Malay Islamic identity

Approximately 99.9% of modern Malays are adherents of Sunni Islam.^[1][2][3]

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in Brunei on the eve of Ramadhan. The wealthy kingdom adopted Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Islamic Monarchy) as the national philosophy since its independence in 1984.

History

Malays were originally animists who believed that everything possessed a semangat (spirit).^[4] Around the time of the coming of the Christian era, Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism were introduced to the Malay Archipelago by Indian traders, where they flourished until the 13th century and the arrival of Islam brought by Arab, Indian and Chinese Muslim traders.

In the 15th century, orthodox Sunni Islam flourished in the Malay world under the rule of the Malacca Sultanate. In contrast with Hinduism, which had only a superficial effect on early Malay society, Islam took root in the hearts and minds of the people.^[5]

Islamization of the Malays

The period of the 13th and 14th centuries saw the arrival of Islam and the rise of the great port-city of Malacca on the southwestern coast of the Malay peninsular^[6] — two major developments that altered the course of Malay history.

Islam began arriving on the shores of what are now the states of Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, from around the 12th century.^[7] The earliest archaeological evidence of Islam from the Malay peninsular is in the form of an inscribed stone dating from the 14th century found in Terengganu state, Malaysia.^[6]

By the 15th century, the Malacca Sultanate, whose hegemony reached over much of the western Malay archipelago, had become the centre of Islamization in the east. The Malaccan tradition was handed down from generation to generation and fostered a vigorous ethos of Malay identity.^[8][9] During this era, the Islamic faith became closely identified with Malay society and played a significant role in defining the Malay identity.^[10][11][12]

In 1511, the city of Malacca fell to Portuguese conquistadors. However, Malacca remained an institutional prototype as a paradigm of statecraft and a point of cultural reference for successor states such as the Johor Sultanate (1528–present), the Perak Sultanate (1528–present) and the Pahang Sultanate (1470–present).^[8]

Across the South China Sea, another Malay realm, the Brunei Sultanate (1363–present) was growing into a trading port that rivalled Malacca. Brunei reached its golden age in the mid 16th century when it controlled land as far south as present day Kuching in Sarawak and north towards the islands of the Philippines.^[13]

Other significant Malay sultanates were the Kedah Sultanate (1136–present) and the Patani Sultanate (1516–1771), which dominated the northern part of the Malay peninsular.

Islam as ethnoreligious identity

See also: Ethnoreligious group and Malaysian Malay

Following this era, the Malays traditionally had a close identification with Islam^[14] and it has remained their religion ever since.^[5] Such identification is so strong to the extent that to become Muslim, it was said, was to masuk Melayu (to become Malay).^[10]

Nevertheless, strongly-rooted earlier beliefs have held their ground against the anathemas of Islam. The mysticism of Shia Islam, which properly has no place among orthodox Sunnis, has become intertwined among the Malays, with the spirits of the earlier animistic world and some elements of Hinduism also present.^[15]

Following the 1970s Islamic revival (also referred as re-Islamization)^[16] throughout the Muslim world, many traditions that contravene the teaching of Islam and contain elements of shirk (idolatry or polytheism), were abandoned by the Malays. Among these practices was the mandi safar festival (Safar bath), a bathing festival intended to achieve spiritual purity that contains some features similar to those of the Durga Puja festival celebrated in India.^[17]

See also

• Malays (ethnic group)
• Malaysian Malay

Regional religion:

• Religion in Malaysia
• Religion in Singapore
• Religion in Thailand

General:

• Ethnoreligious group

References

1. ^ The Singapore Census of Population (2000): Advance Data Release 2
2. ^ "The Malay of Malaysia". Bethany World Prayer Center. 1997. http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/p_code3/1892.html. Retrieved 2008-07-28. 
3. ^ "The Diaspora Malay". Bethany World Prayer Center. 1997. http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/clusters/8101.html. Retrieved 2008-07-28. 
4. ^ Zaki Ragman (2003). Gateway to Malay culture. Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd. pp. 1–6. ISBN 981-229-326-4. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Syed Husin Ali (2008). The Malays, their problems and future. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn Bhd. p. 57. ISBN 978-983-9541-62-5, 978-983-9541-61-8. 
6. ^ ^{a b} World and Its Peoples: Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 2008. pp. 1174, 1219, 1220. 
7. ^ Hussin Mutalib (2008). Islam in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 25. ISBN 978-981-230-758-3. 
8. ^ ^{a b} T. N. Harper (2001). The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya. UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-521-59040. 
9. ^ Abu Talib Ahmad, Liok Ee Tan (2003). New terrains in Southeast Asian history. Singapore: Ohio University press. p. 15. ISBN 9971-69-269-4. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard Y. Andaya (1984). A History of Malaysia. Lonndon: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 55. ISBN 0-333-27672-8,0-333-27672-8. 
11. ^ Timothy P. Barnar (2004). Contesting Malayness: Malay identity across boundaries. Singapore: Singapore University press. p. 7. ISBN 9971-69-279-1. 
12. ^ Mohd Fauzi Yaacob (2009). Malaysia: Transformasi dan perubahan sosial. Malaysia: Arah Pendidikan Sdn Bhd. p. 16. ISBN 978-967-323-132-4. 
13. ^ Simon Richmond (2007). Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei. Lonely Planet Planet publications. p. 32. ISBN 36-005-607-983. 
14. ^ Anthony Hearle Johns, Nelly Lahoud (2005). Islam in world politics. New York: Routledge. p. 157. ISBN 0-415-32411-4. 
15. ^ R. O. Winstedt (2008 (original copyright 1925)). Shaman Saiva and Sufi. London: BiblioLife. p. 125. ISBN 9781434686336. 
16. ^ François Burgat (2003). Face to face with political Islam (L'islamisme en face). New York: I.B Tauris & Co. Ltd. p. 54. ISBN 1-86064-212-8. 
17. ^ Kingsley Bolton, Christopher Hutton (2000). Triad societies: western accounts of the history, sociology and linguistics of Chinese secret societies (volume V). London: Routledge. p. 184. ISBN 0-41524397-1.