This research investigates the religious conversion process among ethnic groups in northern Thailand, particularly with regard to the role of structure and agency in Islamic missionary work and its impact on the identity of Hmong/Akha youth. The propagation of Islam by Dawah groups from the three border provinces in south Thailand uses notions of both religiosity and ethnicity to develop a faith in God and religious practice along lines of strict Islamic fundamentalism. This stands in stark contrast to the ritual syncretism of Christian conversion of the past several decades in North Thailand. This Islamic movement uses tactics of schooling and converts ethnic youth to Islam in ‘Baan Veing Mok’ village in Chiang Rai Province, where religious and ethnic diversity are developed by the expansion of Islam or ‘Islamization’. My paper examines the conversion of ethnic youths and how they negotiate the tensions created in their identity by indoctrination through traditional syncretic practices. However, the re-subjectification to “God” is significant in interpreting and defining ‘Muslim’ differentially. It also seems that ‘ethnicity’ is still playing a role in the self-perception of the youth in different temporal and geographic contexts. So, the conversion among ethnic groups can reflect a process of Muslimization which is incomplete, especially through its articulation amidst identity construction. Finally, this study will conclude by discussing the interactions among different religious and ethnic groups in the area of my study in terms of cultural politics, to understand the wider pictures of religious pluralism in Asia.
Key takeaways
AI
The study highlights the complex interplay of agency and structure in the Muslimization of Hmong/Akha youth.
Dawah groups utilize educational tactics to convert ethnic youth in northern Thailand, emphasizing strict Islamic fundamentalism.
Conversion processes reflect incomplete Muslimization, influenced by ethnicity and identity negotiations among youth.
The study critiques the interactions between religious movements and state politics, revealing underlying cultural tensions.
Religious conversion is framed as a re-subjectification process, redefining self-perception within new Islamic identities.
Kedudukan minoritas tampak penting dan memperoleh perhatian luas dalam proses perubahan di era globalisasi ini. Setelah berbagai kelompok minoritas, khususnya Islam di bagian timur bekas negara Uni Soviet dan Balkan memperoleh hak yang kian kuat, baik dengan memperoleh kemerdekaan maupun otonomi atau menjadi minoritas dengan persamaan hak dengan mayoritas, sejak awal 1990-an, minoritas di negara-negara demokrasi menyusul bangkit dan menuntut hal yang sama. Fenomena ini pada gilirannya menyebar di banyak bagian dunia. Namun berbeda dengan di negara-negara bekas komunis di mana minoritas bangkit karena represi dan penindasan, maka di negara-negara demokrasi mereka justru merasa terabaikan karena penekanannya yang terlalu besar pada hak individu sehingga mengabaikan hak-hak kolektif atau komunitas dan minoritas. Sehingga, terlacak bahwa pergerakan Muslim minoritas setidaknya terkonsentrasikan pada upaya mengidenti kasi diri, seraya mengelola isu yang ada, dalam sebuah gelombang perubahan. Artikel ini mengambil starting point pada hal tersebut. Dengan menjadikan gerakan Muslim minoritas di ailand Selatan sebagai contoh kasus, artikel ini berupaya mencari jawab perihal pergerakan kelompok Muslim minoritas dalam proses mengidenti kasi dirinya dalam pusaran dominasi pemerintah ailand. Lebih jauh, artikel ini juga berupaya melacak peran aktor, baik kelompok ataupun individu, dalam keberlangsungan gerakan sosial di ailand Selatan yang sempat diwarnai oleh aksi pemberontakan dan gerakan separatisme. Secara teoritis, rekam jejak pergerakan komunitas Muslim minoritas tersebut setidaknya dapat dilihat dengan sebuah pendekatan collective memory, yang jika ditelisik lebih jauh, nyatanya berhasil memunculkan empat lapis identitas (multiple identities) di tubuh mereka. Pertama, keberadaan warisan sejarah Kerajaan Islam di Patani yang diingat sebagai semacam negara adidaya Patani Raya atau kerajaan yang menguasai Semenanjung Malaya. Dalam ingatan mereka, kerajaan-kerajaan itu menjadi semacam simpul, antara budaya kolektif mereka, kejayaan kerajaan lokal,
