Kasiopeia West

Wijitha Bandara

RELS 2300

7/26/2021

Functionalist and Faith-Based Perspectives in the Rohingya Issues of Today

Throughout time, individuals have been attempting to define religion. What does it

mean? Why do people have it? And why are there so many different perspectives on the

definition? These are a few questions many scholars have asked and have encountered the

difficulty in doing so. When looking at defining religion, there are three main perspectives that

most agree upon. The materialist perspective, the functionalist perspective and the faith-based

perspective. In this paper we will review the functionalist and faith-based perspectives in action

through the issues facing the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In 2012 a large population of Rohingya Muslims fled to a neighboring country of

Myanmar, a predominately Buddhist country, for refuge from violence brought on by the

government’s military. They fled to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Another

mass exodus of Rohingya ending up in Bangladesh in 2017 after a group called Arakan

Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) attacked a police post, killing several officers and taking a

multitude of supplies. (bbc.com) The Rohingya claim to be descendants of earlier traders from

Persia and Arabia and that they have lived within their villages in Myanmar for generations.

However, the Myanmar government sees this group of Rohingya as illegal immigrants from

Bangladesh and terrorists for their attacks on the police posts. In response, the government

claims to have enacted a “clearance operation” to target the Arsa and bring their justice to the

“terrorists”. In this example we see that the Rohingya are following a faith-based perspective.
The faith-based perspective defines religion as searching for the deep question that humans often

ask of, who am I? Where do I come from? Or, where do I go after I die? Within this perspective,

these questions are often answered through of phenomena of mysticism as an energy that the

primary senses cannot perceive. (Fisher,2017) The Rohingya believe they are guided and

protected by a higher force and though they desire the blessings of the majority Buddhist

country, they only need to submit to Allah in order to survive and they will protect their land and

beliefs through martyrdom if necessary.

The Myanmar refute the claims of retaliation of innocent civilians and that the Rohingya

have caused much of their own suffering by burning their own villages down along with claims

of killing Buddhist and Hindus. (theguardian.com) The reverse is the claim of the Rohingya,

stating that it is a retaliation of military troops and Buddhist mobs that are burning their villages

and killing innocent civilians forcing them to seek refuge in Bangladesh. (bbc.com) The

Buddhists within Myanmar are following a more functionalist perspective, that a foundation of

harmony must be met in order to survive and that the Rohingya are far from harmonizing with

the Buddhist and Hindus of the country. The functionalist perspective believes that humans are

biologically geared to belong to a group in order to survive and that religion served as the

common goal to bring individuals together and make survival possible. (Fisher,2017) The

common factor throughout these communities is shared religious beliefs.

There have been many agencies and countries that have made this a topic to focus on.

Bangladesh has brought it to the attention of the United Nations (UN) with the alarming amount

of Rohingya flooding into their country. After many interviews of the Rohingya community the

world is shocked at the allegations of rape, murder, and, what appears to be an “ethnic cleansing”

brought on by the Myanmar government. This is because Buddhists are believed to be a peaceful
religious group that practices its religion as a tool for society to come together and belong, not to

harm anyone and to preach harmony, an obvious perspective of a functionalist religion.

The accusations of such violence bring many to voice their concerns to Suu Kyi, the

current leader of Myanmar. Although the functionalist perspective of the Buddhist religion

claims non-violence and to aid communities through the acts of taking care of our offspring,

aiding in food and safety for our species, the Myanmar government claims that to provide

international aid to these individuals, is to supply terrorists and has justified any attempts to

block aid offered. (theguardian.com) This counteracts the functionalist perspective. It is difficult

to truly know what is the root cause of the astonishing violence that is taking place in Myanmar.

Both the faith-based perspective of the Muslims and the functionalist perspective of the

Buddhists do not fully display their foundations of either belief system within this matter.

When we look at the practices of Islam, we see a devotion to Allah, an unquestionable

knowing of a higher power, but to do so in peace. They spent much of their time preaching

mercy and how to be a positive contributor to society. However, in their devotion, they are

committed to the belief that there is no sin and that all is predestined by Allah. To show

submission to Allah and His will is the ultimate purpose and path to paradise. This could be

interpreted by some to practice martyrdom and sacrifice of more than food and money, but life

itself.
 Bibliography

Rebecca Ratcliffe, “Who are the Rohingya and what is happening in Myanmar?”, The

Guardian, Sep 5, 2017, Who are the Rohingya and what is happening in Myanmar? |

Global development | The Guardian. Accessed June 27, 2021

“Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis”, BBC News, January 23, 2020,

Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis - BBC News. Accessed

June 27, 2021

Shamil Shams, “Rohingya people in Myanmar: What you need to know”, DW, December 9,

2017, Rohingya people in Myanmar: What you need to know | Asia| An in-depth look at

news from across the continent | DW | 12.09.2017. Accessed June 27, 2021

Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. 10th ed., Pearson, 2017