Islam and Muslims in Fiji

Type Journal Article - Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
Title Islam and Muslims in Fiji
Author(s)
Volume 24
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2007
Page numbers 141-154
URL http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360200042000212241
Abstract
This paper provides an elementary understanding of Islam in Fiji and describes the basic conditions in which Muslims struggled to establish their faith. Tracing the arrival of Islam in Fiji between 1879 and 1916, the paper examines its subsequent establishment as a religion in the islands and the later breakdown of the indentured labour system, leading to the settling of Muslim labourers in Fiji. The paper examines how ethnicity and sectarianism in India influenced the initial shaping of Islam in Fiji. It argues that the arrival of Islam in Fiji is an incidental result of the indentured system and its evolution is accompanied by a steady shift from syncreticism to Islamic refinement.

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