non-Muslim Minorities Research Articles

Treatment of Non-Muslim Minorities in Islamic Nations: Prophetic Principles

This study aimed to clarify the prophetic rules concerning the relationship with non-Muslims in the Islamic society. The descriptive approach is used, and the findings revealed that the Prophetic controls in this regard are intellectual and cultural controls such as endorsing religious pluralism and ensuring learning and education without corruption or promoting atheism, as there is no compulsion in religion while guaranteeing the right to build and restore churches and places of worship. The study also reveals political and human rights controls such as respect for a decent life, and the sanctity of the human soul, which cannot be robbed or diminished except under legal conditions. These controls appear in prominent rights such as the right to citizenship, the right to political and professional work, and the right to justice. There are also economic and financial controls such as justice in acquiring rights and performing duties in a way that guarantees non-Muslims their economic stability. These include the right to protect money, freedom to work and earn, the right to guarantee the treasury, and their right to alms from rich Muslims. The results also showed social and family controls such as good family cohabitation and maintaining social ties and bonds. These controls are represented in the right to cohabitation, and the right to marry and divorce.

Denying “The Right to Have Rights”: Europe’s Imposition of Mandates in Greater Syria and the Rise of Islamist Movements

Abstract In 1920, the Syrian Congress at Damascus ratified a democratic constitution that would have been beyond the dreams of activists in the 2011 Arab Spring. Under the leadership of the leading Islamic reformer of the day, Sheikh Rashid Rida, the constitution disestablished Islam as a state religion, guaranteed one-third of parliamentary seats to non-Muslim minorities, and promised autonomy to the majority Christian territory of Mount Lebanon. Unlike the Ottoman constitution that had once reigned in Greater Syria, the Syrian document granted the preponderance of power to parliament, not the monarch. Nonetheless, the British and French colluded in the willful destruction of this nascent democracy. And with League of Nations’ support, they divided the Syrian Arab Kingdom into sectarian mandatory states. By stripping Syrian Arabs of a self-determined political community, Europeans denied them the “right to have rights,” as Hannah Arendt argued. The political backlash against European rule transformed the minority question in Syria into a polarized and violent contest, leading to the sectarian conflicts that overwhelmed Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine in the remainder of the 20th century.

Myth and epic as a non-religious revival of national identity; the role of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in the development of secular national identity among Iranian minorities; studying Persian Twitter

ABSTRACT Ferdowsi's Shahnameh has played a significant role in shaping the national identity of Iranians, transcending linguistic, religious, cultural, and ethnic differences. This paper examines the perceptions of Iranian Sunni Muslims, and non-Muslim minorities regarding Ferdowsi and Shahnameh. A survey was conducted on Persian Twitter using simple items, and the questionnaire was also distributed among Shia Muslims, who form the majority in Iran. The findings demonstrate unanimous agreement among participants regarding the role of Ferdowsi and Shahnameh in unifying Iran geographically and shaping its cultural and secular national identity against Islamic anti-nationalism identity.

The influence of education on gender attitudes among ethno-religious majority and minority youth in Germany from a longitudinal perspective

It is well-known that exposure to education is related to egalitarian gender attitudes. Yet, previous studies did not sufficiently take the temporal variation of this relationship into account, especially regarding ethno-religious minority and majority adolescents in Europe. Adolescence represents crucial years for attitude development. We analyze the association between secondary education and gender attitudes of female and male youth belonging to the majority, Muslim, and non-Muslim minority in Germany by employing the CILS4EU-DE panel data with more than 3200 adolescents. Obtaining a secondary school degree is associated with more egalitarian gender attitudes in general. However, different patterns emerge for the various ethno-religious groups and for females and males. Particularly, the effect of secondary education in general is stronger for boys than girls, and upper secondary education is stronger for Muslim minorities than for majority youth. Thus, attitudes develop during adolescence, and education can lead to more egalitarian gender attitudes among some groups but not all equally.

