Praying for one umma1 —Rhetorical construction of a global islamic community in the facebook prayers of young finnish muslims

Abstract

In this paper, I demonstrate how a universalising Muslim identity is constructed in the Facebook prayers of young Finnish Muslims. By analysing the rhetorical devices utilized in the prayer updates, I argue that the prayers serve a function similar to the ‘flagging’ of national identity; the prayers portray the Islamic umma as a unified community and seek to diminish possible counter-discourses that emphasise ethnic divisions among Muslims. This study thus supports earlier observations of a novel ‘umma consciousness’ that is on the rise among young Muslim generations in Europe.