Islamisation Processes among Mauritian Muslims

Abstract

Islamisation has proved to be the basic regulator of change for the Muslim minority community of Mauritius. It has provided cultural idioms in the socio-economic progression of the group. More importantly, it has served to articulate the group's identity and interests in the changing political contexts of colonial and post-colonial society. Influenced by ideas evolving in the country of origin as well as elsewhere, Islamisation processes have often been contradictory in nature. At present, local Islam displays a highly pluralistic nature, and one of the dominant trends is constituted by fundamentalism.