Editing History of Southeast Asia (section)

===Spread of Islam===
{{main|Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia|Islam in Southeast Asia}}
[[File:Meuseujid Raya Baiturrahman .jpg|thumb|right|[[Baiturrahman Grand Mosque]] in [[Aceh]]. This northern tip region of [[Sumatra]] was the earliest place where Islam was established in Southeast Asia since the [[Samudera Pasai Sultanate|Pasai Sultanate]] in the 13th century.]]

By the 8th century CE, less than 200 years after the [[History of Islam|establishment of Islam]] in [[Arabia]], the first Islamic traders and merchants who adhered to [[Mohammad]]'s prophecies began to appear in [[maritime Southeast Asia]]. However, [[Islam]] did not play a notable role anywhere in [[mainland Southeast Asia]] until the 13th century.<ref name="ArchitectureofEarlyMosques">{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264874666 |title=The Architecture of the Early Mosques and Shrines of Java: Influences of the Arab Merchants in the 15th and 16th Centuries? |date=April 2008 |last=Wahby |first=Ahmed E I |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/islam-islam-southeast-asia |title=Islam: Islam in Southeast Asia – Dictionary definition of Islam: Islam in Southeast Asia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://history-world.org/islam7.htm |title=Islam, The Spread of Islam To Southeast Asia |publisher=History-world.org |access-date=30 January 2017 |archive-date=8 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108010414/http://history-world.org/islam7.htm}}</ref> Instead, widespread and gradual replacement of [[Hinduism]] by [[Theravada Buddhism|Theravāda Buddhism]] reflected a shift to a more personal, introverted spirituality acquired through individual ritual activities and effort.

In addressing the issue of how Islam was introduced into Southeast Asia, historians have elaborated various routes from Arabia to [[India]] and then from India to [[Southeast Asia]]. Of these, two seem to take prominence: either Arabian traders and scholars who did not live or settle in India spread Islam directly to maritime Southeast Asia, or Arab traders that had been settling in coastal India and [[Sri Lanka]] for generations did. Muslim traders from India ([[Gujarat]]) and converts of [[South Asia]]n descent are variously considered to play a major role.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/28762910 |title=A History of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian World: between Acculturation and Rigor |publisher=Academia.edu |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://asiasociety.org/education/introduction-southeast-asia |title=Introduction to Southeast Asia – The Arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia |publisher=Asia Society |access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref>

A number of sources propose the [[South China Sea]] as another route of Islamic introduction to Southeast Asia. Arguments for this hypothesis include the following:
* Extensive trade between Arabia and China before the 10th century is well documented and has been corroborated by archaeological evidence (see, for example, [[Belitung shipwreck]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/worrall-text/1 |title=Made in China – National Geographic Magazine |access-date=4 February 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901043146/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/worrall-text/1 |archive-date=1 September 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asia.si.edu/press/2011/prShipwreckedBackgrounder.asp |title=Press Room |publisher=Asia.si.edu |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606093628/http://www.asia.si.edu/press/2011/prShipwreckedBackgrounder.asp |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* During the [[Mongol conquest of China|Mongol conquest]] and the subsequent rule of the [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368), hundreds of thousands of Muslims entered China. In [[Yunnan]], Islam was propagated and commonly embraced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Wade114.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Wade114.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=An Earlier Age of Commerce in Southeast Asia : 900–1300 C.E. |publisher=Helsinki.fi |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref>
* [[Kufic]] grave stones in [[Champa]], modern-day [[Vietnam]], are indices of an early and permanent Islamic community in mainland Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/detail.aspx?a=184&lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190203/http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/detail.aspx?lang=en&a=184 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 May 2013 |title=Gravestone – Collections – Antiquities Museum |publisher=Antiquities.bibalex.org |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://squarekufic.com/2014/10/18/signatures-on-gravestones-two-xii-century-iranian-tombstones/ |title=Signatures on gravestones: two XII century Iranian tombstones |publisher=squarekufic |date=  18 October 2014|access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Tan Ta Sen|title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA147|year=2009|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-837-5|page=147}}</ref> 
* The founder of the [[Demak Sultanate]] in [[Java]] was of Sino-Javanese origin.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/15646072 |title=Cheng Ho and the History of Chinese Muslims in Java |newspaper=Academia.edu |access-date=4 February 2017|last1=Qurtuby |first1=Sumanto Al }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Tan Ta Sen|title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA239|year=2009|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-837-5|page=239}}</ref>
* [[Hui people|Hui]] mariner [[Zheng He]] proposed ancient Chinese architecture as the stylistic basis for the oldest Javanese [[mosque]]s during his 15th-century visit to [[Demak, Demak|Demak]], [[Banten]], and the [[Red Mosque of Panjunan]] in [[Cirebon]], [[West Java]].<ref name="ArchitectureofEarlyMosques" />

