| Publication |
June 2004.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In this article the author examines the anti-war protest on March 26, 2003, in Southern Thailand and suggests the notion of engaged Muslims as a theoretical alternative to political Islam to better reflect both a realistic Muslim perspective and a critical understanding of what constitutes 'the political'. Such an alternative, when it exists, depends on the ways in which a Muslim minority, such as in Thailand, chooses to engage with others in a manner that could reflect a reaffirmation of membership in the imagined community that is the nation-state, while preserving their identity as those who belong to their distinctive community of faith. In protesting for peace and symbolically 'praying in the rain' as both citizens and members of a distinctive community of faith, an alternative role for Muslims in politics as engaged Muslims has been creatively explored.
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