After a historical overview of the spread of islam in insular southeast asia, its contemporary political contexts in indonesia, malaysia. Underpinning this is a belief, held in many quarters of the regions vast and diverse muslim populations, that islam is not just a religion, but an organising principle for modern society. Nations asean includes brunei, burma, cambodia, indonesia, laos, malaysia. Islam in the southeast asia research papers academia.
There is general agreement however that conversion happened peacefully and followed the path of the trade networks linking the region with south asia, china and the middle east. Often called the muslim archipelago, southeast asia is one of the most populous parts of the islamic world. The balancing role of the united states and the taiwan question pdf. The prosperous justice party pks is the most interesting phenomenon in contemporary indonesian politics. Chinas potential military threat to southeast asia pdf. While there will be some discussion of the situation in south asia and central asia, the focus will be on southeast asia and australia. Today more muslims 88 % are living in indonesia 234 million people than in any. Topics will be determined in close consultation with the instructor. Causes and significance tuong vu, university of oregon1 paper prepared for the conference on issues and trends in southeast asian studies at the center for southeast asian studies, university of michigan, ann arbor, october 22, 2010 introduction. Predominantly hinduism, with significant muslim, christian, and sikh minorities. Understanding pks and analysing its political behaviour presents challenges.
Over the years, this program has produced an impressive array of graduates, many of them from the region, whose theses document the variety and vitality of islam in southeast asia. Origins of islam in southeast asia islam s roots in sea are debated. Yet, there has been little systematic study of how these two forces have interacted to provide powerful impetus for mobilization in southeast asia, a region where religious identities are as strong as nationalist impulses. Terrorism in southeast asia summary since september 2001, the united states has been concerned with radical islamist groups in southeast asia, particularly those in the philippines, indonesia, malaysia, thailand, and singapore that are known to have ties to the al qaeda terrorist network. Often called the muslim archipelago, southeast asia is home to more than 240 million muslims about 42 percent of southeast asians, and about 25 percent of the worlds 1. Southeast asia world bank documents world bank group. This book looks at islam and its strategic implications for southeast asia. This general survey of islam in southeast asia is intended to inform, explain and update readers about the more significant aspects of islam.
Drawing on intensive ontheground investigation and interviews with key militants, zachary abuza explains the emergence of radical islamist groups in the region, examines. April 01, 2020 southeast asias teenage extremists by amalina abdul nasir and kenneth yeo. Drawing on intensive ontheground investigation and interviews with key militants, zachary abuza explains the emergence of radical islamist groups in the region, examines alqaidas role as organizational catalyst, and. In november 1999, the sasakawa peace foundation invited ten muslim activists and scholars from the region to japan for exchanging views and experiences among themselves and with japanese participants. Start this article has been rated as startclass on the projects quality scale. It concentrates on theoretical, methodological, empirical, religious, spiritual, and critical studies of islam, including mundane praxes and lived islam. Here their papers and discussions are compiled into a book, islam and civil society in southeast asia. The new challenges that face southeast asia bring with them varied responses from different actors and create another forum of debate for scholars and practioners. This appears along a scale of seriousness from new levels of political concern to the reality of enhanced tensions and violence from west to east along an archipelago of national territories from thailands isthmus of kra, down the malaysian peninsula into indonesias sumatra, java, and. Zachary abuza is a professor of political science at simmons college. While we should not underestimate the potential dangers. For the past two decades, the australian national university has had a program for the study of islam in southeast asia. By the end of the seventh century the arabs had settled in parts of sri lanka, and this was the beginning of.
The entire special section about islam in asia in this issue would be useful for educators, and the thrice yearly publication itself is an invaluable resource for teaching and learning about asia. The rise of radical islam in the middle east over the past few decades now may be reaching the far east. The time frame for conversion to islam in southeast asia is also uncertain. Anthony reid and the study of the southeast asian past. South east asia from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth. At that time it had seemed that there was a simple explanation to. Issue five presents a diverse look at islam in southeast asia. With about 240 million adherents, islam is the most prevalent religion in southeast asia. Home islam in southeast asia libguides at cornell university.
Pdf the spread of islam in india and southeast asia. In part ii, politics, governance, civil society and gender issues are examined in the context of southeast asian islam. Islam in southeast asia today islam is the state religion in malaysia and brunei it is the majority religion of indonesia 90% before the 20th c. This era witnessed the independence and decolonisation of southeast asia. A new tendency beginning in late 1960s and early 1970s is the revival of islam in southeast asia. Reflections and reconsiderations with special reference to the role of sufism anthony h. Second, it will assess the danger as objectively as possible. Teaching islam in southeast asia, in education about asia, vol. Southeast asia continue to hold fast to the political arrangements achieved in the period of independence following world war ii. Southeast asia is a base for past, current, and possibly. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Students are asked to turn in a research question and tentative bibliography for the paper during week 8.
