Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia

Edited by Kathryn M. Robinson

With contributions from Adlin Sila, Wahyuddin Halim, Faried F. Saenong, Eva Nisa, Yasir Alimi, Stella Hutagalung, Andrew McWilliam, Phillip Winn

Islam is at home in many of the areas of eastern Indonesia, with the early 15th-century Masjid Tua Wapauwe in Northern Maluku arguably the oldest mosque in Indonesia. The studies collected in this volume present a rich introduction to the myriad ways of being Muslim across this diverse archipelago, from Sulawesi to Maluku and Nusa Tenggara Timur, as seen through the role of imams and the institution of the local mosque. The volume is not only unique in its geographic coverage, but also in the way it takes as an organising principle the individuals and institutions that embody Islam in local communities. The book  complements and contributes to broader discussions of contemporary issues in Islam and other contemporary religions, including migration, proselytisation, networks, and changing models of religious authority. 


The new ethnographic work presented in each essay here, framed in relation to intersecting themes of religious authority and institutions, will certainly make a substantial contribution to the anthropology of Islam and Muslim societies with considerable resonance beyond the geographic region of its primary focus. It presents an important contribution to the fields of Southeast Asian Studies, Islamic Studies, and the Anthropology of Religion.

"In this important and original book, Kathryn M. Robinson and her
co-authors provide us with an historical overview and contemporary reassessment of  Islam, Islamisation, and indigenous traditions in eastern Indonesia. The book transforms the state of our knowledge of Islam in eastern Indonesia, and breaks new ground in the study of Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia as a whole." 
– Robert Hefner, Boston University

Kathryn M. Robinson is emeritus professor of Anthropology at the Australian National University, specialising in studies of eastern Indonesia, everyday Islam, social impact of mining, and gender relations.

Publication year: 2020
292 pp / 229 x 152 mm / 7 images, 1 map
Paperback
ISBN: 978-981-325-120-5