IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v6y2017i4p120-d114203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analyzing the Contributions of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and its Founder–Leader to Muslim Politics and Community in Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Agus Yusoff

    (History, Politics and Security Research Center, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Athambawa Sarjoon

    (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka)

  • Nordin Hussin

    (History, Politics and Security Research Center, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Azhar Ahmad

    (Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia)

Abstract

Historically, the politics of Sri Lankan Muslims has been identified as moderate and characterized by alliance-making with other major ethnic groups. Muslims rarely considered to form a strong political movement or party to increase their political influence, until the peak of the civil war in the 1980s. This occurrence helped the Muslim community to be facilitated socially and economically, but it also made them vulnerable in terms of rights and power accommodation in national politics. However, the establishment of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and its distinct form of politics progressively revived the Muslim community and its politics. This study examines the contributions of SLMC and its founder–leader to Muslim politics and community in Sri Lanka. The findings of this study reveal that SLMC under its founder–leader uniquely colored Muslim politics, which in turn strengthened popular support and transformed the Muslim community into “queen-makers” in the national politics. Under its founder–leader Mohammed Hussain Mohammed Ashraff, the SLMC greatly contributed to the transformation of Muslim political culture, and to the uplift of the socio-cultural, economic, and political status of the Muslim community, while voicing Muslims’ grievances and fighting for their status, rights, powers, and privileges. By contrast, the party and its founder–leader faced considerable opposition and criticisms on communal and racial bases. Nonetheless, the qualities and contributions of its founder–leader continue to be remembered and still have a significant influence on Muslims politics in Sri Lanka.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Agus Yusoff & Athambawa Sarjoon & Nordin Hussin & Azhar Ahmad, 2017. "Analyzing the Contributions of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and its Founder–Leader to Muslim Politics and Community in Sri Lanka," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:4:p:120-:d:114203
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/4/120/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/4/120/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Urmila Phadnis, 1979. "Political Profile of the Muslim Minority of Sri Lanka," International Studies, , vol. 18(1), pages 27-48, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Agus Yusoff & Athambawa Sarjoon & Zawiyah Mohd Zain, 2018. "Resettlement of Northern Muslims: A Challenge for Sustainable Post-War Development and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Mohammad Agus Yusoff & Athambawa Sarjoon & Zawiyah Mohd Zain, 2019. "Minorities, Territoriality and Politics for Autonomy: An Analysis of Competing Ethnic Politics in Eastern Sri Lanka," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 8, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:4:p:120-:d:114203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.