第8回研究会報告

The role of Islam in modern Cambodia seems to be characterized by the paradox of its peripheral treatment in academic works and assumed numerical, cultural, religious and political marginality on the one hand and its actual centrality in the lives of the Muslims in Cambodia, on the other hand. A casual bibliographic survey of recent works on Cambodia will reveal the incredible lack of recognition given to the Muslims as a national minority in Cambodia. With an estimated population of more than half a million people, their historical, cultural, religious and even political significance in the kingdom certainly could not be underestimated.

This paper attempts to examine one aspect of the emerging profile of the Muslims in Cambodia with a view to evaluating the dynamics of their identity as a religious minority. Specifically, the paper looks at the place of Jawi in the Reconstruction of Islam in Cambodia. Although it is acknowledged that the term 'Jawi' may have a variety of meanings, it is argued that no matter how it is used, it does have a basic Islamic connotation. Jawi, therefore is inherently Islamic. In this particular paper, the term Jawi is basically used to refer to the Arabic script of writing. The main thesis of this paper is that the reconstruction of Islam in Cambodia has brought with it the resurgence of Jawi among its Muslim population.

The Muslims had been severely displaced by the civil war that broke out in Cambodia since the 1970s. It was only in the post -UNTAC [United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia] era of the early 1990s which was able to restore peace in the kingdom that the role of the Muslims was rehabilitated.

The rehabilitation of the Muslims was quickly accompanied by the reconstruction of mosques all over the kingdom. Inspired by the support of individual philanthropists, Muslim NGOs and foreign Muslim governments the religious life of the Muslim community in Cambodia was restored. Within this framework, Quranic education and Islamic schools were revived and a new generation of Islamic teachers was created. Islamic activities including tabligh and dakwah were pursued with a great deal of enthusiasm. Royal andofficial patronage of Islam in Cambodia also facilitated its reorganization.

The above development brought about a general resurgence of Islam in Cambodia. The revival and spread of Jawi occurred within this scenario. The distribution of the Quran and other religious literature throughout the network of Muslim mosques and schools throughout Cambodia created the necessary conditions conducive to the reintroduction and growth of Jawi. With the concerted promotion of Quranic education, Jawi literacy in Cambodia has been restored. But it is not just Arabic that is being taught among the Cambodian Muslims because Jawi is also used to write both the Malay as well as the Cham languages.

Although the relevance of Jawi has been reestablished and its use expanded among the Muslims in Cambodia, there is a parallel if not competitive development of Khmer among the Muslims. The phenomenon of the Islamization of Khmer has already taken place among the Muslims as Khmer is now increasingly used as a new Islamic language of instruction. For example, Friday sermons [khutbahs] have already been conducted in Khmer. The Khmerization of Islam seems to be an inevitable process in Cambodia. Islam will surely acquire distinctive Khmer traits which are compatible to it.

Nevertheless, it is almost certain that it is Jawi that will remain as the irreducible common marker of Islamic identity in Cambodia.

There is no doubt that the study of the Jawi tradition in the Philippines is of fundamental importance to the understanding and resolution of the armed conflict in Southern Philippines principally involving the Bangsamoro struggle for freedom against the government.

Being the only existing ancient evidence of the Filipino Muslim written intellectual tradition that began from the advent of Islam about 1280 A.D. and steadily but traumatically developed through over four centuries of colonial conquest and pacification, the Jawi tradition deserves more than ordinary and casual attention from the Philippine government and the academic community.

Because of its similarity to similar written traditions in Southeast Asia and, even, beyond where Muslim communities are found, the Jawi tradition becomes logically a valid focus of international scholarship and inquiry especially from those involved in Islamic studies.

Several facts about the Philippine Jawi tradition merit particular attention. First is the use of the Arabic script to preserve in Tausug, Maguindanao, Sama, Yakan, Kalibugan, Maranao, Iranun, Kalagan, and other Muslim groups the origin, development, and prospects of Islam in the various local-ethnic communities. In effect, the Jawi allowed the preservation of a folk Islamic tradition which demonstrated the dynamic and natural blending of fundamental Islamic elements and indigeneous cultures. Consequently, the preservation and survival of Islam through the years has been due to its syncretic adaptation to local cultures.

The second fact is the employment of Jawi as a vehicle of protest and resistance against colonialism by the upper as well as the lower classes of Muslim society as shown by the variety of Jawi materials collected from national and foreign archives and from fieldwork. Conveniently, these materials may be divided into (1) the historical Jawi consisting of the Kasultanan, Kadatuan, Kahadjian, Kabanuwahan, and Kaginisan materials and (2) the contemporary Jawi consisting of several Kitabs which are interpretations and comentaries on various teachings of Islam derived from either the Kmoran or the Hadith.

Lastly, the Jawi tradition provides the essential basis for integrating and promoting common heritage ties of Southeast Asia and the Darul Islam not necessarily along the rigid lines of Islamism but rather, around the variety of syncretic patterns of growth of Islamic cultures in countries where Muslim communities exist.