The Lausanne conference of 1922–23 and the battle over the conscription of the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey

ABSTRACT The article examines why it was important to the modern republican Turkish state, which saw the non-Muslim minorities as a threat to its security and a potential source of fifth column activities, to propose their inclusion in the draft. In order to answer this question, the article explores the issue of the recruitment of the non-Muslim minorities as presented in the official protocols and in writings of the senior Turkish decision-makers who attended the Lausanne conference of 1922–23. The main argument of this article is that the introduction of non-Muslim conscription in modern Turkey was less an act of integration and more a contribution to two broader aims: demographic engineering to remove ‘suspect’ or ‘unassimilable’ national and religious minorities, and economic Turkification, which aimed to force transfer of property from non-Muslim into Muslim hands.

The Existence of Non Muslim Minority in Aceh, Indonesia: A Study Civil and Police Institution

The implementation of Islamic law in Aceh had impact for the existence of non-Muslim minority groups. Even though they are guaranteed freedom to worship, harmony and protected, and can live side by side with the Aceh society, on the other hand, they are also feeling the impact of sharia. These implications are experienced by Christian women, not only among civil groups, but also police institutions. This article aims to complement the shortcomings of previous research, by mapping the relationships that existed between Muslim and non-Muslim groups in Aceh during the implementation of Islamic sharia. The research question is, how do these implications occur and why public space is limited for them. This research was conducted in Banda Aceh involving six informants and some were women, civil society groups and several police institutions, namely three Christian policewomen, through in-depth interviews and using several references related to the research subject. The results of the study indicated that, first, there are social spaces that have an impact on non-Muslim groups because they live in areas of Islamic sharia that require them to receive these regulations, such as the obligation to wear the veil for students, teachers and policewomen in police agencies. Then, there are limited facilities for worship, including for policewomen to provide spiritual guidance. Apart from that, there is little access to public space in government, which occurs among non-Muslim minority children who would like to develop their talents, as well as employees and in police agencies who could not develop their careers perfectly. This happens because they cannot have opportunities like the people of Aceh who are the "hosts". In this case, the government must be able to harmonize laws, including for minority groups in Aceh. It is hoped that the results of this research could adding references regarding the importance of increasing awareness and fostering the values of tolerance.

The Othering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Abstract The Ahmadiyya movement is one of the most controversial movements within the South Asian Islam from the late 19th and the 20th century. The movement from the beginning was instrumental in reinvigorating the debate on the Islamic orthodoxy and interpretation and re-interpretation of the Islamic texts among Muslims. These controversies and debates over the period of time have entered into the public consciousness particularly among Muslims of South Asia, which has enabled it to become an accepted feature of the contemporary South Asian Politics. As the movement became more public, the distinct identity of Ahmadi took shape and a notion of Ahmadiyyat as distinct expression of Islam became increasingly politicised. Similarly, the emergence of this Ahmadi identity was influenced by modern South Asian politics as much as South Asian Islam was influenced by the modernists. This influence has widened the dichotomy between Ahmadi Islam and the orthodox Islam. The current study focuses on how South Asian Islam’s narratives grew and developed to build and declare Ahmadis as a non-Muslim minority. It also demonstrates how these narratives were exploited over time by both Muslim groups and famous Muslims to malign and portray the Ahmadiyya community as ‘other’ in the eyes of Muslim and state structures. The study focuses primarily on the narratives of the 20th-century Muslim intellectuals such as Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Abul A’la Maududi, and other groups such as Majlis-i-Ahrar, as well as their role in building and constructing narratives that declared Ahmadis as ‘other’ while also changing their identity and status as Muslims.

