The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith

by Sir Thomas Walker Arnold

Islam is traditionally represented to have been introduced into Palembang about 1440 by Raden Raḥmat, of whose propagandist activity an account will be given below (p. 381). But Hindu influences appear to have been firmly rooted here, and the progress of the new faith was slow. Even up to the nineteenth century the Muslims of Palembang were said to know little of their religion except the external observances of it, with the exception of the inhabitants of the capital who come into daily contact with Arabs;[30] but in the first decade of the twentieth century there would appear to have been a revival of the religious life and a growing propaganda, as the Colonial Reports of the Dutch Government draw attention to the continual spread of Islam among the heathen population of various districts of Palembang.[31]

It was from Java that Islam was first brought into the Lampong districts which form the southern extremity of Sumatra, by a chieftain of these districts, named Minak Kamala Bumi. About the end of the fifteenth century he crossed over the Strait of Sunda to the kingdom of Bantam on the west coast of Java, which had accepted the teachings of the Muslim missionaries a few years before the date of his visit; here he, too, embraced Islam, and after making the pilgrimage to Mecca, spread the knowledge of his newly adopted faith among his fellow-countrymen.[32] This religion has made considerable progress among the Lampongs, and most of the villages have mosques in them, but the old superstitions still linger on in parts of the interior.[33]

In the early part of the nineteenth century a religious revival was set on foot in Sumatra, which was not without its influence in promoting the further propagation of Islam. In 1803 three Sumatran ḥājīs returned from Mecca to their native country: during their stay in the holy city they had [[372]]been profoundly influenced by the Wahhābī movement for the reformation of Islam, and were now eager to introduce the same reforms among their fellow-countrymen and to stir up in them a purer and more zealous religious life. Accordingly they began to preach the strict monotheism of the Wahhābī sect, forbade prayers to saints, drinking and gambling and all other practices contrary to the law of the Qurʼān. They made a number of proselytes both from among their co-religionists and the heathen population. They later declared a Jihād against the Bataks, and in the hands of unscrupulous and ambitious men the movement lost its original character and degenerated into a savage and bloody war of conquest. In 1821 these so-called Padris came into conflict with the Dutch Government and it was not until 1838 that their last stronghold was taken and their power broken.[34]

All the civilised Malays of the Malay Peninsula trace their origin to migrations from Sumatra, especially from Menangkabau, the famous kingdom mentioned above, which is said at one time to have been the most powerful on the island; some of the chiefs of the interior states of the southern part of the Malay Peninsula still receive their investiture from this place. At what period these colonies from the heart of Sumatra settled in the interior of the Peninsula, is matter of conjecture, but Singapore and the southern extremity of the Peninsula seem to have received a colony in the middle of the twelfth century, by the descendants of which Malacca was founded about a century later.[35] From its advantageous situation, in the highway of eastern commerce it soon became a large and flourishing city, and there is little doubt but that Islam was introduced by the Muhammadan merchants who settled here.[36] The Malay chronicle of Malacca assigns the conversion of this kingdom to the reign of a certain Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh who came to the throne in 1276. He is said to have been reigning [[373]]some years before a ship commanded by Sīdī ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz came to Malacca from Jiddah, and the king was persuaded by the new-comers to change his faith and to give up his Malay name for one containing the name of the Prophet.[37] But the general character of this document makes its trustworthiness exceedingly doubtful,[38] in spite of the likelihood that the date of so important an event would have been exactly noted (as was done in many parts of the Archipelago) by a people who, proud of the event, would look upon it as opening a new epoch in their history. A Portuguese historian gives a much later date, namely 1384, in which year, he says, a Qāḍī came from Arabia and having converted the king, gave him the name of Muḥammad after the Prophet, adding Shāh to it.[39]

