Islam in Southeast Asia
is the most widely practised religion in Southeast Asia, numbering approximately 242 million adherents which translate to about 42% of the entire population, with majorities in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia as well Pattani in Thailand and parts of Mindanao in the Philippines respectively. Significant minorities are located in the other Southeast Asian states. Most Muslims in Southeast Asia are Sunni and follow the Shafi`i school of fiqh, or religious law. It is the official religion in Malaysia and Brunei while it is one of the six official faiths in Indonesia.
Islam in Southeast Asia is heterogeneous and is manifested in many different ways. Some places in Southeast Asia, Islam is adapted to coexist with already existent local traditions. Mysticism is a defining characteristic of Islam in Southeast Asia, with a large following of Sufism. Mystic forms of Islam fit in well with already established traditions. The adaptation of Islam to local traditions is seen as a positive thing by Muslims in Southeast Asia. Islam is part of everyday life in Southeast Asia and is not separated from "non-religious realms". Southeast Asia contains the highest number of Muslims in the world, easily surpassing the Middle East and North Africa. Islam in Southeast Asia is neglected in Western study of Islam which centers around the Middle East. Southeast Asia is a world region made up of nations sharing little more than geographical proximity with one another. What it means to be Southeast Asian is vague and can mean very different things to the people of the arbitrarily assigned world region that comprises Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The heterogeneous nature of Southeast Asia combined with the widely varying practices and meanings of Islam means Islam in Southeast Asia has a multitude of variations in practice and belief. Islam in Southeast Asia has been adapted to varying local norms across Southeast Asia. The Abangan are the dominant group of Muslims in Indonesia. The practices of the Abangan are heavily influenced by mysticism and embody a unique form of Islamic practice that incorporates rituals inherited from their pre Islamic ancestors.
History
According to the Islamic Council of Victoria, historians argue that Arab merchants dominated trade in Southeast Asia in the early ninth century. There existed a colony of foreign Muslims on the west coast of Sumatra by 674 AD; other Muslim settlements began to appear after 878 AD when Islam increasingly took root among the people. However, little remains from these early communities, and the religion did not spread to significant parts of the population until the 12th century., also known as gadur, well known for its brass with silver inlay.
Muslim traders along the main trade-route between Western Asia and the Far East are thought to have been responsible for the introduction of Islam to Southeast Asia. The religion was then further spread by Sufi orders and finally consolidated by the expansion of the territories of converted rulers and their communities. The first Muslim communities arose in Aceh in Northern Sumatra. Malacca was an early stronghold of Islam as well, and it served as a starting point from which Islam was propagated along the trade routes in the region. There is no clear indication of when Islam first came to the region, but the first Muslim gravestone markings have been dated to 1082.
When Marco Polo visited the area in 1292 he noted that the urban port state of Perlak was Muslim, Chinese sources record the presence of a Muslim delegation to the emperor from the Kingdom of Samudra in 1282, other accounts provide instances of Muslim communities present in the Melayu Kingdom for the same time period while others record the presence of Muslim Chinese traders from provinces such as Fujian. The spread of Islam generally followed the trade routes east through the primarily Buddhist region and a half century later in the Malacca's we see the first dynasty arise in the form of the Sultanate of Malacca at the far end of the Archipelago form by the conversion of one Parameswara Dewa Shah into a Muslim and the adoption of the name Muhammad Iskandar Shah after his marriage to a daughter of the ruler of Pasai. In 1380, Sufi orders carried Islam from here on to Mindanao.
Another driving force for the change of the ruling class in the region was the concept among the increasing Muslim communities of the region when ruling dynasties to attempt to forge such ties of kinship by marriage. By the time the colonial powers and their missionaries arrived in the 17th century the region up to New Guinea was overwhelmingly Muslim with animist minorities.
The first written sources of Islam in Southeast Asia in 916 AD came from a merchant describing his experience in 1851 on the Island of Sumatra. Over time a series of Muslim port villages emerged on the scarcely populated coast. Islamic teachers from these port villages ventured to the interior of Sumatra. Over time these ports attracted Muslims from India, China, and the Arabian peninsula. These communities surpassed their utilitarian functions for trade and were integrated into the global network of Islam. Islam was popular in Southeast Asia because it, unlike previous belief systems could be used to validate a ruler's power through the divine. Islam spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago slowly and the process was generally peaceful.
In the 12th century, the Indian Chola navy crossed the ocean and attacked the Srivijaya kingdom of Sangrama Vijayatunga Varman in Kadaram. The capital of the powerful maritime kingdom was sacked and the king was taken captive. Along with Kadaram, Pannai in present-day Sumatra and Malaiyur and the Malayan peninsula were attacked. Soon after, the King of Kedah Phra Ong Mahawangsa became the first ruler to abandon the traditional Hindu faith and converted to Islam with the Sultanate of Kedah established in year 1136. Samudera Pasai converted to Islam in the year 1267. The King of Malacca Parameswara married the princess of Pasai, and their son became the first sultan of Malacca. Soon Malacca became the centre of Islamic study and maritime trade; other rulers followed suit.
By the end of the 15th century, several areas of northern Sumatra, including what is now Java, were governed by Muslim rulers. It wasn't until 1641 that the first Sultan took their title in what is now Java. Islam initially arrived on the coast of Sumatra, and spread down and around the coast to the Malacca strait and jumped across the straight to the Malay Peninsula.