Social Exclusion of Minorities: An Investigation of Multi-dimensional Social Disadvantage faced by Pakistani Minorities

Minorities, as numerically inferior and culturally distinct groups, are often marginalized and isolated throughout the world. The aim of this research is to understand the nature and extent of social exclusion faced by religious minorities in Pakistan. The objectives of the study are to assess the level of social exclusion among non-Muslim minorities and examine the various factors contributing to social exclusion. Additionally, it investigates the associations between these attributes of social exclusion. The questionnaire includes a series of statements and questions that cover all dimensions of the variable being measured. 220 heads of minority families were selected by employing multistage sampling. Participants were interviewed by experienced interviewers using an interview schedule. The results indicate that the majority of participants (59.1%) perceive that they experience a high level of exclusion, while 26.8% face moderate exclusion, and 14.1% are at a low level of social exclusion. Hypothesis testing examines the level of exclusion faced by different minority groups. The study reveals that the Christian minority experiences a higher level of exclusion compared to other minority groups, such as Hindus and Sikhs, probably because they are more materially deprived. This study demonstrates the positive association between various factors contributing to social exclusion, such as material deprivation, limited access to civil rights, low social participation, and political disengagement.

Pluralism in Religious Life in Indonesia: Tolerance in Gorontalo and Manado Regions

This paper concentrates on religious life in two regions, namely Manado and Gorontalo. In this paper, it is found that plural life is very tolerant among religious people as evidenced by the lack of religious conflicts, both in Muslim-majority areas in Gorontalo and Muslim minorities in Manado. The problem in this paper is how the religious process takes place and is lived by the Muslim minority community in Manado, and how the Muslim majority community interacts with non-Muslim minority groups in Gorontalo, as well as how the differences between these two environments survive in a harmonious interfaith environment. To analyze the problem, qualitative analysis is used with observational data collection methods, interviews, and documents. Research findings show that religious life in Manado and Gorontalo as pluralist areas seems tolerant, but the tolerance is pseudo. This is because most people in both regions choose to live in the same settlement with followers of the same religion and do not mingle with different religions.

Islamic-Politics Da'wah in Abdurrahman Wahid's Pluralism Concept According to Non-Muslim Minorities Perspective in Meranti Islands Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia

In the ethnically diverse nation of Indonesia, conflicts rooted in issues of Ethnicity, Religion, Race, and Inter-Group (SARA) have long been a persistent problem, particularly affecting ethnic Chinese who have faced marginalization and sociocultural challenges, including name changes and stereotypes. The Meranti Islands have been in the spotlight of the national media several times because of the various conflicts that occurred, both political conflicts and conflicts between ethnicities, tribes and even religions such as the burning of Chinese Ethnic Shophouses. These conflicts, driven by differences in interests and interference among groups, have sometimes led to tensions, discrimination, and even riots. The research aims to analyze Abdurrahman Wahid's political da'wah from the perspective of non-Muslim minority groups in the Meranti Islands Regency. This research is field research type. The research method uses qualitative methods. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews and strengthened by a literature review. The research results show two thoughts regarding Islamic politics; first, 85% of the non-Muslim community in Meranty Island strongly supports Abdurrahman Wahid's Islamic political da'wah to be realized in public policies. The non-Muslim minority groups support Abdurrahman Wahid's political da'wah to maintain the Islamic taught about the rights and obligations of citizens and protect minority groups. With a percentage of 93%, they considered Abdurrahman Wahid to have carried out the function of Islamic teachings to do good deeds in a moderate and tolerant humanitarian and political life.

The Human Rights Action Plan and Turkey’s Non-Muslim Minorities

On March 2021, Turkey’s President announced a new Human Rights Action Plan (HRAP), supported by the Council of Europe, to reform the judiciary system and strengthen democratic participation. Although the rights claims of Kurds and Alevis have been prominent, HRAP mentions neither by name. Instead, it includes articles about improving the rights of religious minorities by fighting discrimination and hate, to advance pluralism, revising the Foundations Law regarding the establishment and election of boards of directors of non-Muslim community associations, and providing leave for religious holidays regardless of faith. Given the current distrust between non-Muslim groups and the Turkish state, this study analyzed the political attitudes of Turkey’s non-Muslim minorities to understand how they develop creative solutions to protect their rights. To do so, we interviewed Armenian deputies in Turkey’s parliament and prominent figures from the Greek-Orthodox, Armenian, and Jewish communities, and also reviewed the minority deputies’ parliamentary work in depth between 2015 and 2021. We found that HRAP was widely discussed by both minority and opposition parliamentary deputies. However, they did not strongly welcome any of its provisions because the government had previously ignored or delayed their demands. 

