Wei Weng, Hew: Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity in Indonesia (2018). NIAS Press. Copenhagen. xxvi + 305 pp. [NIAS Monographs 140]. ISBN 978-87-7694-211-3. Price £ 22.50 (Paperback)
Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity in Indonesia poses a welcoming contribution to the intersection of Chinese and Muslim identity in Indonesia. Both identity expressions were restricted during the New Order regime and have experienced a revival since its end in 1...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia
2019
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/72099/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72099/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72099/1/72099_Wei%20Weng%2C%20Hew-%20Chinese%20Ways.pdf |
| Summary: | Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and
Religiosity in Indonesia poses a welcoming contribution to the
intersection of Chinese and Muslim identity in Indonesia. Both identity
expressions were restricted during the New Order regime and have
experienced a revival since its end in 1998. Much has been written on the
re-discovery of Chineseness, even more so on the different forms of
Islamic revival in Indonesia. However, as the author rightly identified,
the (inter)- connection between the two has been neglected. Wei Weng
shows in his book that Chinese and Muslim identity in Indonesia have
more in common than it might appear at first sight. Both, Muslim and
Chinese identities, had been surpressed. Expressions of Islam, as well as
expressions of Chineseness, were restricted. In addition, both identites
are multiple and fluid. There is no single Chinese or Islamic identity in
Indonesia. The official national motto of Indonesia Bhinneka Tunggal
Eka (Unity in Diversity) is present everywhere. Looking further into the
similarities of Chinese and Muslim identities, Wei Weng finds that
Chineseness and Islamicness are probably the two most commodified
and visible identities in Indonesia’s markets today. Here, Rudnycsky’s
Market Islam comes to mind, and how Muslim religious ethics are
designed to merge with capitalism and consumer culture. Furthermore,
both identities carry a transnational dimension, connected to the Chinese
diaspora and the Muslim ummah. Wei Weng uses ‘Islamic ummah’,
which I find problematic because the ummah is made up of Muslims,
meaning people. However, ‘Islamic’ implies the notion of ideology,
which is problematic when refering to a community as diverse as the
Muslim ummah. To unite the two identities, the author argues that |
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