This paper describes the movements, personalities and processes in Thailand’s Malay dominated provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat that have led to unprecedented diversity within the ummah. Like the rest of Thai/Malay peninsula, although the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Thailand’s far-south are conservative traditionalists, the size and influence reformist Islam continues to increase. This is particularly the case among urban Malays. While the roots of reformism were sown in the 19th century by luminaries such as Syeikh Daud al-Fatani (1769-1847), and Syeikh Ahmed al-Fatani (1856-1908), the most important reformist personality in the early 20th centuries was Haji Sulong (1895-1945). Since his return from Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, Dr Ismail Lutfi Japakiya, the founding of rector of Yala Islamic University (Thailand’s first Islamic university) has emerged as the leader of Saudi style salafism. I conclude by considering the impact of the Tablighi Jama’at, a South Asian revival movement, on Islamic diversity in South Thailand since its arrival in the 1980s. A important point infrequently made in analysis of the Tablighi Jama’at is that both reformists and traditionalists are involved in this important revivalist movement.
This paper examines Baha'i movement and resistance forms affecting religious conversion in Thailand particularly Yasothon province in the northeast, where the agricultural sector is the main staple of local people's income. Instead of choosing Buddhism, the majority religion in Thailand, local people in Yasothon have welcomed the Baha'i faith for several decades beginning during cold war period. This paper focuses on the narrative of local culture in Yasothon and tries to analyze the story of religious conversion from Buddhism to Baha'ism. Reflecting on ethnographic research, the author will provide theoretical and methodological concepts in perceiving the phenomena that happened among peasant communities. This paper also aims to expand the picture of local political movement and resistance that is developed by the poor working in agricultural areas and describe the social and cultural life, gender roles, and the class struggle in Yasothon in which people politically involve and engage with two religions, Buddhism and Baha'ism.
Southeast Asia Research, 15, 2 (July 2007): 255-279.
This paper is a study of how the people at the centre of the violent conflict in Thailand's southern border provinces have been represented, with particular reference to the period from the Second World War to the present. It provides a brief historical background to a number of discourses of identity regarding the people in the region. It focuses on the struggle between competing discourses of Thai national identity, Malay ethnic identity, Muslim identity, and a more localized identity centred on the memory of the former sultanate of Patani and its associated linguistic and cultural traditions.
The situation in southern Thailand and southern Philippines is so complex that one can easily lose sight of what is the real problem. This article seek to address the complexity of the intertwined religious and ethnic identities of the southern Thai Muslims and the Moros; and how they have affect the nature of the separation movements in both regions. This article also show the similarities and differences in the two regions; and points a way out if possible from the situation, armed with better understanding of what are the real issues.
Thailand is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation. Islam is the second largest religion after Buddhism in the kingdom of Thailand. Thai Muslims belong to different communal groups and each group has particular history and ethnicity. The purpose of the research mainly elucidates the history, life style and identity of the diverse ethnic groups of Siamese Muslims. It also analysis, how the Islam came in Thailand, including how the Muslim community transformed in different times and periods with different cultures and identities under different Monarchies in the kingdom. A qualitative method of research is used, while explanatory research design has been applied. The Research paper deeply emphasis the socio-cultural arrangements of the Thai Muslim community and the response of the state and society of Thailand. The socio-cultural design qualitatively expounds the living style, traditions, norms and values of Thai Muslim community and its identity in the diverse communal outlook of Thailand.
Although a work in process which I plan to update for the benefit of students, these bibliography is based on the master-list posted above, but thematically organized.
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References (11)
Austin-Broos, Diane. 2003. "The Anthropology of Conversion: An Introduction." In The Anthropology of Religious Conversion, edited by Andrew Buckser and Stephen D. Glazier, pp. 1-12. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
Emerson, Michael O. and David Hartman. 2006. 'The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism,' in Annual Review of Sociology. Vol.32, 127-144, (2006).
Foucault, Michel. 1985. The Use of Pleasure: History of Sexuality, Vol.2. (trans. Robert Hurley) New York: Pantheon Books.
Horstmann, Alexander. 2007. 'The Inculturation of a Transnational Islamic Missionary Movement: Tablighi Jamaat al Dawa and Muslim Society in Southern Thailand,' in SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issue Southeast Asia. Vol.22(1), 107-130 (2007).
Kwanchewan Buadaeng and Pannada Boonyasaranai. 2008. "Religious Conversion and Ethnic Identity: The Karen and the Akha in Northern Thailand". In Living in a Globalized World. Ethnic Minorities in the Greater Mekong Subregion, edited by Don McCaskill, Presit Leeprecha and He Shaoying. Chiang Mai: Silkworm.
Mahoney, Annette and Kenneth I. Pargament. 2004. 'Sacred Changes: Spiritual Conversion and Transformation' JCLP/In Session, Vol. 60(5), 481-492 (2004).
Poston, Larry. 1992. Islamic Dawah in the West: Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam. New York: Oxford University Press.
Apinya Fuengfusakul. 2009. Ma-nud-sa-ya-wit-ta-ya-sad-sa-na: neaw-kid-puen-than-lea-khoe-thok- theing-thang-thang-thid-sadi (Anthropology of Religion: Theoretical Concepts and Controversies). Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Thirayuth Boonmi. 2009. Michel Foucault. Bangkok: Wipasa.
FAQs
AI
What strategies does Dawah Tabligh use to convert youth in Thailand?add
The paper demonstrates that Dawah Tabligh employs both internal-personal strategies and community-based approaches to convert youth, fostering trust through shared ethnicity and targeted indoctrination methods from the 1980s to present.
How does the conversion process affect Akha and Hmong identities?add
Research highlights a dual process where youth negotiate their new Muslim identity while facing tensions related to their ethnic traditions, resulting in transformations in self-perception and community relations post-conversion.
What role do Islamic summer camps play in the conversion of ethnic youth?add
The study finds that summer camps facilitate initial religious engagement, with approximately 70 youth participating yearly, leading to significant assimilation of Islamic practices and beliefs within their cultural frameworks.
When did the Dawah movement begin its efforts to convert ethnic minorities?add
Dawah Tabligh's activities began notably in the 1980s, targeting various hill tribe communities in Northern Thailand, particularly focusing on Hmong and Akha populations amidst regional socio-political disparities.
What challenges do converted youth face concerning their family backgrounds?add
The research reveals that converted youth often encounter familial resistance and pressure during cultural rituals, as evidenced by instances of cultural negotiation during festivals which highlight identity conflict and perseverance.
This chapter describes how ethnic identifications, language and religion in present-day Cabetigo have been affected by the Thai and Islamic influences described in previous chapters. While the Muslims in Cabetigo are comfortably bilingual ethnic Malays who adhere to traditionalist expressions of Islam, significant religious, linguistic and ethnic diversity exists. The chapter begins by describing how reformist and revivalist movements dealt with in the previous chapter have increased religious diversity—even division—in Cabetigo. I delineate the various ways in which Muslims identify themselves, but also the factors that affect which strategic identity is chosen at any given time and place. This chapter concludes with an account of how the bilingualism in Cabetigo brought about the widespread adoption of Thai by urban Malays.
