A Rumor of Anger Understanding Muslims’ Voices in the Context of “Pure War”

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to understand “Muslims’ voices” at the
advent of the twenty-first century, especially the angry tone
within. I would argue that such anger could be construed by situating
the voices in the context of “pure war” constituted by terrorism
used by different groups in the name of Islam, as well as
state violence used in the name of security and order at the
expense of rights and democracy. When the state exercises more
control over its population through modern technology, which
renders private space almost obsolete, rumors are used to offset
its powerful gaze. Rumors about violence in the context of pure
war, in turn, engender among Muslims some kinds of negative
group cohesion that is fertile ground for anger directed against
“the others,” as evidenced in Southeast Asia and elsewhere ...