Negotiating Absence and Presence: Rural Muslims and ‘Subterranean’ Sacred Spaces

Abstract

Abstract. Rural Muslims' lives have received less attention than those of their urban counterparts in secular liberal democracies. Muslims' experiences of rural regions are characterised by a visible absence on the one hand, but a physical presence on the other. In this paper, the concept of the subterranean is invoked to understand the negotiation between superficial absences and physical presence. Conscious of the clandestine associations of the subterranean, it is argued that this illustrates a tactical making-do with limited resources rather than self-segregation. It is concluded that absences and presence in rural multiculturalism are complex, contingent and have a temporal nature.

Acknowledgements

The research discussed in this paper was funded by the Council for Welsh-Medium Higher Education's postgraduate teaching scholarship (YSG0611). The author is grateful to Professor Mike Woods and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments, and for the editorial guidance of Professor Ronan Paddison.

Notes

The 2001 census included, for the first time, a voluntary question on religion. Consequently, the accuracy of the figures may be contested and they do not allow for comparisons until the 2011 figures are published.

The University of Wales, Lampeter and Trinity College, Carmarthen, merged in 2010 to form The University of Wales Trinity-St David's.

Bressey (2009) accounts for the presence of ‘Black moors’ and ‘Saracens’ in rural England in Wales throughout the 17th century. Given the descriptions, and the baptism records of many of these individuals, it is likely that Muslims were also found in rural England and Wales at this time. While no explicit mention is made of west Wales in Bressey's study, it is feasible that Muslim Africans could have been found in this region at this time as many local landowners were involved in similar colonial and slavery projects.

While the Church of England remains the Established Church in England, it was disestablished in Wales in 1920, following the enactment of the Wales Church Act 1913; Wales and Northern Ireland are the only parts of the United Kingdom where secularism has a legal foundation. However, Wales' societal culture remains heavily influenced by Christian traditions, even though only 9 per cent of Wales' populace regularly attended a place of worship in 1995 (Chambers and Thompson, 2005).

Carmarthen Town Council had a Muslim Councillor between 2008 and 2012.