The State and National Foundation in the Maldives
Rizwan A. Ahmad
Department of Anthropology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BTr.ahmad@ucl.ac.uk
The Maldivian state deploys an official account of national origination which depicts the Islamic conversion of the islanders and thetranscendence of jahiliyya(pre-Islamic ignorance). Encoded inthis account are claims to legitimacy which culminate in the conflation of political and religious authority. This article explores how the foundational claims of the Maldivian state are subject to popular debasement, specifically through the juxtaposition of a popular unofficial rendition of national foundation.
Key Words: Islam • jahiliyya • Maldives • popular debasement • Rannamari • state
Cultural Dynamics, Vol. 13, No. 3, 293-315 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/092137400101300303
http://cdy.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/3/293
Rizwan A. Ahmad
Department of Anthropology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BTr.ahmad@ucl.ac.uk
The Maldivian state deploys an official account of national origination which depicts the Islamic conversion of the islanders and thetranscendence of jahiliyya(pre-Islamic ignorance). Encoded inthis account are claims to legitimacy which culminate in the conflation of political and religious authority. This article explores how the foundational claims of the Maldivian state are subject to popular debasement, specifically through the juxtaposition of a popular unofficial rendition of national foundation.
Key Words: Islam • jahiliyya • Maldives • popular debasement • Rannamari • state
Cultural Dynamics, Vol. 13, No. 3, 293-315 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/092137400101300303
http://cdy.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/3/293
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