Ahmad-Norma Permata

Seldom exposed in international media coverage, Muslims constitute a major portion of SEA population. In 2006, no less that 240 millions out of 550 millions of total SEA population profess Islam as their religion. Geographically, Islam spreads in SEA mainland and archipelago that includes modern day South Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Southern Philippine.

Three points are often presence when historians discuss the history of Islam in SEA. The first is that the region was latecomer to join the caravan of Islamic civilisation; the second is about how Islam was propagated thoroughly and peacefully across many part of the region; and finally concern with the hypothesis that Islam that was introduced and practiced by SEA Muslims was not a pure Islam of the Middle Eastern tradition but rather a syncretistic Islam that mixed with pre-Islamic Hindu-Buddhist as well as various local traditions.

For the first point—that SEA is later comer to embrace Islam—historically speaking it was not an easy task to decide whether or not the popular notion is true. Evidences and data on the arrival of Islam as well as the early process of Islamisation of in the region are so scanty, and the main sources from which historians dig information have been confined to archaeological sites mainly of tombstones and graveyards of early Muslim persons, rulers or settlements; records found in the journal of foreign travellers; and several versions of half-myth local historical records. Some speculate that Islam could possibly arrived in SEA quite early, because Arab merchant-sailors from North Africa, Yemen and Persian Gulf were regular by-passers of Malacca Strait in their way to Maluku and China even before 7th century when Islam emerged in Arab Peninsula.
The first sultanate founded in SEA was the Samudra Pasai located in the northern part of Indonesian island of Sumatra at around 13th century. In addition to several archaeological evidences, the establishment of the Islamic kingdom is also mentioned by journals written by foreign travellers who visited the region. Italian Marco Polo, who in 1297 AD touched at Sumatra in his way home from China, noted that there was a Muslim kingdom in the area surrounded by non-Islamic towns. Moroccan traveller Ibnu Batutha who stopped by at Sumatra twice—1345 and 1346—in his way to and from China gave more detail accounts, including that the Muslim rulers in Sumatra followed Syafi’i Sunnite school of Islam—the school embraced by majority of modern Indonesian Muslims. While in Java—the main island of modern Indonesia—the first sultanate was Demak in northern coast of Central Java, founded in late 15th century. And Chinese traveller Ma Huan also recorded about the presence of Muslim communities in northern coast of Java in 1416 AD (Ricklef, 1981:3-5).
In Malay Peninsula, the history of Islam began with the conversion of the king of Malacca kingdom, Paramesvara, who converted to Islam in early 15th century AD, and changed his name into Islamic title Sultan Iskandar Shah. In the subsequent periods Malacca played substantial role to the propagation of Islam into eastern archipelago of SEA, due to its strategic location in the narrowest point of Malay Strait. For centuries the strait had been the main trading route connecting the Middle East and India with China and perhaps also Japan.
Malacca expanded its territory into northern areas up to Pattani, which subsequently developed into kingdom of Pattani in the 15th century. Since the 18th century Patani was in conflict and eventually conquered by Siamese (Thai) kingdom. However the Siamese at the time exercised a kind of protectorate over an intact Patani state. Therefore Patani cultural and religious identities were protected and guaranteed. (Christie, 1996: 173-177)
In the Philippines, Muslim preachers had arrived in the area as early as 13th century, and Muslims communities live mainly in coastal areas. It was only after Portuguese conquered Malacca that Islamic kingdoms emerged in the Philippines, founded by Muslim aristocrats from the Malacca kingdom. As an effort to mobilise support against European power, Muslims launched massive campaigns to proselytize inland people (George, 1980: 19-20). Historians sometimes speculate—some with frustration, others with relief—that if the Spaniards reached the archipelago a few years later than when they actually did, the Philippines today would have become a Muslim country like their neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia (George, 1980: 21). But the Spaniards proved their military as well as political superiority vis-à-vis Muslim. The Spaniard armada reached Cebu at 1565 and involved in bloody fights with Muslims for the next 350 years. They called Muslim people “Moros” in association with Muslim Moors who had once occupied Spain for several centuries. (Islam, 2003, 96-200).
Move into the second point on the history of Islam in SEA, namely that the faith was propagated quite thoroughly and peacefully. The thoroughness of the Islamisation of SEA is seemed beyond question. In only about three centuries—from 13th to 15th AD—Islam had become the major power in SEA archipelago in politics, economy and culture. When Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511, virtually it was Muslims who took control of the major kingdoms and ports from Malay Peninsula and the Philippines archipelago; and from western Indonesian part of Sumatra, to Java in the south, and to Sulawesi in the east. At the time, Islam was not only embraced by ruling elites and people of coastal towns, but also dispersed into inland areas. Islamic religious, cultural as well as literary traditions developed steadily into the major cultural systems in Archipelago SEA.
On the question of how was Islam propagated in SEA, historians seemed to have more questions than answers. Local historical records give only half-myth accounts from which it is almost impossible to get empirical information. Three major examples of such records are the Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai (History of the Kings of Pasai) that tell the story of the coming of Islam into Sumatra Island; the Sejarah Melayu (Malay History) about the story of Islamisation of Malacca kingdom in Malay Peninsula; and the Babad Tanah Jawi (History of the Land of Java). These chronicles in a typical way contain mythical narratives about the first conversions of key figures—kings or other heroes—into Islam. These kings and heroes were typically met the Prophet Muhammad in their dreams and in magical ways received the knowledge of Islam. Upon awakening they found themselves magically circumcised, and can read the Qur’an although they had never studied.