In 2013, the [[European Union]] published the ''European Commission Forum'', which maintains an inclusive attitude on the matter:<ref>{{cite web |title=International research update 62 |url=http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/newsletter/international-research-update_62_december-2015.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/newsletter/international-research-update_62_december-2015.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=4 February 2017 |publisher=Ec.europa.eu}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=Islam spread in Southeast Asia via Muslims of diverse ethnic and cultural origins, from Middle Easterners, Arabs and Persians, to Indians and even Chinese, all of whom followed the great commercial routes of the epoch.}}[[File:Masjid Menara Kudus.jpg|thumb|[[Minaret]] of the [[Menara Kudus Mosque]], a Javanese [[Majapahit]]-style red brick tower, with [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]-style building in the background, exemplifying the adoption and syncretism of local elements within Islam practiced in the region.]]
Unlike in other Islamic regions, Islam developed in Southeast Asia in a distinctly [[Syncretism|syncretic]] manner that allowed the continuation and inclusion of elements and ritual practices of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and ancient Pan-East Asian [[animism]]. Most principalities developed highly distinctive cultures as a result of centuries of active participation in cultural exchange situated at the cross-roads of the [[Maritime Silk Road]] coming from across the [[Indian Ocean]] in the West and the [[South China Sea]] in the East. Cultural and institutional adoption was a creative and selective process, in which foreign elements were incorporated into a local synthesis.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/2839951 |title=Ghazwul fikri or Arabisation? Indonesian Muslim responses to globalisation |journal=In: Ken Miichi and Omar Farouk (Eds), Southeast Asian Muslims in the Era of Globalization, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, Pp. 61-85 |publisher=Academia.edu |access-date=4 February 2017|last1=Bruinessen |first1=Martin van |date=January 2014 }}</ref> Unlike some other "[[Islamised]]" regions like [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|North Africa]], [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Iberia]], the [[Arab–Byzantine wars|Middle East]] and later northern [[Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent|India]], Islamic faith in Southeast Asia was not enforced in the wake of [[Early Muslim conquests|territorial conquests]], but because of trade routes. In this way, the Islamisation of Southeast Asia is more akin to that of [[Islam in Central Asia|Turkic Central Asia]], [[sub-Saharan Africa]], [[South India|southern India]] and [[Islam in China|northwest China]].

There are various records of lay Muslim missionaries, scholars and mystics, particularly [[Sufism|Sufis]], who were active in peacefully proselytizing in Southeast Asia. [[Java]], for example, received Islam by nine men, referred to as the "[[Wali Sanga]]" or "Nine Saints," although the historical identity of such people is almost impossible to determine. The foundation of the first Islamic kingdom in [[Sumatra]], the [[Samudera Pasai Sultanate]], took place during the 13th century.

The conversion of the remnants of the Buddhist [[Srivijaya|Srivijaya empire]] that once controlled trade in much of Southeast Asia, in particular the [[Strait of Malacca]], marked a religious turning point with the conversion of the strait into an Islamic water. With the fall of Srivijaya, the way was open for effective and widespread proselytization and the establishment of Muslim trading centers. Many modern Malays view the [[Sultanate of Malacca]], which existed from the 15th to the early 16th century, as the first political entity of contemporary [[Malaysia]].<ref>{{cite report |url=http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/RP11-78 |title=Southeast Asia: A political and economic introduction – Commons Library briefing – UK Parliament |last1=Thompson |first1=Gavin |last2=Lunn |first2=Jon |date=14 December 2011 |publisher=Researchbriefings.parliament.uk |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref>

The idea of equality before God for the ''[[Ummah]]'' (the people of God) and a personal religious effort through regular prayer in Islam could have been more appealing than a perceived [[fatalism]] in Hinduism at the time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elder |first1=Joseph W. |date=July 1966 |title=Fatalism in India: A Comparison between Hindus and Muslims |journal=Anthropological Quarterly |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=227–243 |doi=10.2307/3316807 |jstor=3316807}}</ref> However, Islam also taught obedience and submission, which could have helped guarantee that the social structure of a converted people or political entity saw less fundamental changes.<ref name="shi" />

[[File:Malays from the Malacca Sultanate Codice Casanatense.jpg|thumb|Portuguese illustration of [[Ethnic Malay|Malays]] of [[Malacca]], 1540. [[Malacca sultanate]] played a [[Malayization|significant role]] in spreading [[Islam in Southeast Asia|Islamic faith in the region]]]]
Islam and its notion of exclusivity and finality is seemingly incompatible with other religions, including the Chinese concept of [[Mandate of Heaven|heavenly harmony]] and the [[Son of Heaven]] as its enforcer. The integration of the traditional East Asian tributary system with China at the centre Muslim Malays and Indonesians exacted a pragmatic approach of cultural Islam in diplomatic relations with China.<ref name=shi>{{cite web |url=http://docs8.minhateca.com.br/856445015,BR,0,0,A-Short-History-of-China-and-Southeast-Asia.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://docs8.minhateca.com.br/856445015,BR,0,0,A-Short-History-of-China-and-Southeast-Asia.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=A Short History of China and Southeast Asia.pdf – A Short History of Asia |publisher=Docs8.minhateca.com |access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref>