China’s Xinjiang region

ABSTRACT Governments repress using different logics. Responsive repression is employed in the aftermath of dissent activities. Preemptive repression is applied in anticipation of challenges to the state's authority. This article brings a novel insight into the mechanism of preemptive repression by giving analytical weight to big data analytics. It is shown that a new type of preemptive repression has emerged in China's Xinjiang region. While targeted repression is generally associated with specific opposition groups, with the use of big data technology, China is now able to apply targeted repression against millions of Muslim minorities by processing data to predict dissent behaviour, which constitutes a radical transformation of preemptive repression. This article defines this mode of repression as ‘a techno-panoptic form of repression’ in which human behaviour is reduced to data and big data analytics becomes an instrument through which the state gains hyper-agency.

The everyday dimensions of stigma. Morofobia in everyday life of daughters of Maghrebi-Spanish couples in Granada and Barcelona (Spain)

Negative attitudes towards Muslim minorities are an increasingly common phenomenon in many European countries. This stigma is often associated with religious discrimination; on others, it has a more marked racial connotation. Based on biographical interviews with 19 daughters of mixed Maghrebi-Spanish families in Granada and Barcelona (Spain), this article disentangles the notion of stigma, showing how the experiences of these young women are characterized by a stratified mix of racial, ethnic, and religious discriminations that, together, exemplify how Morofobia takes place in Spain. Our findings highlight how these women are not only passively affected by this stigma, but have learned to cope with it, showing a high degree of reflexivity and acquired social skills that inform their agency. The article encourages the adoption of a cultural sociological perspective to study the meaning of stigma from an emic perspective. In so doing, it sheds light on the everyday consequences of the social transformation of national identities in a historical period dominated by the resurgence of nationalism and ‘bordering regimes.’

Islamophobic Discourses in India During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case of Tablighi Jamaat

ABSTRACT Islamophobia is a hot issue in the world nowadays. This study aimed to analyse the discourses which were produced against Muslims and Islam during the novel coronavirus outbreak in India, where the Muslim minority group Tablighi Jamaat was targeted and held responsible for spreading the virus. The study employed Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse selected tweets from Indian politicians, government dignitaries, and common Indian users to find out Islamophobic themes and ideological structures in their discourses. The researcher hypothesizes that Islamophobia is an integral feature of Indian political communication which is also obvious in their discursive and rhetorical devices. The researcher purposively selected 50 of the most controversial tweets by Indian politicians, government officials, and common Indian Twitter users against Muslims and Islam and carried out a critical discourse analysis through political discourse strategies by Wodak’s (2014). The findings of the study reveal that Indians use discriminatory language against Muslims and Islam to create a difference of “us versus them” and by using anti-Islamic strategies and Islamophobic remarks against the Muslims of India and propagating a common belief in Indians that Muslims and Islam are the main culprit of the COVID-19 outbreak in India.

INDIA: CONFLICT WITH MINORITIES IN THE CONVENTIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEM. THE STATUS OF MUSLIMS

Hindu-Muslim conflict and riots in India are enduring intergroup conflicts in south Asia, destabilizing the region for a long time. Despite having federal democracy and secular nationalism in the political system of India, the state and its various technology of power take sides with religious groups abetting the persecution of minority Muslims as religious or ethnic groups. Among the various ethnic groups and communities living in India, Muslims are among the most deprived communities in contemporary times. In the issue of minority conflict, a permanent solution in the federal system of government has become a dream. This paper analyses India’s divergent political systems and state ideology and its failure and success in respective cases to counter communal and ethnic violence. We argue that, rather than focusing on the weakness of the existing political systems of India, the common failure to adequate power sharing can better explain these conflicts and successive persecution of minority Muslims. Keywords: Minority, Conflict, India, Political System, Muslim, Community.

Integrationism vs. rejectionism: revisiting the history of Islamist activism in coastal Kenya

ABSTRACT In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kenya’s coastal region saw the rise of Islamist activism(s). Revisiting this rise, this article traces the history of two contrasting politico-religious groups seeking to address the historical marginalisation of Kenyan Muslim communities: the Mombasa-based Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK) and the southern coastal Ansar Sunnah movement. While the IPK accepted the Kenyan nation-state and sought to empower Kenya’s Muslim minority via the electoral process, the ‘Ansaris’ promoted a rejectionist agenda fundamentally opposed to democracy and the conventional state. Re-investigating the origins and the evolution of these two antithetical projects, our article provides two fieldwork-based contributions, drawing on key informant interviews. First, we tackle several historiographically unsettled questions concerning the biographies of prominent politico-religious entrepreneurs like Khalid Balala and Abdulaziz Rimo. Second, we provide a counterpoint to a growing body of literature focussing on the gradual emergence of a coastal jihadist network. While not denying the significance of this network, we show that the local rise of jihadism has been accompanied by equally important processes of moderation away from violence and exclusivism. Overall, our article therefore underlines the multi-facetted and non-linear dynamics of Islamist activism in coastal Kenya and the wider East African Region.

Arrival of legal Salafism and struggle for recognition in Germany—reflection and adaptation processes within the German da'wa movement between 2001 and 2022

AbstractThe article investigates the transformation within a specific branch of German Salafism from a publicly-assertiveda'wa(proselytizing) to a politically accommodating and legal advocacy movement. In doing so, a process analysis that focuses on internal and reflexive narrations among Salafi leaders and lay members, through a three year-long mosque-based ethnography (2018–2021) and textual analysis (2008–2022), is employed. Previous studies focused predominately on the “Salafi growth phase” (2005–2015) in Germany that is associated with the attraction of exclusive group boundaries, flat hierarchies and informal networks. Less research exists on the current “decline phase”, which has commenced a re-orientation and critical reflection on past strategies and new ways of civic engagement and legal pragmatism. By exploring this new phase, the article integrates a longitudinal dimension into conventional research protocols on contemporary Salafism. The paper concludes with a discussion on the converging struggles for recognition among Muslim and other religious minorities in Europe, while linking these transformations to domestic opportunity structures rather than transnational reconfigurations of so-called “global Salafism”.

Understanding aspirations among Muslim youth in India through Sequential mixed-methods design

This article is a note on the research methods employed during the author’s doctoral research on the topic of aspirations and social mobility in north-India. Looking into the question of employment based aspirations of youth from the minority Muslim community in Delhi, the article employs a mixed-methods approach. The research relies on an older qualitative work by the author in a segregated area in Delhi, on the same themes, to inform the questions of a quantitative study, based on the survey method. The results of the survey are enriched by adding depth and nuance through a follow up qualitative round, employing the life-history method. This article uses the concept ‘frustrated freedom’ developed in the context of Mozambique and Guatemala to analyse the results obtained from the mixed- methods design. The article argues that while aspirations and claims for upward mobility (or agency) of Muslim youth are high, despite consistent socio-economic and political marginalization of the community in India, their ability to achieve these aspirations remains low. This is primarily due to the limited opportunity structures available for them, particularly for the youth living in segregated spaces in Delhi.

Conquest to Conversion

North Africa (west of Egypt) is a compelling locale to explore how and when a Muslim minority became the Muslim majority. Previous scholarly approaches to medieval religious change rely almost exclusively on much later written sources, and as a result, little is understood about the religious landscape in which believers operated in. This article examines critically the material evidence for mosque construction and church abandonment and proposes certain tipping points in the process by which Islam become the dominant religion. While mosque construction reveals more about state and elite religious investment than the believers who may have used them, other forms of evidence, including funerary evidence, dietary practices and inscribed material culture, occasionally give us an intimate glimpse into the practices of simple believers. The evidence shows that the chronology of religious change differs between those regions under Byzantine rule (eastern Algeria, Tunisia, coastal Libya), and those ruled by Berber chiefdoms in late antiquity. Much of the latter converted in the 8th century, whereas the late 9th century marks the mass conversion of town dwellers from the Byzantine core and a first period of crisis for Christianity. This early conversion was an important factor in the collapse of the caliphate in North Africa and the emergence of successor states that used Islam as the main idiom through which to establish and legitimize their right to rule.

Halal Tourism Potential in Muslim Minority Areas (A Case Study in Indonesia)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the potential that Ngada Regency has as a Muslim minority area in developing halal tourism, as well as the efforts that must be made to support this potential so that it can be applied. Research Methodology: The research method used is descriptive qualitative research. Primary data sources were obtained through interviews with fourteen respondents, including; the Indonesian Ulema Council of Ngada Regency, the Ministry of Islamic Religion of Ngada Regency, the Ngada Regency Tourism Office, Islamic religious leaders, and local Muslim tourists. Results: The results of this study show that Ngada Regency has the opportunity to implement halal tourism, judging from the tourism potential it has, including; marine parks of 17 islands, beaches, mountains, hills, waterfalls, craters, hot springs, and traditional villages. The available tourist attractions are the main attractions and characteristics that distinguish Ngada Regency from other districts in East Nusa Tenggara. Then, judging from the enthusiasm of local Muslim tourists visiting tourist destinations, Ngada Regency has the opportunity to implement halal tourism. However, the facilities and infrastructure available in tourist destinations and lodging places must follow halal tourism principles. Limitations: This study has limited data coverage in an Eastern Indonesia region that has a Muslim minority demographic. Contributions: The study is the first to examine the potential of halal tourism in eastern Indonesia with the condition of the Muslim minority population. Novelty: This study makes a valuable contribution to the study of the development of halal tourism in eastern Indonesia, which has a Muslim minority demographic.

Reclaiming the Umma from the Margins: The Case of Türkiye’s Hüda-Par

This paper investigates the relationship between an ethnic Muslim minority identity and transnational Muslim solidarity through the case study of HÜDA-PAR,1 the most organized political Islamic organization and the second-largest political party native to Southeast Türkiye. In this paper, it is scrutinized how the concept of ummah motivates the domestic/ideological, national, and transnational political discourse and initiatives of HÜDA-PAR. Based on interviews with senior members of the party, it is clear that HÜDA-PAR views “Islam as nationalism” while also adopting the ummah as a mechanism to voice the aspirations for greater Kurdish rights and interests. As a part of examining the party’s ideological position, the first section explores how ummah became an empowering notion within a national Turkish political structure. Section two illustrates the way the notion was used as a legitimizing force within the religiously conservative Kurdish social structure. The third section examines the notion’s unifying role with like-minded Pan-Islamic groups within the region they operate. The article also addresses the ambiguities that a mostly abstract and idealist ummahist approach to modern politics brings when faced with Kurdish nationalism, the regional realpolitik, and democratic pluralism.

Практика застосування норм ісламського сімейного права в окремих країнах Європи та досвід України

Ukraine is a secular state, which is provided for by the Constitution and a number of laws. Religious rites of marriage are not the basis for a woman and a man to have the rights and obligations of a spouse. Nevertheless, there is a need to determine how religious marriages are perceived in Ukraine. This article examines the application of Islamic law in the secular legal systems of Ukraine and other European countries with the aim of determining its problems and prospects in the domestic legal system. As a sample for comparison, we took some of the most problematic aspects of Islamic law and its application in European countries, in particular with the largest Muslim communities (the activities of the Sharia Councils in the United Kingdom, the problems of recognizing polygamous marriages in France, the marriage and divorce practices in Germany and Finland). We studied a few exemplary cases from Ukrainian judicial practice, which allowed us to understand how Ukrainian courts consider the issue of recognition of religious Muslim marriages concluded in Ukraine and abroad. Thus, we discovered in many respects the general trends in the regulation of family legal relations among European Muslim minorities. Just like in UK and Germany, Ukrainian Muslims consider three types of registration of their marriage: state, religious and state registration of religious marriage. In Finland and the aforementioned countries, as well as in Ukraine, the third option is the most common. Having also analysed domestic judicial practice, we found that Ukrainian courts, even though they don’t officially recognize religious marriages, still consider them as an additional argument for establishing the fact that a man and a woman live in the same household without marriage, which in turn generates certain legal consequences in accordance with Ukrainian family and civil legislation.

