In this study, I offer a categorization of Salafism based on the concept of vanguardism. Vanguardism suggests how Salafis inhabit the political domain, by posing as the vanguard of a privileged group endowed with a historical mission. Relatedly, I summon the Gramscian concept of “philosophy of praxis.” With this, I intend to reconfigure Wiktorowicz’s classificatory scheme predicated on too stark an opposition between ‘aqīdah (theory) and manhaj (method). The philosophy of praxis accounts for the inherent tension between these two domains. Such tension is manifest in Salafis’ ambiguities, compromises, internal rifts, ideological adjustments, and revisions. Two related Gramscian concepts, historical bloc and modern Prince, bring such considerations more immediately into the political. They highlight, respectively, the political-historical context in which Salafis operate and the political-historical role they play as instances of vanguardism. I then put forth my classificatory scheme in the form of a typology. One axis is represented by the attitude towards the “historical bloc” (pro or anti) and the kind of vanguard posturing that emerges out of it (support, creation, or activation). The other axis is represented by the specific framing of the “Enemy” category on the part of the Salafi vanguard (historical/institutional or essential/identitarian), and the stance they consequently assume towards it (compromise/accommodation or rejection/denunciation). The resulting classification offers six categories (accommodationists, partisans, delayers, agitators, mobilizers, and belligerents). Stressing the fundamental political nature of contemporary Salafism—its vanguardism—they account for its inscription in a specific, modern way of thinking and acting the political.

Hajj is the most important one of the Five Pillars in Islam. Islam makes the Kaaba as the orientation of daily prayers (salat), and hajj as the linkage to maintain the global Muslim faith community. The sanctity of hajj rituals is of positive significance for global pilgrims to transcend the boundaries of countries and ethnic groups. In the era of globalization, hajj quota has long been a scarce resource. It is difficult for most Muslims to obtain hajj permits from Saudi Arabia in a short term. Even non-Muslims are full of concern about Islam, especially the hajj. Then, the “virtual hajj,” which is similar to the real hajj in the sacred city Mecca, came into being. It is mainly divided into several types: (1) building the real scenes of Kaaba and other hajj sites, and Muslims participating in the “virtual hajj” through role-playing; (2) the “virtual hajj” apps developed through 3D digital technology and their upgraded versions; (3) the “virtual hajj” live broadcasting the real hajj to non-pilgrims through the pilgrim’s smartphone with the 5G network technology; and (4) the “virtual hajj” software developed by VR and AR technology in the Metaverse era. The main functions of “virtual hajj” are embodied in four aspects: protest against Saudi Arabia, Islamic education, universal effect, and the COVID-19 fighting. All types of “virtual hajj” have positive effects on both the Muslims and non-Muslims. However, there are different voices from religious circles on how to treat “virtual hajj.”

This article discusses contemporary developments in Islam in Indonesia by specifically looking at Muslims living in rural Java. Whereas most studies examine urban Muslims and mostly define Islamization that leads to the emergence of the middle class and the so-called “conservative turn,” this article offers a brief discussion of the transformation of non-practicing Muslims or abangan. Through fieldwork in a remote village in Tulungagung, East Java, the article argues that the massive Islamization in contemporary Java has invited the abangan to construct their new identity of Nasionalis-cum-Nahdliyin. While the term “Nasionalis” refers to a modern ideological category, “Nahdliyin” represents a mode of religiosity that confirms local customs and traditions. Looking at their communal ceremonies, such as yasinan-tahlilan, this new identity has given the abangan a means to maintain their communal bond with their ancestral spirits on the one hand and community cohesion on the other. These communal activities are an amalgam of santri and abangan traditions with which the latter exercise their communal piety in the public space.