Muslim Politics Review

Foreword

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Women’s empowerment dominates this eighth edition of Muslim Politics Review [Vol. 4, No. 2, December 2025]. The edition’s first three articles discuss the challenges that women face in both culture and the political systems they live in, such as in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. Discussing these challenges is important: women are increasingly assuming important roles in Muslim societies, particularly thanks to better access to education and work opportunities. At the same time, the dual pressures of women’s professional roles and traditional care roles such as being a mother present unique challenge. So, as more women shape social and political affairs in Global South countries, their roles deserve scrutiny in this edition of Muslim Politics Review.

Governing Religion: Colonial Legality, State, and the Case of Hijab in India

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In March 2022, India’s Karnataka High Court ruled that the wearing of hijab by Muslim students was not an ‘essential religious practice’ under Islam. This raised a question of authority to interpret Islamic law, as the judges effectively decided what constitutes Islam legitimately and what does not. To trace the genealogy of these modes of governing religion, the paper examines three connected moments—the Karnataka hijab case, the Indian Constituent Assembly debates of 1946-1949, and the codification of Islamic law by the British colonial government—as instances in which the authority of the state emerges in judicial, constitutional, and colonial registers respectively. Across these sites, using genealogical method, this article shows how the state has continuously reorganized Islamic legal and ethical traditions into manageable forms, producing self-organizing Muslim subjects. I argue that the court’s capacity to define and limit Islamic norms is structurally embedded in the grammar of the modern state and its logic of governance, inherited and reconfigured from colonial techniques of defining and regulating religion.

Post-Conflict Political Dynamics in Aceh and Bangsamoro: Religious Symbols and Patrimonialism in Practice

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Post-conflict Aceh and Bangsamoro continue to face significant governance challenges marked by ineffective autonomy and the consolidation of religiously-grounded political authority. While special autonomy theoretically provides an inclusive framework for development, in practice, authority remains monopolized by elites who draw legitimacy from Islamic symbols. The rise of figures labeled as ‘abang-abang syar’i’ (male leaders who publicly represent Islam) demonstrates how public displays of piety are often intertwined with patronage, collusion and kinship-based power consolidation. In Aceh, widespread trust in religious scholars conceals an accommodative and hierarchical power structure, while in Bangsamoro, religious rhetoric is strategically deployed to distribute benefits narrowly within elite circles. This study adopts a comparative perspective and a theoretical framework integrating Islamic patrimonialism, moral politics, masculinity, and Islamic neopopulism. The findings suggest that religious symbolism primarily operates as aesthetic legitimation, while entrenched corruption and patronage networks continue to undermine inclusive, accountable, and socially-just governance.

Faith and Empowerment among Bangladeshi Muslim Women

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This study explores whether Islam in Bangladesh supports or restricts women's empowerment. Using qualitative analysis of peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and digital content, the research examines how religious teachings, cultural norms, and social realities interact. Although Islamic teachings emphasize justice, consent, and women's economic rights, these ideals are often unevenly applied due to patriarchal customs, informal dispute parties, and selective religious interpretations. The findings show that practices such as wearing the hijab, praying, and studying the Quran help many women build discipline, dignity, and social capital, which strengthens their confidence, mobility, and voice. At the same time, the same religious spaces, both offline and online, can become restrictive through social monitoring, ‘religious vigilantism’, family norms, and barriers in the job market. While legal protections and systems such as microfinance create new opportunities, their impact often remains limited because of men’s mediation, institutional weakness, and poor enforcement. Overall, the study argues that women's empowerment should not be viewed only through a secular religious divide but through a faith-sensitive lens. It highlights the need for justice-based religious education, inclusive religious leadership, digital safety and literacy, and stronger implementation of legal rights. The findings suggest that religion can function both as a resource and a barrier, and its impact depends on factors such as class, location, disability, and access to digital platforms.

When Piety is Framed as Threatening: The Hijrah Movement within the Politics of Religious Moderation in Indonesia

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This article investigates how the hijrah movement in Indonesia – characterized by a return to Islamic pious practices, lifestyle changes, and global Muslim identity – is increasingly constructed as a security threat within Indonesia’s religious moderation agenda. Drawing on discourse analysis of state narratives, media portrayals, field research, and statements from mainstream Islamic organizations, the study finds that hijrah is framed not merely as a cultural or spiritual trend but as a potential conduit for ideological deviation and radicalization. Focusing on local responses in urban centers such as Jakarta and Bandung, it examines how the movement and its participants are positioned against state-sanctioned visions of moderate Islam. Using securitization theory and grounded Foucauldian analysis, the article argues that the state's discursive alignment of hijrah with extremism enables soft repression and delegitimization of non-violent yet non-conforming Islamic expressions. This securitizing logic risks narrowing Indonesia’s religious pluralism by stigmatizing identity-based piety, thereby undermining the very goals of tolerance and harmony that moderation policies claim to promote.

