Implications and Contributions of the study

7.2 Implications and Contributions of the study

This study has both theoretical and literature implications. The most significant theoretical implication of this study is that it has created opportunities for theory building for the Rambo Model. It is true that the model does not claim universality but Rambo falls short of explaining concretely why there will and should be variations in the conversion process. Thus, by choosing a case that yields data very unlike the

Christian and Western data that Rambo based his model on, this study has addressed the cultural specificity issue of the model by identifying the different components of context relevant to the conversion process and the culture-free definition of the stages. By adding these new findings to the framework of the Rambo Model, this study has shown that the culture-free definition of the stages and the different components of context are functionally useful in formulating the definition of the stages that are relevant and represent the actual conversion experience of the Dusun Muslim converts. Thus, the argument that the redefinition of the context allows the Rambo Model to be

applied to Brunei‟s majority-religion context illustrates the potential of the model to extend its range of applicability across diverse types of religious contexts and

experiences.

The findings of Chapter 6 provide further opportunities for the Rambo Model to be improved. Utilising the findings of the existing conversion studies, the analysis in Chapter 6 has made the framework of the model to be more sensitive to a wide range of case studies. The investigation of these case studies in search for patterns of stage sequence in a conversion process allows this research to “reconcile evidence across cases, types of data and different investigators” so that similarities in concepts and

patterns across different settings can be identified (Eisenhardt 1989: 546). The addition of the new concepts of the different components of context and the culture-free definition of each conversion stage to the model allows this study to present an exploration of how the sequence prediction of the conversion stages is likely to be achieved by laying out the possible typical sequence of conversion stages to occur in different types of religious contexts, as illustrated in Diagram II on page 180. This has patterns across different settings can be identified (Eisenhardt 1989: 546). The addition of the new concepts of the different components of context and the culture-free definition of each conversion stage to the model allows this study to present an exploration of how the sequence prediction of the conversion stages is likely to be achieved by laying out the possible typical sequence of conversion stages to occur in different types of religious contexts, as illustrated in Diagram II on page 180. This has

It however should be borne in mind that the sequence of the conversion stages as presented in Diagram II only involve a limited number of conversion studies and thus the prediction is rather crude and there is still so much to be done. But it does essentially identify the opportunities for an improvement in the body of theory. With more studies of this nature to be carried out in the future, new perspectives and concepts that challenge the existing ones can be derived and consequently contribute to the rebuilding of the theoretical framework of the Rambo Model. This is one of the potential literature implications of this study where future studies will not only further support, substantiate and improve the findings of this study and of the existing studies, but it may also start a new trend of comparative analysis of religious conversion processes and thus offers a significant shift in emphasis away from Western-centric and Christian-centric approach on the topic. All in all, the theoretical improvement can provide a promising avenue of research, as will be pointed out in detail later in Section

In regard to the research setting, this study has its importance in making new contributions to the existing literature on the conversion to Islam in Brunei. As discussed in Chapter 1, the existing literature pertaining to the conversion to Islam in Brunei solely focuses on the strategies and methodologies of the propagation of Islam. This study produces a completely different type of literature that helps to generate an understanding of the conversion process as well as the complexities and the dynamics behind the process.

Moreover, by putting the perspectives of the Dusun Muslim converts on paper, this study also contributes to the body of literature on the Dusun ethnic group. The different experiences and perspectives of Dusuns, which are the integral and essential part of this study, are the insi ders‟ views that the non-Dusuns might not be able to embrace or understand. Although these views do not necessarily represent the general mainstream thought of the Dusuns, their interpretations of the social, religious and cultural development in the country, as how they had been experienced by the ethnic group are without doubt honest and deserving of thorough consideration.

Having said the above however, this study encountered some limitations that affected the data collection process and the writing process of this thesis. The following section will discuss these limitations in detail.