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Umar Malik

Professor Gardiakos

ENC 1101

06 November 2021

Unit Three: The Discourse Community Ethnography

There are a multitude of religious communities out there, ranging from mystical, spiritual

orders like the Sufis to more concrete traditions like that of a local Catholic congregation. While

on a whole they can be described together, i.e., “the Sufis” or “The Catholics”, each individual

local community has its own set of traditions, beliefs, and customs. They even have their own

internal languages and creeds that each member is familiar with. These types of individual

communities that share assumptions, beliefs, values, and goals are what John Swales terms “a

discourse community.” More specifically, Swales defines a discourse community as having 6

main characteristics to them. They have a common set of public goals, mechanisms of

intercommunication, participatory mechanisms to provide info and feedback with, utilize

“genres” as a type of communication to further their aims, have unique “lexis”, and have a

suitable level of members that are experts in the content relevant to that community. “Genres”

sounds like a confusing term at first, but it essentially just refers to texts that are unique to and

utilized by these discourse communities. So, for example, a genre for a niche art community

surrounding Frida Kahlo might be her famous Diary. “Lexis” refers to the jargon and lingo

specific to the discourse community, such as though a niche, surfer community might utilize

phrases like “gnarly”, “shred”, “gnar”, and “dude”. That being said, in this paper, I seek to

conduct an ethnographic study of my own religious community here in the western portion of

Orlando. I aim to dissect the discourse community and reveal its inner workings, methodologies,
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and traditions. The community is a Sunni Muslim one located at a mosque called “Jama Masjid”

just near the I-4 exit towards Disney Springs near Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida.

Like Swales mentioned and cited above, each discourse community shares a set of goals.

These goals drive the members to action. The goal of this local Muslim community is to come

together to seek to do good to gain favor with God so that our final place in the afterlife is in

Heaven and not the hotter spot instead. This is done by adhering to the tenets that comprise the

Muslim faith. One of these tenets is to pray five times per day, of which the benefit is immensely

increased if one is to pray together, in congregation, with others within a mosque. “We come

together to pray for ourselves, our families, and each other” says the Imam, the congressional

leader, of the community at Jama. The Imam of the mosque, Tariq Rasheed, also mentions that

acts of good do not solely have to manifest through prayer, but rather good can also come

directly from our own action. “We conduct food drives almost every other week” says the Imam

as he makes mention of the lengthy number of cars that line up when the drives are ready. “We

also donate food monthly directly to the needy and to dispensaries here in Orlando” he says as he

cites their deliveries around the Lake Nona area. Another tenet of the Islamic faith is fasting

during the month of Ramadan according to the lunar calendar. The Imam cites how during this

period, food drives are conducted on a weekly basis, and that food is given out every night freely

to those that come to the mosque to break their fasts or if they are just in need of it.

Another of the six characteristics mentioned by Swales is that of intercommunication

between members of the discourse community. With the number of members that make up the

congregation (in the hundreds) communication becomes incredibly important. This

communication takes form on Facebook, WhatsApp, Email, Physical Newsletters, and through

the mosque’s own webpage. Information is dealt out for funerals, events, the start of Ramadan,
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prayer timings, construction updates, and more via newsletter. The way newsletter is delivered

can be through Facebook, the mosque’s own WhatsApp group, through email if one is

subscribed, and through mail if one chooses that route. The type of information is universally the

same, but the way it can be digested differs. During the peak of the virus pandemic, the Imam

says that communication during Friday prayers and for general assembly events took form over

Facebook live feed in order to compensate for the distance mandates and general deadliness of

the transmission of the virus. Communication between senior members of the mosque is far less

formal in nature. Imam Tariq states that communication on this level generally takes the shape of

texts on phones. For example, if an upcoming event is being discussed over by senior members

of the mosque, the way it is discussed is usually through an informal group call or text.

The mosque also has methods in which members may provide feedback. There are

multiple approaches one could take here. They could informally speak directly with the Imam

during periods where he is available. This would generally be during Friday prayers. If the Imam

is not present, then they could also speak directly with anyone leading the prayers as they are

generally also in contact with the Imam. The other, more formal option, would be through

contact with the mosque spokesperson whose contact information could be found on any of the

platforms on which the mosque is present, i.e., Facebook or the mosque’s own webpage. There is

yet another option one could take and that would be by writing a message on a note or paper and

delivering it directly into a feedback box. This box is present within the prayer area of the

mosque.

When it comes to the idea of “genres” and discourse communities, a lot can be

deciphered from the analysis of a community’s texts. The same can be said for my own local

congregation. The main genre for our community would be the Muslim holy scripture, the
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Qur’an. Some other examples of genres would be dependent on the sect you follow and the

school of thought you embrace. For those that follow more of the Prophet Muhammad’s spiritual

teachings directly, then the Hadith, the direct actions recorded down of the prophet by his

companions, would play a prominent role as a genre. This is the case for my own community.

