8 Responses to “The Changing Face of Islam in Sri Lanka”

1. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   August 19th, 2013 at 3:36 pm

   For 1,400 years Islam in India and Sri Lanka was renowned for its adaptability to local practices and tolerance of other religions. Over the last 30 years, however, Muslim fundamentalists have tried to homogenize Islam, introducing new tensions. More than any other factor, what has fueled conflicts and divided Muslims and others in otherwise tolerant and harmonious plural societies like Malaysia, Indonesia and some other countries of Southeast Asia, is the slow but steady process of the transformation of Islam in the region, from a syncretic and inclusive Islam to a puritanical and exclusivist one under the influence of ideas, norms, practices, and finances flowing from the Saudi Arabia & Qatar. The “Islam of the desert Arabia” has made inroads across the Indian Ocean. This process of homogenization and regimentation – the “Arabization” of Islam – puts greater emphasis on rituals and codes of conduct than on substance, through the Wahhabi and Salafi creeds, a rigidly puritanical branch of Islam exported from, and subsidized by, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The internationalization of Islam drew Southeast Asian Muslims to the desert and brought the desert to them. Such “globalization of political Islam” could threaten stability throughout Southeast Asia and the world. Unfortunately, too many proponents of any form of fundamentalism rely on it as a tool, not for inspiring spirituality, but for acquiring economic or political power.

2. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   August 19th, 2013 at 4:05 pm

   Arabization poses a threat to all Muslims who believe in Islam’s divine character and universalism, and can be combated only by them. It is not a crisis between civilizations as Huntington would have us believe, but a crisis within civilization and can be fought from within.
   Arabization’s major appeal emanates from Islam’s millenary expectations and the unfounded utopia of a just and prosperous society under Islamic rule. This is also fed by the silence of the moderates in the face of the more vocal minority trying to hijack Islam for their perverted gain. Christianity has passed through this phase and the contradictions between the sacred and the profane was resolved by separating the church from the state during the period of renaissance and reformation. If the powerful, modern, ideas of ‘jehadi’ Islamism are not
   met in the marketplace of ideas with an equally vigorous, contemporary, articulation of peaceful, syncretic and inclusive Islam, then ‘the center of gravity’ of public discourse will inevitably slide towards those ideas that appear most powerful and relevant to the modern world.
   Indonesia, Anwar Ibrahim and Chandra Muzaffar in Malaysia, Surin Pitsuan in Thailand, who is now the current secretary general of ASEAN, and Ashgar Ali Engineer and many other progressive Muslim intellectuals in India, represent a powerful alternative to ‘jehadi’ Islamism.
   The need of the hour for the Muslims in Asia is to de-Arabize Islam from its exclusivist mould and promote a more inclusive Islam based on their own indigenous cultures and traditions blending with universal message of Islam, as were case in India and Indonesia in the period before the inroad of the Islam of the desert. There is also an urgent need for the moderates to break their deafening silence against tyranny of the small minority who are bringing shame and bad name to the religion and shed their inertia and fear of being branded as not ‘good Muslims’ by their perverted radical minority