Asia is home of 65 percent of the worlds muslims, and indonesia, in southeast, is the worlds most populous muslim country. Islam is a major religion in southeast asia, with indonesian muslims comprising the largest muslim population in the world. Here their papers and discussions are compiled into a. It is true that after the fall of soeharto, many islamic parties have been established in indonesia. The muslim communities of southeast asia are diverse, complex and increasingly influential in the broader islamic world. Most of those who brought islamic stories and tales into southeast asia were sailors, traders, holy men, and adventurers who found the religion easy to. May 22, 2006 the muslim communities of southeast asia are diverse, complex and increasingly influential in the broader islamic world. Islam and civil society in southeast asia bookshop. I acquired this book, militant islam in southeast asia, in order to do some background research for a novel i am writing. My book is a longterm project with no projected publication date as yet. Since much of this original research has not been readily available to the.
There are growing expectations for southeast asia, a region embracing a population of about 620 million, to become. However, the extraordinary breadth of practices and views across the muslim world is not widely understood outside the region, often because of the difficulty of locating and putting in context the material produced by muslims themselves. Although archeological remnants, such as tombs, exist from earlier periods, islam only becomes more obviously prevalent in southeast asia after the th century, when it becomes an integral factor in the emergence of new kingdoms or sultanates founded along the. There are more than 240 million muslims in this subregion of asia, counting for about 42 per cent of the total southeast asian population, or about 25 per cent of the total world muslim population estimated at 1.
Most southeast asian muslims are sunni, and follow the shafii school of muslim jurisprudence. This volume of selected readings on islam is a portrait of the southeast asian islamic mosaic, with emphasis on the contemporary period. Islam continues to change in the new political and economic context of this region. Nationalist movements in southeast asia waseda university. View islam in the southeast asia research papers on academia. The detention of a secondary school student in singapore in february. The fortunes of islamism in southeast asia however, appear to be changing in different ways. The annals of the american academy of political and social science 588.
Trade brought arabs to indias southern seacoasts and to the coasts of sri lanka, where small muslim communities were established at least by. Significant minorities are located in the other southeast asian states. Perspectives of islamic spirituality in southeast asia. This paper examines the various factors that contributed to the spread of islam in southeast asia. Part i outlines islamic doctrine and traces the history and growth of islamic economic institutions in the region. Islamic extremism in southeast asia has moved beyond a matter of local concern to one of global significanceas the events of the past decade have so clearly demonstrated. Not only is it growing rapidly in membership and electoral support, it is also bringing a new and markedly different approach to islamic politics, one which has no precedent in indonesian history. In some areas of southeast asia where islam later would be adopted, elaborate carvings of stories from the lives of the buddha or the gods and heroes of the ramayana and mahabharata epics adorned the temple walls from the earlier hindubuddhist period. As the region climbs from the bottom rung of the economic ladder, there is often less time devoted to religious practice and more to working the fields or putting in hours at the office. Most of the states in southeast asia became modern nationstates.
The series publishes academic and policy research on historical and contemporary muslim communities, both in the region and in the diaspora, and on all aspects of islam in southeast asia. Muslim political activism and engagement is increasing across southeast asia. Johns in 1961 i published a paper on the islamization of peninsular and insular southeast asia johns 1961j. Southeast asiahome to approximately 240 million muslims, or about 42 percent of the southeast asian population and 25 percent of the estimated global muslim population of 1. It is a rather ambitious undertaking a retelling of the odyssey set as an al qaeda terrorist story that takes place partly in indonesia. Southeast asia is the most populous islamic region in the world yet has gained only limited attention. Islamization in southeast asia cseas journal, southeast. This essay looks at the spread of islam into southeast asia and how religious belief and expression fit with extant and modern polictical and economic infrastructures. Other religions include buddhism, christianity, and hinduism. Islam in southeast asia institute for south asia studies. Islam in southeast asia in the context of the arab spring. First, while islamist parties in indonesia and malaysia appear, prima facie, to be gaining popularity in terms of electoral. Divided into sections which examine southeast asia in the world, early modern southeast asia, and modern southeast asia, these works engage with issues ranging from the age of commerce and comparative eurasian history, to nationalism, ethnic hybridity, islam, technological change, and the chinese and arabs in southeast asia.
This article is within the scope of wikiproject southeast asia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of southeast asiarelated subjects on wikipedia. This survey article tries to explain what are the specific characteristics of islam in this world region. Events and developments since 11 september 2001 have added greater attention to islam and its adherents in this part of the world. Religion and nationalism in southeast asia by joseph. Islamic extremism in southeast asia has moved beyond a matter of local concern to one of global significance as the events of the past decade have so clearly demonstrated. The arab spring and islamist activism in southeast asia. Southeast asia and have significant implications internationally and for greater understanding of southeast asian internal interactions. European historians have argued that it came through trading contacts with india whereas some southeast asian muslim scholars claim it was brought to the region directly from arabia in the middle east. Graphic compiled by author using pew research data 2014. The politics of islamic identity in southeast asia. In november 2004, china and the association of southeast asian. Religion and nationalism are two of the most potent and enduring forces that have shaped the modern world.
South east asia from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the. Scholars still debate the means by which islam came to southeast asia, with little direct evidence available to support any particular theory. The collection of articles also serves to reflect the broad thematic interest of scholars not only indigenous and foreign, but also muslim and nonmuslim who have contributed to an understanding of islam in southeast asia. Other scholars claim that muslim chinese who were engaged in trade introduced it. Muslims, politics and violence in indonesia and militant islam in southeast asia. Religious demographics of southeast asian nationsdependent territories. A historical overview of islam in south asia barbara d.