Islam in Vietnam
During the 9th and 12th centuries, various medieval Arabic geographical works had identified modern-day eastern Indochina as the lands of the Qimar (Khmer, Cambodians), the Sanf (Cham), and the Luqin (Vietnamese).
In the next two years, nearly 500 refugees from Champa arrived at Canton headed by Li Ning Bian and Hu Xuan (Hussain), who "demanded the protection of China".
Figures like Omar Nasr al-Din held sway, and a significant portion of the invading Mongol army in both Đại Việt and Champa consisted of Muslim Turks and Persians.
[14] The number of followers began to increase as contacts with Sultanate of Malacca broadened in the wake of the 1471 collapse of the Champa Kingdom, but Islam would not become widespread among the Cham until the mid-17th century.
Bani Awal (Bini ralaoh, people of Allah) religion, a syncretic, localized version Shi'a Islam, gained dominance in 17th century Panduranga.
[16] For example, Al-Dimashqi claimed a story that the Alīds after being expelled, a small portion of them took refugee in Champa; these Muslim immigrants thereby spread Shi'a among the Cham, which perhaps eventually led to the synthesis of the Bani Awal religion.
[20] A comparative oral tradition from the Cambodian Cham communities also states "Lord ʿAlī had sent Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyya to Champa to teach Islam."
After the fall of Vijaya in 1471 to the 17th century during the Age of Exploration, global trade in early modern Southeast Asia experienced a booming upward trajectory.
Anthony Reid explains that at the same time, the Portuguese and Spanish Christians had arrived in the region and carried out ambitious colonial conquests and trade dominance, provoking political associations among the Southeast Asian Muslims.
Among them were the Cham diaspora of merchants, warriors, and refugees whom had adopted Islamic faiths from the Malays through peaceful correlation were operating commercial activities throughout Southeast Asia, and built a strong relationship with them.
[38] As the Saigon (Republic of Vietnam, RVN) government seized minority lands for Northern Kinh refugees in the 1950s, nationalist sentiment among the Cham and indigenous peoples increased.
The problems were due to efforts of Cham Sunni to promote the more orthodox variety of Islam among the Bani, who they regarded for not having upheld the true teachings of the Qur'an.
The most notable and active organization for the efforts was the Hiệp hội Chàm Hồi giáo Việt Nam (Cham Muslim Association of Vietnam).
One key component of the association was expanding ties between Cham Muslim communities with other Islamic countries, especially Malaysia, causing the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam's government reacted with caution.
[40] Even when Vietnam rejoined Malaysia and Indonesia in ASEAN in 1995, the fear is still obvious as state-sponsored historians downplay historical and cultural connections between Champa and the Malay/Islamic world.
[54] The Cham Muslims in Vietnam's Mekong Delta assert their identity as unconfined by national boundaries but self-identify as an ethnic community with an emphasis on Islam.
Scholars have also emphasized Islam as a means of reconsolidating displaced peoples, a result of missionary work, and as a transcendence creed more suitable for these Chams’ mobile lifestyles engaging in extra-local trade.
[67] Additionally, the Islamic faith provides traders with a “set of ethics applied to business practice and a disciplining code of conduct”[68] that renders it more acceptable and appealing as compared to traditional spirit worship.
Additionally, their resistance to ethnic minority status and the Vietnamese State's assimilation efforts, along with their extensive history of engagement with transnational cultural forces, have made the Muslim Chams inclined toward socio-cultural alignment with the larger Malay society.
The Chams and Malays from Cambodia were either migrated or displaced to the Tay Ninh and Chau Doc areas by the Vietnamese, with the purpose of establishing Viet-controlled settlements for frontier defense.
They are physically isolated from the economic centers of the country amidst a web of waterways and socially distant from their neighbors due to their strict observance of religious practices.
[75] Their relatively low education levels and minimal participation in the modern market economy, compared to other ethnic groups, have been thought to contribute to their economic situation.
Rather than conforming to the commonly held idea of ethnic minorities as isolated due to the remote situation of their communities, the Chams’ nature actually points to their cosmopolitan character.
Beliefs among the non-Cham Vietnamese population prevail of Cham potency through spiritual and occult powers, drawing continuity from the ancient Champa animistic and local spirit worship.
The Vietnamese regard of Cham potency to the latter's perceived power and knowledge derived from their “privileged connection to the local area”,[93] and as imagined “weapons to overcome the deficits”[93] of displacement, impoverishment, and disadvantage that they had suffered.
The belief and worship in potent Cham spiritual figures and their origins in the Mekong Delta reveal aspects of being Cham- where fame and repute are derived from being trans-local and mobile, achieved through trade, religious studies, and pilgrimage, with a sense of “simultaneous belonging to local, trans-local and universal communities of faith”,[94] drawing a parallel to the sacred journeys undertaken to Mecca and the locale's perceived magical potency.
In this regard, ideological complexities are observed in the worship of the “Lady of the Realm” of the Mekong Delta in which the multi-ethnic historical layers that undergird this region is reflected.
[101] State narratives of isolation and remoteness in relation to geographical situations of ethnic minorities are in paradox for the Chams of the Delta where cross-border networks of engagement, extra-local trade and religious connections attest instead to their cosmopolitanism.
Assistance from the Cham Muslim diaspora across the globe, urban emigrations, followed by state efforts at infrastructure development have also enabled them to exercise political agency as seen in higher education levels among the young, livelihoods bolstered by relatives’ remittances.
The Chams have also been able to utilise their religion in seeking support and recognition across co-regionalists in their pursuit of education and better opportunities beyond their localities which have contributed to the preservation of their identity and culture.