These kind of legends, of course, tell very few about actual historical events. However, historians contend that they provide clues in understanding the perceptions and memories of SEA Muslim communities in the subsequent periods regarding the general pattern of the process of Islamisation in the region. Firstly, that the conversion process seemed to begin with the ruling elites; secondly, the first teachers were foreigners; and thirdly there were magical events that accompanied the process of Islamisation (Ricklefs, 1981: 10). It is worth to add more explanation on the latest point. Historians generally agree that early propagators of Islam in SEA were Sufis or Islamic mystics who claimed supernatural powers and taught Islam that was adapted to the mindsets of SEA people at the time. In Indonesia, Sultan Agung of Mataram believed to had Islamised Java by way of Javanising Islam, i.e. mixing Islamic rituals with Javanese cultures and practices. In 1663 he implemented a calendar system combining Indian year and Islamic lunar system, and it is still used in Java up to the day.
Historians—especially among Muslims—usually added that the process of Islamisation in SEA is completely peaceful. This for sure is an exaggeration, since some Islamic kingdoms did use military operations to expand their political power into surrounding areas, and forced non Islamic communities in their way to adopt Islam. Such military operations were taken place, for example, when Malaccan king occupied Selangor after defeated by the Portuguese; when Acehnes king expand its territory into pagan region in northern Sumatra; when the first Javanese sultanate Demak defeated the last Hindu kingdom of Kediri in 1527; and when Senapati conquered Mataram. What was perhaps differentiate the Islamisation of SEA region from other part of the Islamic world, was that it did not involved foreign power—states, armies or others. Virtually the whole process of changing political systems from pre-Islamic into Islamic kingdoms and sultanates were purely internal affairs of the region and done by local actors.
Move into the third point, that Islam that was introduced and practiced in SEA has been a syncretistic Islam that fundamentally different from the pure Islam of the Middle East. This notion repeatedly being put forward by students of SEA studies, sometimes with positive, other times with negative, overtones. Typically two reasons support this notion: first that Islam that was spread in SEA came from Gujarat, and second it was propagated by mystics adapted to the local cultures. The second point has been discussed above and need no further explanation. For the first reason, historians commonly agree that the early propagators of Islam to SEA were Muslims from Gujarat in western India—a town that was recorded as the main rendezvous for merchants travelling from Cairo and the Persian Gulf to the Malay Strait and China.
Studies on the history of Islam in SEA seem to support the theory. There were two different kinds Islamic traditions identifiable as widely practiced by Muslims in the region, i.e. orthodox Islam found among people live in coastal lines, and heterodox Islam blended with Hindu, Buddhist and local traditions practiced by inland inhabitants. However, contrary to common believe the orthodox tradition of coastal areas was in fact the older tradition compared to the heterodox Islam of inland people (Steenbrink, 2006). It is therefore plausible to argue that the earlier tradition arrived in Indonesia was the orthodox, while syncretistic tradition came later on as the result of the shift of centre of power from coastal into inland kingdoms.
In the 19th century, under the influence of Middle Eastern thinkers and movements, new trend of Islam came to SEA through the returned pilgrims visited Mecca annually. The new trend, known as Islamic Puritanism, preached a strict interpretation of Islam and rejected the religious traditions that were mixed with, and contaminated by, non-Islamic elements. In the 20th century the religious school evolved into various nationalist groups and movements that played pivotal roles for struggles against colonial powers.
Thus, it has been common among scholars of SEA Islam to classify Muslims in SEA into three categories. The first and the majority is the “Nominal Muslims”, who profess Islam as their religion but followed heterodox beliefs and rituals that combined Islamic, Hindu-Buddhist and indigenous traditions. The second is the “Traditionalist Muslims” who follow orthodox religious interpretations and practices formulated by great Islamic scholars of the early history of Islam. The third is the “Modernist or Puritan Muslims” who austerely observe Islamic religious duties and follow textual religious interpretations and practices according to Islamic scriptures. The different between traditionalist and puritan Islam is comparable to that of Catholicism and Protestantism in Christianity.
Is it true, then, that the majority of Muslims in SEA are less religious than their Middle Eastern brothers? In fact it is a controversial subject that triggered lasting debates among religious commentators and scholars as well. However, there is a theory forwarded by American sociologist Robert Bellah that gives a breaking through view on the issue. In his study on the history of religious evolution, Bellah noticed that what have been changed in the evolution—from the dead worshiping, to spirit worshiping, to polytheisms, to monotheisms—was not the degree of religiosity, but rather the structures of religious symbolisms. Religiosity refers to human capacity to internalise-and-actualise certain set of values concerning the relations of human lives and its wider environment (Eliade, 1954); and these values had been expressed and communicated differently in different times and different cultures. Therefore, for Bellah, primitive animists were by no means less religious than modern day monotheists. Following Bellah’s theory, it is conceivable to interpret the differences in rituals and customs between SEA and Middle Eastern Muslims as not necessarily implying differences in degree of religiosity, but rather different ways in expressing and communicating the same religious experiences (For a full discussion on the subject see Permata, 2005).

The writer is a PhD Candidate, Graduate School of Politics, Muenster University