<p>Although there have been many studies on Muslim minorities, they tend to be placed within a binary perspective. On the one hand, Muslim minorities are portrayed as inclusive-acculturative of European liberal norms while often ignoring Islamic principles and values. On the other hand, there are also Muslim minorities who practice exclusive-conservative religious practices and thus experience marginalization and discrimination. This article explores how Acehnese Muslim minorities articulate their Islamic identity in the midst of the Christian-majority community in the Nias Islands. Through an exploration of the dominance of Islamic discourse over non-Muslims in Aceh and of Fondrako, the dominant culture of Nias society, we show that Islam, as articulated in the lives of Acehnese migrants in the Nias Islands, is rooted in both patriarchal Islam and Acehnese culture but oriented towards protection of the Nias community and accommodation of Fondrako as their wisdom. The exclusive and conservative nature of “Sharia Islam,” which opposes non-Muslims in their homeland Aceh, is abandoned. At the same time, through ethnic amalgamation in the form of marriage between Teuku Polem and Bowo’ana Harefa, the Acehnese Muslim minority recognized several of the provisions of Fondrako and increasingly adapted them to Islam. This contrasts with the Acehnese and some Muslim minorities, as previously described by researchers, who are strict toward non-Muslims. This “in-between” approach has enabled the Acehnese Muslim minority to gain cultural and economic rights, including the freedom to practice Islam.</p>