Missionary involvement with the Simele massacre in 1933: the end of American sympathy for the Assyrians

ABSTRACT The Simele massacre of 1933 in Iraq, in which over 600 Assyrian Christians lost their lives, is an important part of Assyrian national history and is one of the few well-known events in twentieth-century Iraqi history where Christians are involved. While there was a general outcry in Western Europe and the United States against the Iraqi government following the massacre, the American missionaries present locally of the United Mission in Mesopotamia/Iraq did not support the Assyrians following the massacre despite the generally humanitarian approach of their mission and their support for the Assyrian cause in the early years after the First World War. In this article, I argue that apparent apathy from the side of the missionaries was largely the result of a radical change in thinking about missionary involvement in political debates concerning the future of non-Muslim minorities in the Middle East.

PANDANGAN MAHASISWA STKIP YAPIS DOMPU TERHADAP NILAI-NILAI MULTIKULTURALISME DALAM PROGRAM PERTUKARAN MAHASISWA MERDEKA

Indonesia, with its complex level of pluralism, is always challenged to find new ways to instill citizens' awareness of the reality of the existing pluralism. Educational institutions are tasked with carrying out social engineering in creating a harmonious and peaceful society amidst the various differences that exist. Even though the number is small, the existence of non-Muslim minority students at STKIP Yapis Dompu still requires the cultivation of awareness and values of multiculturalism as the responsibility of the world of education. The participation of STKIP Yapis students in the Independent Student Exchange (PMM) activities in 2022 provides important experience in viewing the reality of pluralism both on campus and in society. The Nusantara module is one of the program materials that aims to provide participants with a multicultural perspective. In this module students are invited to visit various houses of worship, destinations and historical sites in the destination campus area. For students, this experience gives a different impression, especially for those who grew up in a homogeneous environment. PMM will also encourage campuses to formulate inclusive and protective policies to prevent the "Three Sins of Higher Education" from acts of bullying, sexual violence and intolerance. This policy is a response to create an atmosphere and educational environment that is safe and respects differences. Therefore, it is important to know the views of STKIP Yapis students regarding the spirit of diversity so that it can be used as best practices in building social harmony. This qualitative research uses data collection techniques through document study and descriptive data analysis. This study concluded that the PMM program gave a positive impression to STKIP Yapis students in responding to differences and fostering a spirit of brotherhood and nationalism.

Non-Muslim Minorities in the Modern Afghanistan’s Economy

The territory of what will become modern Afghanistan has for centuries been the center of a vast, economically interconnected geographical area. This area includes, besides Afghanistan, the northern regions of India, Persia and the Uzbek khanates of Central Asia. It represented a market for economic trade in which valuable products from India found buyers in the courts and bazaars of neighboring territories. Mainly, two components of the Afghan society made this system work: Pashtun nomads and non-Muslim minorities. The first ones carried out the logistical work that allowed the goods to reach the various bazaars of the region where they are sold. The second ones (non-Muslim minorities) on the other hand, had many functions: intermediaries, bankers and traders. In this paper I will present the socio-economic context of modern Afghanistan, in which non-Muslim minorities have played a key role in allowing the country to remain connected to the trans-regional trade network that was part of northern India. The aim of my paper is to present the history of non-Muslim minorities in Afghanistan through a description of their socio-economic position and to highlight their fundamental role in the economy of the Afghanistan kingdom. In particular, I will try to frame their role in the trans-national and more general context of global trade that affects not only the territories already mentioned but also the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean sea.

