Sacred signs in secular realms: a semiotic mapping of Islamic prayer corners

This study examines the semiotic construction of Islamic sacred space within secular institutional environments, focusing on non-institutional prayer rooms (muṣallās) in Taiwan. Through a decolonial visual-semiotic analysis of signage and spatial markers across universities, airports, malls, and hospitals, the research investigates how portable semiotic resources, such as qiblah arrows, multilingual instructions, and religious icons, materialise ‘micro-sacralities’ in otherwise bureaucratic settings. Drawing on theories of language ideology, indexicality, and enregisterment, the analysis reveals a hierarchical organisation of sacred authority (often anchored in Arabic) and vernacular accessibility (predominantly Chinese and English), which together guide bodily orientation, ritual purity, and ethical comportment. The findings illustrate a spectrum of negotiated visibility, from aspirational belonging, where community-driven signs elevate a muṣallā to the status of a ‘mosque’, to contingent accommodation, where access is mediated through institutional protocols. By bridging Islamic theological conceptions of space with sociolinguistic practice, this study contributes to the emerging ‘sociolinguistics of Islam’, demonstrating how sacred space is relationally activated through semiotic means in minoritized, mobile, and secular contexts.