A Different Path: The Minority Muslim Experience in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This thesis looks at the three significant Muslim minority communities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Southern Thailand from the perspective of living in a predominantly monocultural, non-Muslim society, and how they function economically, socially, religiously and politically in this context. It particularly focuses on the time period from 1945 to the present day, from the end of the Second World War and the post-colonial era as this is a significant break-point and begins the recent era of local societies. The end of the Second World War brought about significant change in all three countries. All three had been occupied by the Japanese. (Thailand had joined an alliance with the Japanese, but this was a face-saving accommodation, leading to de facto Japanese government and rule.) After the Japanese defeat, the French colonial power attempted to reassert itself in Indo-China, followed by a similar American exercise of influence. In Thailand, a return to independence saw Thailand become a close ally and client state of the USA, a bulwark against Communist insurgency in the rest of Southeast Asia. By 1975 all three states were free of foreign control, and pursued policies of self-determination and independent development, albeit in dramatically different ways. I examine this situation from Muslim perspectives, from the governing policies of the states themselves and from the viewpoint of the non-Muslim majority citizens of the states. I endeavour to identify common themes and strategies and divergent reactions to their lived environment. I seek to answer the question: how have long-existing Muslim minorities come to terms with their environment in the societies of Southeast Asia that have a dominant, if not monocultural ethos, what will this mean for their future in the region, and what is its impact on the Muslim and global community? There are two distinct and clearly identifiable ethnic groups – the lowland Cham of Vietnam and Cambodia’s Mekong Delta and the Malay Muslims of the Southern border provinces of Thailand. The first group are ethnically homogenous, although split in two by a political border that can be rigid but is also a fluid means of communication and economic activity. The second are also ethnically homogenous, but exist within the borders of modern Thailand, where they vary from the majority population in language, economic status, allegiance to and treatment by the Thai state. By understanding the way in which these groups exist, survive, accommodate (or resist) their non-Muslim state and government structures, I draw conclusions about the success and future development of these societies – and of course, their failures. There are also interesting lessons to learn for multicultural societies coming to terms with Muslim minorities, and other Muslims working to develop in a non-Muslim environment. Although these groups are relatively small and have a low profile in the Muslim world, they are also deeply rooted, having been resident in their areas for significantly longer than the modern states that now surround them.