Examining Qanun in Aceh from a human rights perspective: status, substance and impact on vulnerable groups and minorities

The Helsinki Agreement between the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian Government aimed to end long-standing conflict and inequality in Aceh. It also legally empowered the Acehnese to govern their own province and protect their citizens from human rights abuses. Regrettably, the implementation of laws and policies in Aceh since the agreement, such as Qanun, has had an adverse effect on human rights, particularly for vulnerable groups and minorities. This paper analyses the need to align the substance of Qanun with international human rights norms and assesses the feasibility of implementing Qanun without violating human rights. The research method used is the qualitative method. The data collection technique mainly involves in-depth interviews with key informants, including academics, members of Aceh parliament, civil society organisations, representatives of religious organisations, the Aceh Sharia Court, the Acehnese government, and practitioners on women and children, as well as victims of human rights violations and literature reviews. This study has found that the implementation of Aceh Qanun has had negative consequences on the protection of human rights, particularly for vulnerable groups and minorities. In addition, it also affects vulnerable groups, Muslim and non-Muslim minorities who have been “forced to conform” with Aceh Qanun. The paper advocates for a harmonious balance between Qanun and human rights, which can be achieved through a more constructive dialogue between the two.

Benefitting from the ambiguity: the issue of the ‘Turkishness’ of the Jewish minority in the first decade of the Turkish Republic

This article attempts to contextualize the situation of the Jewish community recognized as a minority group in the Treaty of Lausanne within a wider framework of Turkish nationalism during the first decade of the Republic. It will claim that the ruling elite of the Republic concurrently defined ‘Turkishness’ on inclusive and exclusive terms. While in theory, Turkish nationalism was a ‘civic’ nationalism defining ‘Turkishness’ based on citizenship, when it came to practice, all citizens of the Republic were not privy to this identity; some of them, especially Jews, were expected to prove their loyalty in order to become equal members of the nation. This article claims that the contradictory attitude of the ruling elite – keeping the definition of ‘Turkishness’ ambiguous – had the purpose of constructing a cohesive and homogenous national community. In line with this ambiguous definition of ‘Turkishness’, the ruling elite developed an ambivalent attitude towards non-Muslim minorities and their place in the nation and the Jews of Turkey were affected the most by this precarious attitude.

Originality of Philosophical Methodology of Qādiyānīyya and Ismāʻīlīyya Sects

Shiites believe that the Prophet Muḥammad is the last prophet, but the Imam is infallible also to them as well as the prophet. However, Qādiyānīyya sect sees that the door of prophecy is still open. They believe that Mirzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a Prophet, and that despite this fact that all Muslims believe that Muḥammad was the last Prophet. “Qādiyānī” is an attribution to (Qādiyān), which is a place in the state of (Punjab) in India, where Mirzā Ghulām Aḥmad was born and claimed the prophet-hood. Qādiyānism is made to impersonate the identity of Islamic message and considered a mass fraud. It is the slander and mockery of the prophet-hood of Muḥammad and his message. The difference between Qādiyānīyya and Esoteric Ismāʻīlīyya sects is that Shiites are considered one of the Islamic sects, but Qādiyānīyya sect are considered a non-Muslim minority, so as stated in the fatwas issued by the theologians and scholars of Islam in every Arab-Islamic country that it is a sect misguided and has a false claim that Mirzā Ghulām Aḥmad invented a new religion named Qādiyānīyya. Qādiyānī religion is just a repeating the old drum of the philosophy of Esoteric Ismāʻīlīyya and the social philosophy of Qarāmiṭa. It is adopted by British colonialists. The philosophy of interpretation of Qur’anic verses to Esoteric Ismāʻīlīyya had not grown in Islamic land, but it was resulted from the intellectual Hermes approach of Harran from Sabean and the philosophy of Eliminationists generated by the theory of Emanation of New Platonism.

