BEYOND ISLAM-MALAY: Hegemony, Exclusion, and Decolonial Resistance in Riau
Abstract
The narrative of “Islam is Malay, and Malay is Islam” has become a dominant identity construct in Riau. This article unpacks how such a narrative operates as a hegemonic discourse that excludes non-Muslim Indigenous communities—such as the Akit, Talang Mamak, and Anak Rawa peoples—from being recognized as part of the "Malay group." Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of power-knowledge and decolonial approaches in religious studies, this research reveals mechanisms of exclusion through language, cultural policy, and the distribution of resources—all of which privilege the dominant identity. At the same time, Indigenous communities engage in cultural resistance through silence, concealed spiritual practices, and adaptive identity strategies. This article calls for a re-reading of Malay identity through a more pluralistic and inclusive lens, and proposes a decolonial framework as a pathway toward representational and cultural justice in the Riau region.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abdillah, M. (2023). Islam dan Budaya Politik Melayu. Medina-Te : Jurnal Studi Islam, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.19109/medinate.v17i2.17008
Alfanani, R. J. (2019). HEGEMONI BUDAYA DALAM NOVEL MERPATI KEMBAR DI LOMBOK KARYA NURIADI: KAJIAN HEGEMONI ANTONIO GRAMSCI. GENTA BAHTERA: Jurnal Ilmiah Kebahasaan Dan Kesastraan, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.47269/gb.v5i1.81
Allan, J. (2022). Foucault and his acolytes: Discourse, power and ethics. In Social Theory and Education Research: Understanding Foucault, Habermas, Bourdieu and Derrida. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003156550-5
Alwi Almanduri, M. B. (2021). Islamic Hegemony in Forming Religious Attitudes: Study of Majority and Minority Islam in Southeast Asia. Jurnal Fuaduna : Jurnal Kajian Keagamaan Dan Kemasyarakatan, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.30983/fuaduna.v5i2.5011
Andaya, L. Y. (2008). Leaves of the same tree: Trade and ethnicity in the straits of melaka. In Leaves of the Same Tree: Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka. https://doi.org/10.1355/sj26-2j
Barolsky, V. (2023). Truth-telling about a settler-colonial legacy: decolonizing possibilities? Postcolonial Studies, 26(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790.2022.2117872
Brayson, K. (2021). Generating Comparison-in-Law: Embodied Epistemologies, For the Love of Knowledge. Critical Analysis of Law, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.33137/cal.v8i2.37854
Budiman, D. (2018). Dakwah pada Masyarakat Terasing Upaya Dewan Dakwah Islam Indonesia (DDII) Terhadap Suku Akit SondeRiau. Anida (Aktualisasi Nuansa Ilmu Dakwah), 18(2).
Budiman, D. (2019). Konsep Dakwah pada Masyarakat Terasing Suku Akit Sonde Riau. Anida (Aktualisasi Nuansa Ilmu Dakwah), 18(2). https://doi.org/10.15575/anida.v18i2.5075
Camp, E. (2012). Sarcasm, pretense, and the semantics/pragmatics distinction. Nous, 46(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0068.2010.00822.x
Dahlan, A. (2015). Sejarah Melayu. Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.
Darmansyah A, A. S., Arlin, A., & Kamaruddin, S. A. (2023). Sosiologi Kritis Teori Sosiologi Michel Foucault. Kaganga:Jurnal Pendidikan Sejarah Dan Riset Sosial Humaniora, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.31539/kaganga.v6i1.5094
Departemen Agama RI. (1979). Metodologi Dakwah kepada Suku Terasing,. Proyek Penerangan Bimbingan dan Dakwah/Khutbah Agama Islam.
Derpic, J. C. (2020). The End of the Cognitive Empire: The Coming of Age of Epistemologies of the South. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 49(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306120902418l
Disyacitta, F. (2019). Melawan Diam-Diam di Tengah Dominasi: Kajian Strategi Penerimaan Sosial Politik Kelompok Minoritas Syiah di Kabupaten Jember. Jurnal PolGov, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.22146/polgov.v1i2.60199
Escobar, A. (2016). Thinking-feeling with the earth: Territorial struggles and the ontological dimension of the epistemologies of the south. AIBR Revista de Antropologia Iberoamericana, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.11156/aibr.110102e
Fanon, F., & Memmi, A. (2022). 2. Diaspora and Colonialism. In Diasporas of the Mind. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300199376-004
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings. In New York (Vol. 23). https://doi.org/citeulike-article-id:798470
Foucault, M. (2013). Archaeology of Knowledge. In Archaeology of Knowledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203604168
Foucault, M. (2023). Space, Knowledge, and Power [1982]. In The Design Culture Reader. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003416692-13
Halafoff, A., Shorter, R. C., Weng, E., Paradies, Y., Abur, W., & Winarnita, M. (2024). Decolonising Studies of Religion in So-Called Australia: Truth-Telling, Collective Reflections and Future Trajectories. Journal of Intercultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2024.2317152
Hanif, M., & Dwi, D. (2021). THE ROLE OF ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT IN BUMI MELAYU. Jurnal Bina Ummat: Membina Dan Membentengi Ummat, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.38214/jurnalbinaummatstidnatsir.v4i2.107
Hidayat. (2008). Akulturasi Islam dan Budaya Melayu: Studi Tentang Ritus Siklus Kehidupan Orang Melayu di Pelalawan Provinsi Riau. In Disertasi.
