Modern communications forged a transnational Muslim identity beyond state borders

Evidence

A profound concern with Muslim identity and unity has been further stimulated by decolonization, demographic growth, industrialization, urbanization, and a changing international economic order associated with, among other things, the oil wealth beneath Muslim lands.… Modern communications have strengthened and elaborated the ties among Muslim peoples. There has been a steep growth in the numbers who make the pilgrimage to Mecca, creating a more intense sense of common identity among Muslims from as far afield as China and Senegal, Yemen and Bangladesh. Growing numbers of students from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines, and Africa are studying in Middle Eastern universities, spreading ideas and establishing personal contacts across national boundaries. There are regular and increasingly frequent conferences and consultations among Muslim intellectuals and ulama (religious scholars) held in such centers as Teheran, Mecca, and Kuala Lumpur. … Cassettes (sound, and now video) disseminate mosque sermons across international boundaries, so that influential preachers now reach audiences far beyond their local communities. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 476

Categorization

• SEED: The cassette-tape sermon dissemination point is a strong pre-internet media-amplification case — a small essay on how old media (cassettes, pilgrimage networks) anticipated today’s decentralized online ummah.