In the annals of Queda, one of the northernmost of the states of the Malay Peninsula, we have a curious account of the introduction of Islam into this kingdom, about A.D. 1501,[40] which (divested of certain miraculous incidents) is as follows: A learned Arab, by name Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh, having come to Queda, visited the Raja and inquired what was the religion of the country. “My religion,” replied the Raja, “and that of all my subjects is that which has been handed down to us by the people of old. We all worship idols.” “Then has your highness never heard of Islam, and of the Qurʼān which descended from God to Muḥammad, and has superseded all other religions, leaving them in the possession of the devil?” “I pray you then, if this be true,” said the Raja, “to instruct and enlighten us in this new faith.” In a transport of holy fervour at this request, Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh embraced the Raja and then instructed him in the creed. Persuaded by his teaching, the Raja sent for all his jars of spirits (to which he was much addicted), and with his own hands emptied them on the ground. After this he had all the idols of the palace brought out; the idols of gold, and silver, and clay, and [[374]]wood were all heaped up in his presence, and were all broken and cut to pieces by Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh with his sword and with an axe, and the fragments consumed in the fire. The Shayk͟h asked the Raja to assemble all his women of the fort and palace. When they had all come into the presence of the Raja and the Shayk͟h, they were initiated into the doctrines of Islam. The Shayk͟h was mild and courteous in his demeanour, persuasive and soft in his language, so that he gained the hearts of the inmates of the palace. The Raja soon after sent for his four aged ministers, who, on entering the hall, were surprised at seeing a Shayk͟h seated near the Raja. The Raja explained to them the object of the Shayk͟h’s coming; whereupon the four chiefs expressed their readiness to follow the example of his highness, saying, “We hope that Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh will instruct us also.” The latter hearing these words, embraced the four ministers and said that he hoped that, to prove their sincerity, they would send for all the people to come to the audience hall, bringing with them all the idols that they were wont to worship and the idols that had been handed down by the men of former days. The request was complied with and all the idols kept by the people were at that very time brought down and there destroyed and burnt to dust; no one was sorry at this demolition of their false gods, all were glad to enter the pale of Islam. Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh after this said to the four ministers, “What is the name of your prince?” They replied, “His name is Pra Ong Mahāwāngsā.” “Let us change it for one in the language of Islam,” said the Shayk͟h. After some consultation, the name of the Raja was changed at his request to Sultan Muzlaf al-Shāh, because, the Shayk͟h averred, it is a celebrated name and is found in the Qurʼān.[41]

The Raja now built mosques wherever the population was considerable, and directed that to each there should be attached forty-four of the inhabitants at least as a settled congregation, for a smaller number would have been few for the duties of religion. So mosques were erected and great [[375]]drums were attached to them to be beaten to call the people to prayer on Fridays. Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh continued for some time to instruct the people in the religion of Islam; they flocked to him from all the coasts and districts of Queda and its vicinity, and were initiated by him into its forms and ceremonies.

The news of the conversion of the inhabitants of Queda by Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh reached Atjeh, and the Sultan of that country and a certain Shayk͟h Nūr al-Dīn, an Arab missionary, who had come from Mecca, sent some books and a letter, which ran as follows:—“This letter is from the Sultan of Atjeh and Nūr al-Dīn to our brother the Sultan of Queda and Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh of Yaman, now in Queda. We have sent two religious books, in order that the faith of Islam may be firmly established and the people fully instructed in their duties and in the rites of the faith.” A letter was sent in reply by the Raja and Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh, thanking the donors. So Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh redoubled his efforts, and erected additional small mosques in all the different villages for general convenience, and instructed the people in all the rules and observances of the faith. The Raja and his wife were constantly with the Shayk͟h, learning to read the Qurʼān. The royal pair searched also for some maiden of the lineage of the Rajas of the country, to be the Shayk͟h’s wife. But no one could be found who was willing to give his daughter thus in marriage because the holy man was about to return to Bag͟hdād, and only waited until he had sufficiently instructed some person to supply his place. Now at this time the Sultan had three sons, Raja Muʻaz̤z̤am Shāh, Raja Muḥammad Shāh, and Raja Sulaymān Shāh. These names had been borrowed from the Qurʼān by Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh and bestowed upon the princes, whom he exhorted to be patient and slow to anger in their intercourse with their slaves and the lower orders, and to regard with pity all the servants of God, and the poor and needy.[42]

It must not be supposed that the labours of Shayk͟h ʻAbd Allāh were crowned with complete success, for we learn [[376]]from the annals of Atjeh that a Sultan of this country who conquered Queda in 1649, set himself to “more firmly establish the faith and destroy the houses of the Liar” or temples of idols.[43] Thus a century and a half elapsed before idolatry was completely rooted out.

We possess no other details of the history of the conversion of the Malays of the Peninsula, but in many places the graves of the Arab missionaries who first preached the faith to them are honoured by these people.[44] Their long intercourse with the Arabs and the Muslims of the east coast of India has made them very rigid observers of their religious duties, and they have the reputation of being the most exemplary Muhammadans of the Archipelago; at the same time their constant contact with the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and pagans of their own country has made them liberal and tolerant. They are very strict in the keeping of the fast of Ramaḍān and in performing the pilgrimage to Mecca. The religious interests of the people are always considered at the same time as their temporal welfare; and when a village is found to contain more than forty houses and is considered to be of a size that necessitates its organisation and the appointment of the regular village officers, a public preacher is always included among the number and a mosque is formally built and instituted.[45]

In the north, where the Malay states border on Siam, Islam has exercised considerable influence on the Siamese Buddhists; those who have here been converted are called Samsams and speak a language that is a mixed jargon of the languages of the two people.[46] Converts are also made from among the wild tribes of the Peninsula.[47]