The political influence of an interest group: A comparative study on the Muslim minority in the United States and Britain

The article proposes to examine the existing political influence of the Muslim minority in the United States and Britain. The academic literature rarely refers to the component of political power as a tool that can explain the application of policy. Therefore, the analysis in the article will focus on several criteria comparatively between the two countries. The criteria include the influence of colonialism, the demography of the Muslim minority, the identity of the citizen as “Muslim”, integration policies, and the influence of the Muslim lobby. The article will show how these criteria prominently explain the political power of Muslim minorities in the intra-communal public sphere in Britain, in contrast to their relative weakness in the political sphere in the US. This is in accordance with the relative political power in each country. This article offers a new understanding of the political power of civic groups.

The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethos by Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and by Paul M. Sniderman

One of the biggest political questions across North America and Western Europe is how societies will adjust to increasing levels of ethnic, racial, and religious diversity. For many years, scholars have focused on the people who oppose diversity because their views are considered objectionable and in need of explanation. Ivarsflaten and Sniderman join a growing group of scholars who take a different approach and analyze the rest of the population: people inclined to support diversity. This is a crucial population segment because under the right conditions, they are the ones who will promote more tolerant and inclusive societies in the twenty-first century. Ivarsflaten and Sniderman use an impressive range of original surveys—with an approach they call “sequential factorials”—to analyze the conditions under which Europeans are more likely to support the inclusion of Muslim minorities. “The sequential factorial” approach conducts many small experiments that replicate previous findings (increasing confidence in the results) and then extend the insights into new directions. Throughout the book, Ivarsflaten and Sniderman use 34 different experiments on over 21,000 survey respondents from Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States, Germany, France, and Sweden.

Harmoni Sosial Mayoritas Hindu dengan Minoritas Muslim di Panggung Tradisi Rowah di Karang Jero, Kelurahan Karang Taliwang

Rowah is a social construction of the Sasak people in the form of celebrations that are usually carried out by Sasak Muslims in order to express gratitude, or to pray for others, both living and dead. In Karang Taliwang Rowah not only attended by Muslims but also by Hindus who are not small in number, and the event is a place for self-presentation or self-impression to other religious groups so that social stability is not disturbed. The purpose of this study is to find out about the forms of impression management displayed by the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority in the rowah tradition. The results of this study show that there are several processes in rowah culture, namely silaq (inviting), bekelaq'an (cooking dishes), begibung, and ngejot (delivering food). There are also several types of spirit, such as the spirit of death, such as nyiwaq, metangdase, nyatus,painbuq. There are also rowah aqikah, circumcision, rowah merariq and so on. In the process of the rowah event, there are usually several forms of impressions that show each religion, namely from Hindus wearing batik, saying greetings, using smooth Sasak language, and giving water and money assistance to friends who hold rowah events. Meanwhile, Muslims also show their impressions by wearing a broom and a bebet, using the smooth Sasak language, smiling and greeting when welcoming guests and serving halal food.

“Double enemies” within the Gates

A relatively unknown facet of Central European Orientalism becomes manifest when encountering the epistemological heritage of the historical experiences of the Ismaelite community in Medieval Hungary. Accordingly, hegemonic themes of Hungarian historic fiction about this Muslim minority range from from being speculative/profiterring arms dealers. Such patterns span across the entire trajectory of Hungarian literature. This paper introduces this virtually unknown attitude with the frame of reference based on oeuvres of the Romantic and the Modern periods, with the broader intention to understand the nuances of the Saidian paradigm.