In 1511, the Portuguese took over Malacca, but various other Muslim states began to grow in size and economic and political prominence. For example, Aceh dominated the region, both politically and economically, in the early seventeenth century. Through familial and trade relationships in these Muslim states, non-Islam states were slowly exposed to the faith. As it spread, Islam encountered pre-existing spiritual beliefs—including Buddhism and Hinduism—which continued to be practiced alongside Islam or were incorporated into Islam. Indeed, the faith introduced by some of the religious merchants was Sufism, a mystical version of Islam that is rejected by more conservative Muslims. Islamic law was also formally practiced in most areas that had encountered Islam, affecting cultural practices.
against the United States military during the Philippine-American War in 1913
There are several theories to the Islamisation process in Southeast Asia. The first theory is trade. The expansion of trade among West Asia, India and Southeast Asia helped the spread of the religion as Muslim traders brought Islam to the region. Gujarati Muslims played a pivotal role in establishing Islam in Southeast Asia. The second theory is the role of missionaries or Sufis. The Sufi missionaries played a significant role in spreading the faith by syncretising Islamic ideas with existing local beliefs and religious notions. Finally, the ruling classes embraced Islam which further aided the permeation of the religion throughout the region. The ruler of the region's most important port, Malacca Sultanate, embraced Islam in the 15th century, heralding a period of accelerated conversion of Islam throughout the region as the religion provided a unifying force among the ruling and trading classes near mister man. The word daulat refers to the legitimacy of a ruler, through the power of God, and suggests the strong relationship between rule, legitimacy, and the spread of Islam.
The spread of Islam to Southeast Asia also depended largely on the translation and availability of religious texts. This was largely through Malay, a language that transected class. There are also a number of works in Javanese, particularly related to Javanese-Islamic mysticism. Some of the most significant Malay authors that helped in this translation are Hamzah Fansuri, Shams al-Din, and 'Abd al-Ra-uf.
Contemporary Islam in Southeast Asia
Islam in Southeast Asia is multi-faceted and multi-layered. Different interpretations of the faith have resulted in a variety of groups. In Indonesia, there is the Nahdlatul Ulama, which preaches closely to the Shafi`i school of legal accretion, and the Muhammadiyah, whose outlook is a blend of modernist ideals with Islamic thoughts. Along with these two major groups, other Islamic groups also played an important role in Indonesian society, politics and economy, with their followers forming Islamic civil groups and political parties. Muslims in Southeast Asia also come from a variety of ethnic groups and backgrounds and speak a number of different languages, including Thai, Burmese, Malay, Marano, Tausug, Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese, and Chinese. Through travel to Arab countries—for the Hajj-pilgrimage or religious study—Muslims in Southeast Asia have also undertaken the translation of Islamic texts into local languages. Daily practices also vary among countries and different regions within each country. Many of these differences relate to government policies and also to whether Muslims make up the majority or minority of the country's population.Despite these differences, there are still common traditions practiced among many Muslims in Southeast Asia. For example, the five duties of Islam form a foundation for many individuals' faith. Likewise, there are other shared traditions, such as prayer before meals.
Since the late 1970s, an Islamic resurgence is taking place in the region. Dakwah movements mushroomed throughout Southeast Asia. These movements, in general, aim to create a strong Islamic identity among the Muslims and are understood as a response to changes in society and values. These movements have been referred to as "revivalism," "revitalisation," "resurgence," "renewal," and "Islamisation." As a result, Islam began to assume a larger role in public life, underlined by the increased donning of headscarves among Muslim women, for one example. Economic growth resulted in modest affluence which has translated into more religious investments like the Haj
Islam has intersected with other religious practices in Southeast Asia in many different ways. For example, jinn, which indicates Islamic spiritual beings, has come to include Javanese spirits, as well. In countries such as Indonesia, in particular, animist traditions have become integral to the practice of Islam. Sufism has also shaped Islam in many Southeast Asian countries.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Hajj was made easier by the advent of the steamship in the 19th century. As the Hajj became more popular throughout Southeast Asia, Arabic and the Arabian brand of Islam were integrated further into the lives of Muslims in Southeast Asia. In accordance with the body of scholarly work on Islam in the Southeast Asia, the Hajj from Southeast garnered little to no attention.
In today's modern age, Muslims interact with global technology, consumerism, and ideas in a variety of ways while practicing their faith. For some, this has resulted in an increase in religiosity and the observation of traditions such as Islamic devotional practices and fasting during Ramadan. As another example, Muslims in Southeast Asia have performed pilgrimages to the Mecca since the 17th century and continue to do so.
In Southeast Asia, Islam also influences other aspects of life, and there is a close relationship among religion, nation, and ethnicity. For example, there are an increasing number of private Islamic schools, which often combine Islamic religion, culture, and life. Likewise, medicine in Southeast Asia draws on a number of traditions, often combining animism, tibbun, and hikmah. Islamic banks are also founded on Islamic principles and, for example, do not charge interest.
The division of countries during colonialism divide some ethnic and religious groups, leading to some minority Muslim populations that live at the edge of countries. Various organisations, like the Muslim World League, have advocated for the rights of these minority populations. There is a history in some countries of persecution of Muslims, including the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
Finally, the war on terrorism, particularly since 9/11, has influenced contemporary Islam in Southeast Asia. Many governments in the region have joined antiterrorist coalitions or signed antiterrorist pacts. In some countries, such as the Philippines, the U.S. has sent troops to combat specific terrorist groups associated with Islamic extremism.
Prevalence
- Indonesia: 87.2%, one of six official religions
- Brunei: 78.8%, official religion
- Malaysia: 61.3%, official religion
- Singapore: 14.3%
- Philippines: 11%
- Thailand: 4.9%
- Myanmar: 4.3%
- Cambodia: 1.9%
- Timor-Leste: 0.3%
- Vietnam: 0.1%
- Laos: 0.01%