Honneth, A., & Fraser, N. (2003). Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange. North, 74(6).
Huda, K. (2016). ISLAM MELAYU DALAM PUSARAN SEJARAH Sebuah Transformasi Kebudayaan Melayu Nusantara. Toleransi: Media Komunikasi Umat Beragama, 8(1).
Jabar, N. F. A., & Yunus, K. (2017). Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an approach to the analysis of language. In Man in India (Vol. 97, Issue 16).
Jubba, H., Rafi, M., & Qodir, Z. (2021). Politik Identitas Melayu Islam sebagai Upaya Mewujudkan Budaya Berintegritas. Politicon : Jurnal Ilmu Politik, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15575/politicon.v3i1.11481
Junaidi, J. (2020). Islam dalam Jagad Pikir Melayu. Buletin Al-Turas, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.15408/bat.v20i2.3744
Mahdini. (2003). Islam dan Kebudayaan Melayu. Daulat Riau.
Mandasari, L. (2021, October 14). 5 Suku Asli yang Ada di Riau Selain Suku Melayu. Https://Www.Riauonline.Co.Id/Riau/Read/2021/10/14/5-Suku-Asli-Yang-Ada-Di-Riau-Selain-Suku-Melayu.
Maryamah, M. (2016). Tradisi Ilmiah dalam Peradaban Islam Melayu. Tadrib: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam, 2(2).
Masyhur, L. S. (2014). MENJADI BERAGAMA: KONVERSI AGAMA DAN RELASI KUASA PADA INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY DI SIAK, RIAU. Jurnal At-Tafkir, VII(1).
Mignolo, W. (2011). Epistemic Disobedience and the Decolonial Option: A Manifesto. TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.5070/t412011807
Moleong, L. J. (2017). Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Mowitt, J., Morris, M., & Patton, P. (1980). Michel Foucault: Power, Truth, Strategy. SubStance, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.2307/3683911
Pantao, A. (2021). Linguistic Features of Kakawing Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.3.26
Porath, N. (2018). The orang batin/orang sakai in the malay kingdomof siak sri indrapura. Asian Ethnology, 77(1–2).
Pulungan, S. (2015). Tradisi Politik Islam Melayu Dan Relevansinya Membangun Good Governance di Indonesia (Menelusuri Konsep Pemikiran Raja Ali Haji 1808-1873). DEA Press,.
Rab, T. (1990). Fenomena Melayu. Lembaga Studi Sosial Budaya Riau.
Rumagit, S. K. (2013). Kekerasan dan Diskriminasi Antar Umat Beragama di Indonesia. Lex Administratum, 1(2).
Sulaiman @ Mohamad, A., Che Noh, N., & Jamsari, E. A. (2020). Jati Diri Kanak-Kanak Melayu-Islam Menerusi Pendidikan Awal. Sains Insani, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.33102/sainsinsani.vol5no2.156
Susilo, A. M. P. (2017). Paradigma Metode Penelitian Kualitatif. UNY Press.
Ulinnuha, R., Udasmoro, W., & Wijaya, Y. (2013). Critical discourse analysis: Theory and method in social and literary framework. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v2i2.170
Yance, I. (2022). A Study of the Toponyms of Natural Topography in Siak, Riau Province. Kapata Arkeologi, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.24832/kapata.v17i1.43-54
Zolkefli, Y. (2018). The ethics of truth-telling in health-care settings. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 25(3). https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2018.25.3.14
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24014/apjrs.v7i2.37511
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society
Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society (APJRS) Indexed By:
Mailing Address:
Nusantara Journal for Southeast Asian Islamic Studies is published by Institute for Southeast Asian Islamic Studies (ISAIS) Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.
Gedung Islamic Center Lt. I Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau, Jl. H.R. Soebrantas Km. 15 No. 155 Kelurahan Simpang Baru Kecamatan Tampan Pekanbaru - Riau 28293, PO. BOX 1004.
Published by:
Indexed by:
APJRS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.