‘They are not Muslims’: A critical discourse analysis of the Ahmadiyya sect issue in Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines discourse presentations of the Ahmadiyya sect (a self-defined sect of Islam) as created in texts produced by the Islamic Defender Front (Front Pembela Islam/the FPI). The FPI considers Ahmadiyya to be a deviant sect because the sect recognises its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as a new prophet of Islam after Prophet Muhammad. This teaching is in sharp contradiction to the belief of the majority of Muslims who believe that Muhammad is the seal of prophethood. This study aims to reveal the discourse strategies employed and discourse topics presented by the FPI in its written and spoken texts when presenting Ahmadiyya. The data analysed are two speeches delivered and two articles written by the FPI’s chairman, Habib Rizieq Shihab. The critical discourse analysis (CDA) theoretical framework employed in this study is based on Van Dijk’s ‘ideological square’, namely positive self- and negative other presentations. The findings of the study reveal that Ahmadiyya is depicted negatively as ‘the non-believers of Islam’, ‘the hijacker of Islam’, ‘the enemy of Islam’, and ‘the traitor/betrayer of Islam’, while Shihab has portrayed the FPI as ‘the tolerant Islamic group’

Keywords

Ahmadiyya blasphemy critical discourse analysis (CDA)deviant sect discriminatory discourses discourse strategies Indonesia Islam Islamic Defender Front positive and negative presentations religious minority group

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