This research is a comparative study of Chinese‐style mosques in Malaysia and Indonesia, set within their political and social contexts. Two main questions that drive this research are: 1) To what extent do Chinese‐style mosques promote inclusive and cosmopolitan Islam? 2) What are the translocal connections and local dynamics that make the establishment of Chinese‐style mosques possible?
Since the collapse of the Suharto regime, at least five Chinese‐style mosques have been built across Indonesia. The first one is the Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya, which its ‘temple‐like’ architectural design is inspired by an old mosque in Beijing, even as its activities are reconfigured within the local context. With the support of both Chinese and Muslim organizations in Surabaya, the mosque was established to declare that there can be a Chinese way of being Muslim and to reassure people that Indonesian Islam is tolerant of various cultural traditions. The mosque is both a sacred and social space shared by all ethnic and religious groups.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, the combination of a state‐controlled Islamic bureaucracy and an ethnicized Islam that equates Malays with Muslims has discouraged the establishment of Chinese‐style mosques, and even rejected it in some cases. Yet, recently, there are some positive developments, witnessed by the establishment of the Beijing Mosque in Kelantan and the proposal of the MACMA (Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association) Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
This comparative research will also explore two broader issues. First, it examines the discourse and practice of Islamic pluralism in both Malaysia and Indonesia, by examining the recent development of mosque architectures in their major cities. Second, it investigates the possibility of ‘Chinese Muslim diaspora’, represented by the cultivation of ties of Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia to Hui Muslims in China, the promotion of the role of Admiral Zheng He in Islamic propagation, and the building of Chinese-style mosques in both countries.