Islamic Hegemony

It occurred to me this week the extent to which I live in a state of Islamic Hegemony. Hegemony (thanks, Anthropological Thought and Theory!) is dominance of one social group’s ideas/culture/customs over other social groups. It’s not inherently negative or intentional, though I’d venture to say that the effects on the non-dominant group could be anger, stress, or feelings of oppression.

I didn’t realize how much American society is controlled and affected by Christian hegemony until I was in the presence of a room full of atheists and Jewish people talk about it (this was at an antiracism conference in 2009). I was shocked by the sheer amount of things that they have to deal with as non-Christians in our country. Consider the hegemony that is perpetuated in this “stand-if” activity. In the “stand-if” activity, each question is followed by asking people to remain standing if they are non-Christian while the Christians sit down, so as to see how many people are still affected by these statements even when they do not follow the Christian religion.

Stand if…

1.     You have ever experienced the church in your community as a major center of social life that influences those around you and that would be difficult to avoid if you wanted to.

2.     You have ever taken Christian holidays, such as Christmas or Easter, off, whether you observe them as Christian holidays or not, or have taken Sunday off or think of it, in any way, as a day of rest

3.     You have ever been given a school vacation or paid holiday related to Christmas or Easter when school vacations or paid holidays for non-Christian religious celebrations, such as Ramadan or the Jewish High Holidays, were not observed.

4.     Public institutions you use, such as offices, buildings, banks, parking meters, the post office, libraries, and stores, are open on Fridays and Saturdays but closed on Sundays

5.     The calendar year you observe is calculated from the year designated as the birth of Christ.

6.     You daily use currency that includes Christian words or symbols, such as the phrase “in God we trust.”

7.     You have ever attended public nonreligious functions, such as civic or governmental meetings, that were convened with Christian blessings, references, or prayer.

8.     You have ever been asked or commanded to sing or to recite, in public, material that contains Christian references, such as the Pledge of Allegiance or “America, the Beautiful.”

Source: http://christianhegemony.org/christian-culture-in-us-schools

Here in Indonesia, at the very least in East Java, the hegemony table is turned. It’s all about Islam all the time. I preface these examples by specifying that these statements are about East Java because religious hegemony tends to be by island in Indonesia. So Bali has Hindu hegemony; Flores has Catholic hegemony… There are also pockets of religious minority communities within provinces. When I visited Lake Toba in Sumatra, I was with Batak people, who were Christians. Alcohol flowed freely and there was NO mosque in the town I was in, which is extraordinary for a girl used to a musholla (small mosque) literally on every 2-3 blocks.

Both of these charts come from: "Penduduk Menurut Wilayah dan Agama yang Dianut [Population by Region and Religion]". Sensus Penduduk 2010. Jakarta, Indonesia: Badan Pusat Statistik. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 20 Nov 2011.

Anyways, here are some examples of the Islamic hegemony I see in East Java:

1.     Five times a day- rain or shine- the entire province fills with the sound of the call to prayer on the loudspeaker. Emphasize loud.

2.     It is hard/impossible to find pork anywhere except in big cities.

3.     Women may be uncomfortable wearing shorts/skirts above the knee or tank tops because they are showing too much skin.

4.     Many schools recite the Al Qur’an every day before school, using, of course, the loudspeaker. Students of other religions still have to come, but they just sit there.

5.     Signs of restaurants or businesses often use Arabic words.

6.     Meetings begin with “Assalamualaikum” (Peace be upon you) whether there are people of other faiths present or not. I have yet to discover if people of other faith say it at meetings or not.

7.     The left hand is considered dirty so you should not pass anything to anyone with your left hand, wave to anyone with your left hand, take anything from anyone with your left hand (unless you apologize), write with your left hand, etc.

8.     School is free for major Muslim holidays. While Christmas falls within the end-of-semester vacation, there is no time off, for example, for Easter or Chinese New Year, etc. As Judaism is not even a recognized religion, woe to those who want to celebrate Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur…

9.     TV programming sometimes has the call to prayer in the evenings during commercials.

10. A lot stops at 12 PM on Fridays, when the men are required to go to the mosque for Friday prayer, called Jum’atan. (Pronounced Jew-maht-on)

11.  “So can you do this homework?” “So can you meet me here?” “So will you marry her?” is all met with a simple, “Insha’Allah” (if God wills). Indonesian Muslims are either more faithful than Christians in leaving every decision to God, or they are less willing to commit to anything!

12. Men can often be seen wearing sarongs (skirt-like!) and kopiahs (small hats) anywhere and everywhere. Women of course, are wearing headscarves everywhere, too.

13. Every good public place has a musholla for when the time to pray comes: gas stations, zoos, airports, restaurants. Everywhere!

I’m sure there are countless more ways in which Islamic hegemony is manifest. However, most of it has become rather normal, so I don't always recognize the hegemony around me...

Awas! (Be careful!) If you aren't aware of what's going on around you, even you as a practicing Christian may end up following the Islamic hegemony!