Editing Southeast Asia (section)

===Spread of Islam===
{{Main|Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia|Islam in Southeast Asia}}

[[File:Masjid Tua Wapauwe Kaitetu.jpg|thumb|left|[[Wapauwe Old Mosque]] is the oldest surviving mosque in Indonesia, and the second oldest in Southeast Asia, built in 1414]]

[[Islam]] began to make contacts with Southeast Asia in the eighth-century CE, when the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]] established trade with the region via sea routes.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDABDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT113|title=Who Was Muhammad?: An Analysis of the Prophet of Islam in Light of the Bible and the Quran|last=Hardt|first=Doug|date=2016|publisher=TEACH Services, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4796-0544-6|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729203137/https://books.google.com/books?id=EDABDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT113|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok5zuaeBtJcC&pg=PA73|title=Daily Life Through Trade: Buying and Selling in World History|last=Anderson|first=James|date=21 March 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-36325-2|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729202946/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok5zuaeBtJcC&pg=PA73|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YjrAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|title=Islam: Faith and History|last=Ayoub|first=Mahmoud|date=2013|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-78074-452-0|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729203412/https://books.google.com/books?id=0YjrAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|url-status=live}}</ref> However its spread into the region happened centuries later. In the 11th century, a turbulent period occurred in the history of [[Maritime Southeast Asia]]. The Indian [[Chola]] navy crossed the ocean and attacked the [[Srivijaya]] kingdom of Sangrama Vijayatungavarman in Kadaram ([[Kedah Kingdom|Kedah]]); the capital of the powerful maritime kingdom was sacked and the king was taken captive. Along with Kadaram, Pannai in present-day [[Sumatra]] and Malaiyur and the Malayan peninsula were attacked too. Soon after that, the king of Kedah Phra Ong Mahawangsa became the first ruler to abandon the traditional [[Hindu]] faith, and converted to Islam with the [[Sultanate of Kedah]] established in 1136. [[Samudera Pasai]] converted to Islam in 1267, the King of Malacca [[Parameswara (sultan)|Parameswara]] married the princess of Pasai, and the son became the first sultan of Malacca. Soon, Malacca became the center of Islamic study and maritime trade, and other rulers followed suit. [[Indonesia]]n religious leader and Islamic scholar [[Hamka]] (1908–1981) wrote in 1961: "The development of Islam in Indonesia and [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]] is intimately related to a Chinese Muslim, Admiral [[Zheng He]]."<ref>{{cite book|last=Wang Ma|first=Rosey|title=Chinese Muslims in Malaysia: History and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jK8ltwAACAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies, Academia Sinica|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-date=4 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904021807/https://books.google.com/books?id=jK8ltwAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are several theories to the [[Islamization]] process in Southeast Asia. Another theory is trade. The expansion of trade among West Asia, India, and Southeast Asia helped the spread of the religion as Muslim traders from South Arabia ([[Hadhramaut]]) brought Islam to the region with their large volume of trade. Many settled in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. This is evident in the Arab-Indonesian, Arab-Singaporean, and Arab-Malay populations who were at one time very prominent in each of their countries. Finally, the ruling classes embraced Islam and that further aided the permeation of the religion throughout the region. The ruler of the region's most important port, [[Malacca Sultanate]], embraced Islam in the 15th century, heralding a period of accelerated conversion of Islam throughout the region as Islam provided a positive force among the ruling and trading classes. [[Gujarati Muslims]] played a pivotal role in establishing Islam in Southeast Asia.<ref name=toi>{{cite news|title=Gujarat helped establish Islam in SE Asia|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/ampnbspGujarat-helped-establish-Islam-in-SE-Asia/articleshow/11262585.cms|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|last=Prabhune|first=Tushar|location=[[Ahmedabad]]|date=27 December 2011|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-date=3 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203230825/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/ampnbspGujarat-helped-establish-Islam-in-SE-Asia/articleshow/11262585.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>