This research explores ethnogenesis and ethnic change amongst Thai-speaking Muslims in Songkhla province by both interacting with a range of historical, anthropological and theoretical material, and conducting in-depth interviews with Muslim leaders in communities that I recently worked with. Details about the changing relationship between Singgora/Songkhla and Ayutthaya (later Bangkok), Ligor/Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Patani will be provided by engaging with the most authoritative historiographies, and accounts produced by European travellers to the Thai/Malay Peninsula during the 19th Century. Another element of my literature review will an analysis of ethnonym selection among Muslims in South Thailand in the ethnographic literature. In light of my research objectives containing specifically theoretical interests, I will offer a synthesis of relatively recent approaches to ethnic boundaries, ethnonym selection, (state led) ethnogenesis, and ethnic change, along with proposal about how these permit a better picture of the complex phenomenon of ethnic change amongst Muslims in Songkhla Province. These will permit the following questions to answered. What was the historical importance of the ethnonym "Thai Muslim" having been imposed on Muslims, in the 1930s? What is the analytical purchase of the concept of (state-led) ethnogenesis? What is the relationship between grassroots language change (from Malay to Thai) to ethnic change? Methodologically, my interaction with the relevant secondary literature outlined above, will be collecting my own set of primary data. I propose conducting semi-structured interviews with key informants in the districts of Chana (where some Muslims still speak Malay), where I have conducted (informal) participant observation. These will provide details about both the range of reasons for "Thai Muslim" having become the preferred ethnonym of the majority of Muslims in Songkhla, yet in some contexts Muslims in Songkhla continue to refer to themselves as Melayu.
In this paper I trace how Malay-speaking Muslims in southern Thailand came to be construed by many Thai as the most radically ‘other’ of peoples living within the Kingdom. It is my argument that this construal is a product in part of a view held by many Thai Buddhists, including influential leaders, that adherence to Islam precludes being fully Thai. I argue that the negative view often heard among Thai regarding people of this region is also based on a racial stereotype. Thai governments have in the 21st century justified militant policies adopted toward the Malay-speaking Muslims of Thailand’s most southernmost provinces on the basis of the view that these peoples are alien despite having deep roots in the area in which they live. This view is not, however, the only one held by Thai. I will conclude by discussing a significant Thai Buddhist perspective that seeks to promote tolerance toward peoples who are recognized as sharing a common humanity despite their differences from the dominant Thai Buddhist culture.
This dissertation explores the formation of glocal islam in a rural Muslim community on Bangka island, indonesia, through an eth- nographic study of Payabenua village. it examines how global islamic discourses are locally negotiated, reinterpreted, and embed- ded within established religious traditions. the study highlights the role of educated youth as cultural brokers who employ framing, moral negotiation, and everyday tactics to introduce new religious meanings while maintaining social harmony and respect for tradi- tional authority. the findings demonstrate that religious transfor- mation in rural southeast asia unfolds through compromise and contextual adaptation, producing a hybrid islamic religiosity shaped by local norms and transnational influences.
This article aims to describe the nation-building discourse and movement in Southeast Asia, particularly in Aceh-Indonesia and Pattani-Thailand. The significance of this research lies in the fact that these two regions share similar characteristics. Among them are socio-cultural and religio-political situations as conflict-affected areas with the dynamics of national discourse, and fluctuate views on national integration with the state. Islamic educational institutions in these two regions have contributed significantly in the formation of the nation-state. Dayah in Aceh and Pondok in Pattani not only serve as the centres of Islamic studies and character building for the community, but also function as the stage for social, cultural and political movements. Thus, Dayah and Pondok became the institutions to shape Islamic extremist as well as the agent to strengthen political identity. This article attempts to explain the genealogy of Islamic education and the metamorphosis of nationa...
This paper tries to understand why the Malay-speaking Muslims of southern Thailand are viewed perpetual national security threats by looking at some deep-seated identity constructions that aligns Malay identity with violence and Thai identity with peace and patriotism. By insisting that southern Thai Malay-Muslims identify as Thai rather than as Malay, the Thai state and its Buddhist citizens view Malay-Muslims insistence on their Malay identity as not only a rejection of Thai-ness but also as a threat to the sovereignty of the Thai nation-state. By comparing the Thai-Malays with the Thai-Chinese, the most discriminated minority in the history of Thailand, the author argues that forging of economic links within and outside of Thailand has helped the Thai-Chinese attain both political and economic success in Thailand while the promotion of separatist identities such as Malay and Islam have bequeathed the Thai-Malays with a legacy of violence.
Samak Kosem
