Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to describe the Tsunami image of Muslim inhabitants in a 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami-affected village of Thailand through their religious practices. It shows the multifaceted nature of the 2004 Tsunami disaster, which is not exclusive to physical damage by focusing on religion.

Paper long abstract:

The aim of this paper is to describe the Tsunami image of Muslim inhabitants in a 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami-affected village (M village) of southern Thailand through their religious practices. The Indian Ocean Tsunami, not only the phenomenon itself, but human and material damages caused directly or indirectly by it, was beyond the imagination of inhabitants in M village. After the tsunami, Under such conditions, a transnational Islamic religious movement called Tablighi Jama'at which succeeded to collect the villager's support before the tsunami went around to preach them using a newspaper article sent from the head quarter in India that this tsunami disaster was a punishment for unbelievers brought form the Allah and there is no way unless to become pious in Islam to avoid it. This tsunami image rapidly rippled through them with religious legitimacy of Tablighi Jama'at in M village. It was easily understood that following new religious practices have been widely expanded among them, such as enthusiastic prayer for the Allah and the use of printed materials as talisman. This paper shows the multifaceted nature of the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster, which is not exclusive to physical damage by focusing on religion. Also this paper would draw an aspect of globalization in the 2004 tsunami-affected areas of Thailand from religious side by showing that M village locating in the fringe of the Islamic world were entrapped further more into the global network of Tablighi Jama'at by tsunami.