Dealing with Islamophobia: Expanding religious engagement to civic engagement among the Indonesian Muslim community in Australia

Abstract

The increasing Islamophobia in the Western world is worsened not only by global political issues but also by the stance of Muslims, who are perceived as exclusive and ethnocentric, particularly in the Australian context. This article outlines the strategies used by Indonesian Muslims in Australia to deal with the Islamophobic discourse, namely enhancing religious engagement to enhance solidarity and social cohesion between them and increasing civic engagement as an assimilation attempt with Australians. Religious engagement is carried out through enhancing Islamic lecture activities to promote a more moderate and open understanding of Islam. Meanwhile, civic engagement activities included increasing social involvement as a form of community service, collaborating more with other communities as a form of collective action, jointly proposing political policies as a form of political involvement, and working with Australians to create a better future as manifestations of civic engagement in the context of social change.Contribution: Although Islamophobia is mostly a political issue, the Indonesian Muslim community in Australia views it as a chance to open up and demonstrate to the Australian community that they can work together in a broader kind of civic engagement.

Voluntary Diaspora and Missionary Purposes: Mapping Indonesian Muslim Diaspora in Western Countries

“…However, they experience similar problems in the Muslim diaspora. For example, it has been argued that Indonesian Muslims in Australia are very vulnerable to experiencing being a minority in religion and identity (Fakhruroji 2019) and being discriminated against Islamophobia (Safei et al 2022;Briskman 2015;Akbarzadeh 2016).…”