Since my community mainly follows the Hanafi school of thought of Sunni Islam, then the

teachings of Imam Abu Hanifa would also play a prominent role; particularly his books and legal

rulings. That being said, my community is still a blend of multiple traditions. I say it follows the

Hanafi school of thought, but that is just what the majority of the members profess to identify

with. There are also members of the Maliki, Hanbali, and Shafi schools of thought in our

community, as is evident by the distinct manners in which they pray and perform ablution. Being

unfamiliar with Imam Abu Hanifa’s works would not be problematic in this discourse

community, but being unfamiliar with the Qur’an, Hadith, or a method to pray or perform

ablution would be problematic. That is not to say you would be ostracized, rather it would look

unseemly. This discourse community is actually rather welcoming to those that do not know how

to pray or perform ablution, but the main take away is to be willing to learn. If one is just

flamboyant in their misunderstandings and prays incorrectly without remorse or a willingness to

learn the right away, then this indeed would look bad and members would take note of this.

The “lexis” of this discourse community is unique in the sense that they are mainly slang

and jargon unique to Muslims, but that uniqueness does not usually extend to each local

community, rather it is unique to Muslims as a whole. Some examples of a lexicon unique to this

community would be the way in which members welcome each other. The common greeting is

with the phrase “Peace be upon you”, or “As-salamu Alaykum” in Arabic. A distinct closing

greeting more unique to this community would be the with phrase, “Khuda Hafiz”, or the more
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shortened form “Khudafiz”, which is actually Farsi/Persian for “May God guide you”. This

phrase is more unique to the South Asian Muslim community that makes up a majority of this

mosque population. Some other phrases utilized by this community would be “MashAllah”,

which is a phrase used to show respect or congratulations to one another. So, for example, upon

hearing the news of someone’s son getting honors in school, you would recite this phrase.

Another would be “Astagfirullah”, which is a phrase used to express shame or shock. So, for

example, upon hearing the terrible news of a recent calamity, you would recite this phrase.

Another phrase, mainly used at funerals held at the mosque, would be “Inna Lillahi wa inna

ilayhi raji'un”, which means “Verily we belong to God and verily to Him do we return” in

English. When it comes to body language, whenever one member of the community greets

another, it is usually met with a hug or embrace, or if the two are not that familiar with each

other, then at the very least a handshake is made between two members. When members are

standing in prayer with one another, it is also customary to stand shoulder to shoulder, and if this

is not done so, those members may be met with contempt. It is also customary not to speed

through prayers, but to take your time with them, and to perform the prayers with a body

language that is expressive of endearment towards the almighty, rather than indifference. If it

looks like your prayers are ill made, then it would be met with contempt by other members of the

congregation. If not explicitly, then implicitly

The membership of this community is rather large, well into the hundreds. Such a high

level of membership requires organization, and with organization comes hierarchy. The most

senior members of the congregation achieved their status through multiple means. Usually it’s

either through duties, age, or skill. For duties, the members that organize parking, actually

perform the call to prayers, lead the prayers, clean the prayer areas, and help with the general
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maintenance of the mosque tend to have higher standing than regular members. For age, those

members that are older generally occupy more senior roles in the community. This is also based

out of the culture of most of the members of the community. Culturally and religiously, respect

for elders is exceptionally prominent. For skill, those members that recite the prayers the best are

usually held in higher esteem than those that do not. Those with the most skill in pronunciation

and recitation also usually lead the nightly prayers during Ramadan. The most senior member of

the mosque is the one that actually has a salary, which would be the Imam. The Imam is the one

in charge of the actual mosque, sets the timings for prayers, sets the dates for events, and

generally has full authoritative control over the assembly and the mosque itself. To achieve a

ranking similar to his would require you to replace him, and that would require him to step down

first. To achieve a ranking similar to the more senior members would require one to familiarize

themselves with the already prominent senior members and then to actively take up duties in the

mosque, whether that be by making the call to prayer, performing maintenance of the mosque, or

by leading prayers. Actively taking a more active role in food drives, mosque maintenance,

donation drives, and just getting your face across more will also build your reputation more.

Overall, I hope this ethnography served its purpose to inform the reader more of the inner

workings and structure of this particular discourse community. It is not everyday one can gain

insight into a discourse community through an active member (in the form of myself). I hope my

own personal insight and that of the Imam have established a more educated perspective on this

community. Swales’ definition of a discourse community also played a prominent role in the

formulation of this ethnography and served as the template for the dissection of this community.

All in all, it appears as though by understanding one such community as this one can start to
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open their own world view to become a more cultured one that is ready to understand and

recognize others from a more learnt perspective.

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Appendix

Figure 1: Interview questions

1. What are the goals of this congregation?

2. What purpose do they serve in the greater community?

3. What type of congregation is this community? What sect? What school of thought?

4. Is there a hierarchy set in place?

5. Is there any specialized vocabulary used?

6. Are there are texts of importance?

7. Does culture play more a of role here or religion?

8. What are your duties?

9. What defines a senior member?

Figure 2: Genres

Figure 2a: Sayings from a compilation of Hadith

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Figure 2b: A chapter of the Qur’an recited during the beginning of each prayer

Figure 3: Lexis
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Works Cited

Swales, John. “Reflections on the Concept of Discourse Community” Writing About Writing,

edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. 4th edition., e-book ed., Bedord/St.

Martin’s, 2020, pp. 544-559.