Islam of Tannese Muslims (Vanuatu)
Type de matériel :
22
As religious belief, cultural construct and social world, Islam has long remained unknown to many South Pacific societies. In densely populated Melanesian countries like Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, that have, since their independence, concentrated on constructing national identities firmly rooted in Christianity, the introduction of Islam needs be studied as a specifically postcolonial phenomenon. In Vanuatu, after several decades of sovereignty, the political and religious authorities of this country have nonetheless felt the need to reassert Christianity’s hegemony at the national level. However, due to the magnitude of the cultural consequences of globalization and secularization, the people of Vanuatu are going through social upheavals which are coupled with a moral crisis among the traditional Christian denominations, confronted by the growing success of neo-Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. Converting to Islam, in such a context, is a religious innovation of special interest for social science specialists since, in Vanuatu, this study involves debates on the politics of culture and identity. What is at stake in this issue is the ability of Islam to conform, or not, to past Melanesian experiences in indigenizing foreign cultural influences. The aim of this article is to analyze the reasons for adhering to this new offer on the “religion market”, in certain contexts, and in particular, on the island of Tanna, despite a deep mistrust of Islam.
Réseaux sociaux