Culture Corner: Islam in Vietnam
Islam is one of the largest religions in the world, boasting almost two billion faithful across the entire world. It’s no wonder, then, that it has also reached Vietnam, even if it’s a minority in the cultural tapestry. This essay hopes to give a short historical account of how Islam got to Vietnam, and the characteristics of modern Islam in the country.
Background
Among the regions that make up Vietnam, Islam’s presence was first found in the region of Champa, comprising the central and south parts of the country. The Cham, who occupied the region, are widely associated with Islam and vice versa, since they were the first to convert to Islam, doing so as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries. Although some records place conversions at the twelfth century. The religion only started to gain popularity around the seventeenth century, however, when the royalty of Champan kingdoms converted.[1]
Crucial to this development were Muslim traders, especially those from the Malay people. Islam did not spread “by the sword” like it did in the Middle East and Africa. It had to rely on peaceful methods like trade routes and missionaries. Missionary activity from the Malay is recorded to have begun in the seventeenth century, and indeed may have led to Muslim royalty in Champa.
In the fifteenth century, following the conquest of part of the Champa region by the Vietnamese, many Cham fled to neighboring Cambodia, as did many Malay. Thus the spread of Islam continued into Cambodia. This Cham in Cambodia diaspora still lives today, and has developed an Islam unique from the Cham diaspora in Vietnam.
By the nineteenth century the Champa region was completely annexed by the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty. The burgeoning dynasty began a policy of “Vietnamization” to try and subjugate the Cham, which succeeded in creating more Vietnam centered governance in the region and breaking up Cham communities, especially those of the Muslim Cham. Said communities became reshaped by the subjugation, and thus further divided from each other. This led to distinct Muslim communities, one in the south and one in the central region, which we will get back to later.
Vietnamization also led to an increasing reliance on the Malay people for assistance, who were also Muslim, although religious factors may have played second fiddle to ethno-cultural ones in this respect.[2] Vietnamization eventually ended, however, when the French colonized Vietnam. There is little public documentation on the effect French colonization had on Cham Muslims.
In modern times, there have been some attempts by the Cham to create a separate Cham state, some of which were more violent than others. Most notable was the Front for the Liberation of Champa (F.L.C.) who rebelled against the then existent Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Little is known about the F.L.C. except that they failed, like the other Cham movements. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to say that it’s leaders were executed for treason. Truly ironic for Vietnam, a country founded on the principles of National Liberation the F.L.C. bought into.
Cham Ba Ni
One of the two distinct Cham Muslim communities which has developed is the Cham Ba Ni. Due to their geographical isolation from the wider Muslim world in the central highlands, and their mingling with Brahmanists from India, the Cham Ba Ni community has a very unorthodox version of Islam, which breaks off from the traditions one may find in more orthodox communities.
Some of their most radical breaks can be seen in the roles of men and women. In orthodox Islam, women wear a hijab or some other form of head covering to remain modest, are segregated from men in mosques, and inherit ⅓ of property while the man inherits ⅔ in the event of a divorce. However, in Ba Ni Islam women are distinctly above men. They are not made to cover themselves, they worship in the same spaces in mosques as men, and they inherit all property (and children!) in the event of a divorce. And they are also, more often than not, the heads of the family. This is because Cham culture is largely matriarchal, and this has continued in Cham Ba Ni. It is this matriarchic characteristic which has mitigated the influence of orthodox Islam on the Cham Ba Ni.
Other points of departure lie in the function of the mosque and prayer. In Ba Ni Islam, the mosque is only open during Ramadan, and prayer is only once a month (as well as some Fridays). This is much different from orthodox Islam, in which the mosque is open during days outside of Ramadan and prayer is done five times per day.
For further investigation, we will link the French documentary A Strange Islam which looks more in depth into the Cham Ba Ni.
Cham Islam
Down more south, in the Mekong Delta, there is the Cham Islam, who are much more orthodox in their practices than the Cham Ba Ni. Indeed, this can be traced to their close relationship with the wider muslim community, especially those in Malaysia, which the Ba Ni lacked. These close ties mean that muslims in this community have much more chances to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca, and more chances to attend Islamic schools at home and abroad.[3]
There have been some attempts by the wider Islamic community to influence the Cham Ba Ni to make them more orthodox, although these attempts have largely failed. In the 1960s mosques (which opened on days other than Ramadan) were constructed to help the Ba Ni convert. Only 6% did. The influences of Cham culture remain deeply ingrained, and it looks like it’s here to stay for another few hundred years.
Further Reading
A Strange Islam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFcQHYq5E3c&ab_channel=SasanaProductions
Sources
[1] http://www.angelfire.com/vt/vietnamesemuslims/hstry.html
[3]
https://www.vietvisiontravel.com/post/islam-in-vietnam-the-formation-and-development/
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