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5. Networks and Crosscurrents
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Chapter
- Additional Information
139 Networks and Crosscurrents 139 5 NETWORKS AND CROSSCURRENTS The previous chapters have demonstrated how Islamic education has become the frontline in the battle for influence and adherence between traditionalist and reformist Muslim scholars and community leaders in southern Thailand. By way of the KaumTua–Kaum Muda intellectual and theological contestation of the past, the book has discussed the intellectual underpinnings of the newly emergent reformist movement, which has taken a decidedly Salafist doctrinal and epistemological bent. Not only do traditionalists have to face the increasingly formidable challenge presented by the reformists, including proponents of literalist constructions of Islam, but they also have to contend with other representations of the faith that have emerged on southernThailand’s socio-religious landscape over the past few years, These are not only gaining popularity, but also jostling for legitimacy, authenticity, and influence.Two in particular warrant mention — the Jemaat Tabligh and Shi’a Islam. Though the Jemaat Tabligh and Shi’a Islam had established a presence in the southern provinces by the mid-twentieth century, their activism accelerated considerably between 1980 and 1996 as a result of two factors. First, the early 1980s witnessed the intensification of a global Islamic awakening that rode the waves of the Iranian Revolution and the Mujahideen struggle against Soviet imperialism in Afghanistan in 1979. The Revolution represented the triumph of Islam over a superpower-backed authoritarian regime and the creation of a modern Islamic polity, signalling the emergence of an authentic Islamic ideology that could challenge the hegemony and dominance of Western conceptualizations of statehood. Needless to say, southern Thailand 139 05 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 5 4/23/09, 2:34 PM 139 140 140 Islam, Education and Reform was not immune as the psychological impact of the Revolution rippled across the Muslim world. Describing the impact of the Revolution on Muslims in southern Thailand, Surin Pitsuwan remarked: I think the context of the situation certainly has led people to express their grievances in Islamic terms, in religious terms. It is not an abuse in Islam. It is not an abuse of Islamic teachings. They are trying to express the situation in Islamic terms in their Islamic worldview and it is very powerful.1 Together with the Mujahideen resistance against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which rallied Muslims from across the world to the cause of jihad, the Iranian Revolution was a symbol of the empowerment of the ummah. Second, this period also coincided with greater political openness in Thailand as a result of democratization. In tandem with the surge in Islamic consciousness and activism, this process of democratization provided the conditions for new Islamic groups and movements to assert a noticeable presence and gain a foothold in the kingdom. THE JEMAAT TABLIGH MOVEMENT The Jemaat Tabligh is an increasingly assertive socio-religious force in the Thai Muslim community that is rooted in broader reformist tradition. An Islamic grassroots dakwah (missionary) movement focused on the “purification” of the Islamic community, the Jemaat Tabligh originated from the South Asian continent as part of an Islamic reform movement of the mid-nineteenth century emphasizing religiosity, observance, and personal devotion.The focus of Tabligh activism is the replication of the Prophetic lifestyle as dictated in the hadith. This expression of religiosity, the Tabligh movement further maintains, is open to lay preachers and worshippers and not solely confined to a coterie of religious scholars. By this token, the most vivid expression of Tabligh activism has been the missionary travels of Muslim commoners and lay preachers alike. While the activities of Jemaat Tabligh are highly mobile, decentralized, and transnational in nature, in southern Thailand most of its activities are centred at the Markaz Dakwah Yala in the outskirts of Yala town and to a lesser extent in Bangkok, where shura councils consisting of groups of elders meet to vet the readiness of followers to conduct their dakwah, which is usually either three days a month or forty days a year. Tabligh members come from varied backgrounds, include professionals such as engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, and university students, as well as farmers and businessmen.2 05 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 5 4/23/09, 2:34 PM 140 [3.239.59.193] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 02:22 GMT) 141 Networks and Crosscurrents 141 The genesis of the Tabligh movement in southern Thailand can be traced to the 1960s, when Jemaat (missionary groups) from Kota Bahru (Malaysia), led by the son-in-law of Jemaat Tabligh founder Muhammad Ilyas, visited Yala and established the first...