Understanding Muslim Identity through Multiple Lenses: Insights from a Minority Group in Australia
The title is a research paper by T. Zulfikar, published in “Journal.Ar-Raniry”, Vol 1 (2016). The following is an excerpt from its abstract.[1]
Muslim identity
Who Muslims are and what they actually do in their daily life are topics of much interest for many people. Muslims have been defined from different lenses. Some scholars suggest that Muslims are those whose parents are Muslims; while others view it differently. In this present time, studies on Muslim identity have been conducted by some Muslim and non-Muslim scholars.
Objective of the article
This article aims at exploring understanding Muslim identity from multiple lenses. In doing so, I review literature from Muslim sacred texts, the Holy Quran and also the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I first reviewed verses of the Quran and also the hadith related to the nature of Muslim identity. In addition, I reviewed research literature exploring Muslim identity and identified several notions of Muslim identity.
Finding
The article found that Muslims’ sacred texts define Muslim identity through the practice of Islamic sacred texts. While research on Muslim identity define Muslims as not only limited to religious practices but also to other attributes.