Niqab, Protest Movement, and the Salafization of Indonesian Islam

Maghfur Ahmad, Siti Mumun Muniroh, Shinta Nurani

Abstract


This study aims to reveal the niqab as a protest movement and an instrument of regeneration (salafization) for Salafi Muslim women in Indonesia. The niqab has been one of the important symbols in the Salafi Islamic movement and has been the main dress for Salafi Muslim women. This study is of importance since the existing niqab studies are more related to religious identity, culture, motivation, stigma, and stereotypes. Data in this phenomenological research were obtained through interviews, observations, and documentation involving the niqab-wearing women from Salafi Islam activists at Majlis Ta’lim Al-Izzah of Pekalongan and Pondok Pesantren SJR Al-Salafy of Yogyakarta. The data were then analyzed with the Moustakas’ model. This study has shown that the niqab in the internal circle of Salafi Islam has a plural meaning. Among Salafi Muslims, it not only functions as a cultural identity or a symbol of piety in religion but also holds the spirit of protest, resistance, struggle, and an instrument of da’wah to expand the influence of Salafi ideology. That is, the niqab has become a symbol of resistance to both the hegemony of religiosity and the established dressing culture for Indonesian Muslim women. It is also a symbol of the struggle towards the kaffah Islam and an essential instrument for the regeneration of Salafi Islam. Overall, the niqab phenomenon in Indonesia indicates that the salafization in Indonesian Islam has been running in a structured, massive, and sustainable way.


Keywords


Islamism, Kaffah Islam, Niqab, Salafism, and Resistance Movement.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21043/qijis.v9i2.8195

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