Nation-destroying, emigration and Iraqi nationhood after the 2003 intervention

Abstract While emigration and population displacements have long been a feature of Iraqi history, this article argues that the 2003 Anglo-American intervention in Iraq and its legacy has contributed to the gradual disappearance of many non-Muslim Iraqi minorities from Iraq. Though the legacy of 2003 can be attributed to a confluence of domestic and geopolitical factors, it is argued here that the 2003 intervention set in motion a process of nation-destroying instead of nation-building, as Iraqi nationhood was divided along primordial lines. Caught between competing ethnic and sectarian nationalisms, Iraqi non-Muslim minorities became targets in the quest for territorial gain and political power heralding an unprecedented and steady level of emigration. This has changed the ethnic and religious demographic of Iraq, the identity of the Iraqi nation-state, as well as fragmented Iraq's multiple ethnic and religious nations both inside and outside the country. Indeed, the effects of nation-destroying have also been transported to the diaspora, strengthening communal identities, altering attachments and creating distance between Iraqi communities abroad. This has led to distanced transnational ethnic and religious Iraqi nations in diaspora who must now also contend with assimilation, a loss of culture and language in the absence of physical links to Iraq. The article offers the first comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the effects of emigration of Iraq's non-Muslim minorities on Iraqi nationhood within the new Iraqi nation-state. It therefore contributes conceptually and empirically to advancing our understanding of the role of nation-destroying and emigration in nationalizing processes, a neglected area in current migration and nationalism scholarship.

Threat by Association, Islamic Puritanism and Conspiracy Beliefs Explain A Religious Majority Group’s Collective Protest Against Religious Minority Groups

This article addresses the question of why members of a majority group, despite their more powerful status, may protest against low-power minority groups. The present study addressed this question in the context of immanent intergroup relations between Muslims, as the majority group, and non-Muslims, as the minority group, in Indonesia. It is argued that at the core of such collective protests is a threat by association, a perception of the majority group members that the minority groups are in league with the West which threatens the existence of Muslims worldwide. Based on data collected using a survey questionnaire from Indonesian Muslims ( N = 418) this study tested a hypothesised model using threat by association posed by the minority groups, Islamic puritanism and beliefs relating to western conspiracy to predict collective protests and intolerant intentions against non-Muslim minorities in Indonesia by using MPlus version 7.0. The hypothesised model found empirical support. The relationship between threat by association and Islamic puritanism with collective protests was mediated by Western conspiracy beliefs. It was also found that support for collective protests got translated into majority group members’ religious intolerant intentions against the people belonging to the non-Muslim minority groups. The article discusses the theoretical implications and research limitations of these empirical findings.

Endangered Urban Commons: Lahore’s Violent Heritage Management and Prospects for Reconciliation

The debate on urban commons yields relevance for shared histories and heritage in divided and post-conflict societies. Albeit memory is always subjective, heritage management tends to engender a linear view of the past that suggests a preconceived future development. Where the past is denigrated to prove the impossibility of ethnoreligious communities’ coexistence even though they have lived together peacefully for centuries, it risks corroborating us-them divisions for posterity and undermines reconciliation and peacebuilding. In this historically informed article, we argue that urban change in Lahore since 1947 has gone hand in hand with the purposive destruction of the common heritage shared by India and Pakistan. This interpretation of the past for the future reflects different forms of violence that surface in heritage management. Based on empirical data collected on heritage practices in the Old City of Lahore, Pakistan, we analyse the approach of the Walled City of Lahore Authority towards heritage management. Our focus on ignored dimensions and objects of heritage sheds light on the systematic denial of a shared history with Hindus and Sikhs before and during the 1947 partition of British India. This partial ignorance and the intentional neglect, for instance, of housing premises inhabited once by Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities, prevent any constructive confrontation with the past. By scrutinising the relationship between urban change, nostalgia, memory and heritage, this article points out that heritage management needs to be subjected to a constructive confrontation with the past to pave the ground for future reconciliation.