Organizer: Crawford School of Public Policy at Australian National University
Type/Location: Virtual
Description:
Salafi is recognised as one of the most conservative Muslim groups, adhering to the strictest interpretations of Islam, which often differs from the typical practices observed in Indonesia. Because of its conspicuous presence within the Indonesian religious public expression, the movement extensively becomes a subject for scholarly inquiry. Many studies on Salafism in Indonesia have tried to understand the movement by focusing on its young followers in urban setting, but there is less emphasis on how the group is articulated by young women living within relatively underdeveloped and peripheral area. My research fills this gap by understanding Salafi movement in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara. Historically, Bima was part of an Islamic kingdom, where Islamic education and traditions were deeply embedded in the local culture. But at the same time Bima people also tend to be accommodative and open to various interpretations of Islam, including Salafism. The Salafi community has notably emerged within the religious landscape of Bima, contributing to the reinforcement of Islamic practices among the locals through various forms of Islamic education.
This research specifically focuses on the experience of young women within the Salafi community in Bima. Based on four months of ethnographic fieldwork, this study found that for these young women Salafism provides a sense of certainty, distancing them from doubt and ambiguity in life. Their participation within the Salafi community also impacts how these young women imagine and reinterpret their future within the lens of pietistic visions of the now and hereafter. The Salafi teaching serves as a foundation that helps them find their life goal and determine what is valuable in this world. It works to narrow and specify the range of what they see as an “ideal success” that is increasingly framed within the lens of a possible synergy between spiritual and material progress.
About the Speaker:
Rani Dwi Putri is an M. Phil student in the Department of Anthropology, the School of Culture, History & Language, ANU. Her research explores the experiences of young women within the Salafi movement in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara Before commencing her master’s study, Rani worked as a junior researcher at the Center for Security and Peace Studies (CSPS) under Universitas Gadjah Mada.
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