Communal Salafi learning and Islamic selfhood: examining religious boundaries through ethnographic encounters in Indonesia

Chaplin, Chris (2018) Communal Salafi learning and Islamic selfhood: examining religious boundaries through ethnographic encounters in Indonesia. Ethnography. p. 146613811879598. ISSN 1466-1381

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Abstract

Over the past 30 years, the translocal Salafi movement has expanded rapidly across Indonesia. Propagating a strict ‘literal’ interpretation of Islam, Salafis place strong emphasis on separating themselves from un-Islamic (non-Salafi) society. However, the daily implementation of such rigid boundaries remains rife with tension, depending less on Islamic scripture and more upon how adherents interpret it in a given time and place. A reflexive approach to ethnography provides a unique tool to examine and make visible these anxieties, placing the ethnographer at a vantage point to observe the communal interactions through which religious ethics are given meaning. By reflecting upon my study of the al-Hasanah mosque in Yogyakarta, I describe the ways my informants and I negotiated each other’s presence and how this illuminated the struggles to create a Salafi selfhood and modern religious ethic

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eth
Additional Information:	© 2018 The Author
Divisions:	Methodology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs
Date Deposited:	17 Oct 2018 14:07
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2025 06:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/90445

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