In 1960 the author, who is Professor of Sociology at the State University of Utrecht, spent several months in Surinam, partly for the purpose of studying questions in the fields of acculturation and the sociology of law. Since some young scholars were already occupied in making studies of the Creole and Hindu population groups, the author devoted his attention chiefly to the followers of Islam, who can be divided into two sections: those of ‘British Indian’ and those of Javanese origin. In this treatise the writer endeavours to give a general impression of the position of the Islamitic Surinamese in the country, and of the questions exercising their community. The emphasis has fallen on the circles of Hindu origin, because strong evolution and great spiritual activity can be observed in them. As regards spiritual activity, most attention is paid to the dissension in their Moslem community. The present survey gives many details concerning the dividing line between reformists and traditionalists, which, in the writer’s opinion, is final and permanent. The cause of the cleavage must be sought first and foremost in the influence exerted and still being exerted by the land of their forefathers. The activities of the Ahmadiya in Surinamese society are especially remarkable. On the other hand, the increasing westernization of these Surinam Islamites in a social and economic sense also has repercussions on their religious life, and in particular on the form of organization of the Islamitic religious community, which, it seems to the writer, is tending towards that of a Protestant denomination and adaptation to current Surinamese civil law. The antagonism between Moslem reformists and traditionalists, as transferred from the country of origin of the people concerned, is illustrated by a detailed account of a sensational lawsuit between two Moslem organizations regarding the sale of the mosque of Mattonshoop, near Paramaribo. The case also demonstrates the westernization process, and the acculturation in views concerning law, which the Surinam Moslems are undergoing.