When Religious Conservatism Intertwines with Anti-Scientism: Friday Prayers in the Time of Corona in Semarang, Indonesia

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This article discusses the implementation of Friday prayers during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. It focuses on why Islamic preachers, mosque administrators, and religious leaders (ʿulamā) continued to hold congregational prayers despite appeals and even prohibition from the government, scientists, and Islamic organizations. By examining the contents of 67 Friday prayers’ sermons from 67 mosques in Semarang, Central Java, in-depth interviews with ʿulamāʾ, and journalistic reports, we argue that, firstly, a growing trend of religious conservatism influenced the reasons behind the performance of Friday prayers. Secondly, most Islamic preachers, mosque administrators, and religious leaders ignored scientists’ advice on appropriate COVID-19 health protocols. Finally, there was a sense of bewilderment at mosques, caused by poor communication and ambiguous messages from the government and Islamic mass organizations. All in all, these strong religious factors reflect the rapid growth of conservative forms of Islam in post-New Order Indonesia.

China's Soft Power in Indonesia: Eliminating the Remnants of Suharto’s US-Backed Anti-Communist Propaganda

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The paper examines the extent to which China's ‘soft power’ in Indonesia is effective in reducing negative perceptions of the anti-communist propaganda launched by the United States-backed Suharto regime during the Cold War. Using theoretical framework proposed by Joseph S. Nye and relevant theories from Joshua Kurlantzick, the study finds that China's soft power performance in Indonesia is significant. After years of harboring a negative image due to anti-communist campaigns, a new, friendlier image of China is emerging. This transformation is reflected by a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, which shows show that 65 percent of Indonesians have a positive perception of China. There are several dimensions of soft power I discuss in this paper, ranging from educational diplomacy such as providing scholarships for Indonesian students; religious diplomacy or ‘Islamic diplomacy’ with through Indonesia’s two largest religious organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah; and the establishment of Confucius Institutes on university campuses. These components were preceded by vigorous economic diplomacy by China, particularly during the Joko Widodo presidency (2014-2024), and were later reinforced by expanding Chinese digital diplomacy, which takes the form of entertainment and gaming platforms for young people, further distancing China from being perceived as a threat. Overall, this demonstrates how China’s soft power efforts have helped to mitigate the lingering negative perceptions of China linked to the Indonesian Communist Party of the mid-twentieth century.

On the Sustainability of Bangladesh Paradox

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Is the Bangladesh Paradox Sustainable? The Institutional Diagnostic Project
by Selim Raihan, François Bourguignon, Umar Salam (Eds.)
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2023).

Is the Bangladesh Paradox Sustainable? is an edited volume that queries the so-called ‘Bangladesh paradox’, referring to how the country enjoys the high level of economic growth despite structural problems such bad governance. Edited by Selim Raihan, François Bourguignon, and Umar Salam, the book undertakes a systematic institutional analysis of Bangladesh’s development trajectory. At its core, the volume grapples with a question that has puzzled development economists and political scientists for more than two decades: how has Bangladesh managed to achieve sustained economic growth and impressive improvements in social indicators while maintaining persistently weak governance and fragile political institutions? This Bangladesh paradox is not merely a puzzle of empirical curiosity but a serious challenge to dominant theories of political economy, since it suggests that under certain historical and political configurations, growth can emerge despite the absence of what are conventionally defined as ‘good’ institutions.

On Muslim Activism in Singapore

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Islam in a Secular State: Muslim Activism in Singapore
by Walid Jumblatt Abdullah (Routledge, 2021).

Since the 1970s, a growing global phenomenon has attempted to subordinate national identities to sit below a broader Islamic identity. This Muslim re-assertiveness has been documented even in places where Muslims represent a minority, such as Singapore. Based on two recent surveys, at least 93 percent of ethnic Malays in Singapore perceive being Muslim as important to their identity , while Muslim respondents were most likely to identify as extremely religious. This is in stark contrast to other ethnic and religious communities. Considering that Singapore is located in a Muslim-majority region and described by Huxley as a “Chinese nut in a Malay nutcracker”, it is of utmost importance that the state is able to manage Muslim assertiveness towards policies that might challenge their religious interests, without compromising on national security and economic growth. Although one can argue that this indicates a perennial sense of insecurity, it is a natural trait of any sovereign state, particularly in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society.