THE DYNAMICS OF SALAFISM IN PEKANBARU: FROM DEPRIVED MUSLIMS TO A COMMUNITY OF MEMORY Andri Rosadi A thesis submitted to the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University In fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Principal supervisor: Prof. Adam Possamai Co-supervisors: Dr. Arskal Salim & Dr. Steven Drakeley DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my late mother, whose love and support, and to my father, whose unceasing encouragement enabled me to travel in this academic as well as ‘spiritual’ journey. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I have to thank Allah for His mercy and blessing. A number of people and institutions have supported me and made this study possible to be completed. My great gratitude is extended to the Australian Awards Scholarships (AAS) program which funded my study and provided the training at the IAELF in Jakarta prior to the departure to Australia, and to the Rector of UIN Imam Bonjol Padang who exempted me from teaching duties during this time. Professor Adam Possamai, my principal supervisor, has dedicated his time and insight providing both theoretical and methodological guidance, always keeping me on track during this study. His patience and great understanding allowed me to learn and reflect not only about the thesis in particular, but also about academic life in general. Both my co-supervisors, Dr. Arskal Salim and Dr. Steven Drakeley have given valuable feedback during this process. Without their unceasing support, constructive criticism and continuous encouragement, I would not have been able to complete this thesis. To all my supervisors, I am therefore indebted and I extend my sincere gratitude and utmost appreciation. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. James L. Cox of Edinburgh University for his valuable insights to develop Chapter 7, Vanessa Goldie-Scot for her assistance at improving my writing skills and quality of my chapter drafts, and Dr. Ashleigh Watson who carried out the tedious work of proofreading this thesis. Staffs of the Religion and Society Research Cluster (RSRC) and School of Social Sciences and Psychology (SSAP) have helped me in many ways and many forms, among them was Nutan Muckle, who left the SSAP before I finished the study, and Chantelle Young, Research and HDR Administration Officer. I would like also to thank tomy colleagues at the RSRC, Victor, Kathleen and Alexia for their talk and sharing about academic life, Amin for ‘lending’ me his office, and Haryo for donating his desk top, allowing me to work from home. Many people in Pekanbaru made this work possible while I carried out fieldwork. To mention some of them: Noki Syafriadi, Ustadz Abdul Somad, Ustadz Mustafa Umar, iii Zulfadli, Ustadz Khoilid Shomad, Ustadz Jasnur, Ustadz Abu Zubair and Ustadz Fauzan. I owe them very much for their valuable information, warm welcome, and hospitality. I also owe to many people who have assisted me but are not listed here. To them all, I extend my sincere thankfulness. Last, I dedicate my sincere and genuine gratitude to my family who patiently accompanied me during this study. My beloved wife Ivo Fauziah for her great understanding, endurance and patience; my beloved children, Rafif Maududi and Qodri Ramadhan for their understanding and patience due to the lost of plenty of family time to play with their daddy. Hopefully, this will inspire them for their own future. iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted, either in full or in part, for any other degrees at this or any other institution. -------------------------------- Andri Rosadi March 25, 2019 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ III DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................................................V TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................... I LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS ..............................................................................................................V ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................. VI NOTE FOR NON-ENGLISH WORDS AND TRANSLITERATION ........................................................ VII ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. THE SALAFI MOVEMENT: A BRIEF SURVEY ............................................................................................................ 8 1.2.1. Salafism: A Contested Concept .................................................................................................................. 8 1.2.2. Global Salafism ............................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2.3. Indonesian Salafism ................................................................................................................................... 13 1.3. AIMS, ARGUMENTS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.......................................................................................... 16 1.4. PEKANBARU AS THE RESEARCH SCENE ................................................................................................................. 18 1.5. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................................................... 25 1.5.1. Features of the field .................................................................................................................................... 25 1.5.2. Research Method ......................................................................................................................................... 26 1.5.3. Type of Data, Source and Method of Generating Data ................................................................. 29 1.5.4. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 35 1.6. THESIS OUTLINE ....................................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 2. RECONCEPTUALISING ISLAMIC REVIVALISM: THE SALAFI GROUP AS A COMMUNITY OF MEMORY .......................................................................................................................... 39 2.1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 39 2.2. FEATURES OF ISLAMIC REVIVALISM ...................................................................................................................... 40 2.3. MODERNITY AND ITS IMPACT ON MUSLIM ........................................................................................................... 46 2.4. HOW DO MUSLIMS COME TO FEEL DEPRIVED? .................................................................................................. 52 2.5. SALAFI GROUP AS A COMMUNITY OF MEMORY.................................................................................................... 56 2.6. THE PAST, MEMORY AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY............................................................................................... 60 2.7. CONCLUDING REMARKS ........................................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 3. SALAFISM AND RELIGIOUS REVERSION: DA’WA AS THE MAIN INSTRUMENT64 3.1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 64 3.2. DEFINING RELIGIOUS CHANGE: CONVERSION OR REVERSION? ........................................................................ 65 3.3. DA’WA AS THE VEHICLE FOR RELIGIOUS CHANGE: FACTORS, ISSUES AND FEATURES ................................. 73 3.4. MILESTONES OF THE SALAFI DA’WA IN PEKANBARU ......................................................................................... 79 3.4.1. The Basic Tenets of Salafi Da’wa ........................................................................................................... 80 3.4.2. The Goal of Salafi Da’wa ..........................................................................................................................