Salafi activism and the promotion of a modern Muslim identity

Evolving mediums of Da’wa amongst Yogyakartan university students

Bibliographic Data

ID12305142
AuthorsChris Chaplin (0000-0002-8257-6470, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume26
Issue1
Pages3-20
Publication date2018-01-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth East Asia Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0967-828X • E-ISSN: 2043-6874
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1177/0967828x17752414
OpenAlexW2790797687
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited41

Indonesia has witnessed the emergence of a market of Islamic goods, services and media platforms that have catalysed a qualitative shift in the ways individuals come to express their religious convictions. Salafi Islam is no exception to this transformation, and this article provides a case study of contemporary Salafi propagation amongst Yogyakarta’s students and graduates. Through description and analysis of campus based religious lectures, websites, magazines and fashion outlets linked to the al-Atsary Islamic Education Foundation, this article explores the intricacies of campus affiliated da’wa. Linked to a ‘literalist’ interpretation of Islam reliant on scholars in Saudi Arabia, Salafism is frequently denounced as foreign to Indonesian norms. Yet, while activists do indeed promote a rigid adherence to Islamic tenets, they also align Islamic values to concerns with a modern Muslim identity. By framing Salafism as sensitive to ideas of professional employment, while juxtaposing it against images of a less well-educated rural Islam, they have thus have created a unique strand of urban Salafi propagation

Aesthetics · Framing (construction · Identity (music · Indonesian · Interpretation (philosophy · Islam · Media studies · Political science · Promotion (chess · Sharia · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Engineering · Gender Studies · History · Islamic Finance and Communication · Islamic Studies and Radicalism · Law