   Fuelling the new Islamic identity is the steady process of transformation from a secular, inclusive and an adaptive Islam to a more textual, ritualistic and exclusive one by exogenous forces, as ideas, practices and finances flow from the Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The transformation brings about conflicts – not only within Islam as to its correct interpretation and desirable way of life, but also among Muslims and
   others in otherwise tolera nt and harmonious plural societies like India and Sri Lanka, where
   Islam was renowned for its adaptability to local practices, tolerance of other religions and contribution to its composite culture.
   Over the past 30 years, however, Wahabi fundamentalists have tried to homogenize Islam, introducing new tensions.
   This process of homogenization could be referred as “Arabization” of Islam emphasizes rituals and code of conduct more than substance and Islam’s universalism. It stems from the “the Wahabi creed,” a rigid branch of Islam exported from and subsidized by the government of Saudi Arabia.
   Wahhabism is distinct in its destructive nature when religion is used by the state for political ends. Unlike other traditions that accommodate dissenting views, the Wahhabis claim to possess an un-debatable version of ‘true Islam”. Arabization of Islam is a trend that somewhat obscure many Muslims from the real divine value of Islam. More importantly, a fundam ental transformation is taking place within the Muslim community all over the world – an identity formation based on a world view taken from early Quranic precepts and a code of conduct resembling a way of life that was prevalent in the Arab world in the mediaeval period in the formative stage of Islam.
   This form of identity is premised on an understanding and a belief that to be a true Muslim one has to be different from ‘others’ in every
   aspect of life and that there can not be a meeting ground between Islam and other religions.
   Adaptation of other customs, traditions and cultures in its path toward the expansion of the religion had only led to aberration and corruption of original and pristine ideas of Islam. It is only through the practice of mediaeval Arab traditions and way of life that the evil eyes of other religions can be kept at bay.
   Such a world view based on Arabization of Islam may not be the most predominant among the Muslims of the world yet, but is surely gaining slow and steady ground. A strong sense of grievance and victim mentality has reinforced Islam’s role as a medium for asserting identity. The external manifestation is the we aring of Middle Eastern clothes by men and women. Strict observance of fundamentalist Islam is al so a means of asserting identification with reform and protesting upper- class corruption in many societies, which might somewhat explain fundamentalists’ prescription for austere way of life free from temptations and pleasures.
   Since the original Muslims were mostly Arab, everything associated with them – their culture, names, and family structures – has been
   associated with Islam. But this presents a problem since the vast majority of Muslims in our current world are not Arab. There is not even an Arab monolithic form of Islam and culture. Some might even suggest that passing off Arab culture as Islam in this regard is inaccurate, exclusionary, and disrespectful of other Muslims’ cultures evolving through a blend of religious and local traditions and customs. This is where the use of the term ‘Arabization’ gains salience. Despite the fact that only a fraction of the Muslim community are Arabs, everywhere in South and Southeast Asia there is a growing trend of imitating and replicating Arab cultures and customs to prove their true Islamic
   identity at the expense of their own rich syncretic cultures that allowed not only Islam to spread in the whole region but also harmonious inter-faith interactions. Converts to Islam illustrate the issue poignantly. Having an Arab name makes one seem more “Muslim,” because of the way Arab culture is seenas synonymous with Islam. Clothing is another, mostly affecting Muslim women. The ‘niqab’ (the face-veil) was rarely seen outside of the Arabian world until recently. Most Muslims see the niqab as a byproduct of Arab culture. The urge for a Muslims to wear veils can be traced from a Quranic perception “to wear their veils over their bosoms”. The Prophet wa s urging modesty, not necessarily a particular dress-code. It is only recently that the veil has been interpreted as religiously authentic instead of a cultural expression and therefore a must for all Muslim women.
   Arabic language has an important role in the diffusion of this process. Language inevitably imposes cognitive categories that force an
   individual into a particular symbolic order in thinking, communicating, and the ordering of his experience. Arabic’s highly charged sacred character increases its coercive power, making it a “truth-language.” Arabic is the language of Islam, the language chosen by God to speak to mankind, influences how a person perceives the world and expresses reality. This, in turn, has a profound impact on a society’s outlook.
   Arabic and Islam are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Arabization and Islamization are inseparable parts of a single cultural ideal that
   now pervades the Arab world. In their drive toward authentification, and uniformization of Islam, the transmitters (Saudi Arabia and other
   Arabic countries) and the recipients (non-Arab Islamic societies) are equally emphasizing ‘Arabization’ as the norm of pure and ideal formof Islam to be followed by Muslims all over the world.

   In the Indian subcontinent, a thousand years of Muslim presence obviously brought a fusion between it and an ancient deep-rooted civilization with its in-built strength and resilience. Like in other societies, Islam in India had to adapt to local beliefs, customs and cultures. The end result was a flowering of a composite culture to which Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims both contributed.
   Popular religion, in many places, consisted of myriad cults of diverse origins, incorporating Sufi, ‘Muslim’ and ‘Hindu’ elements. With the advent of Wahhabi movement and the opening up of Deobandi schools, the syncretic Islam in Indian subcontinent came under pressure from the proponents of orthodox Arab form of Islam. As a consequence all customs that were ‘un-Islamic’ were seen as aberration and therefore to be shunned by all means, and the individual believer must consciously strive to mould himself consciously on the model of the Prophet, presented in a form that was inextricably related to 7th century Arab culture.
   During the 1970s, Wahhabi clerics encouraged the spread of their ideology into Saudi universities and mosques, because it was seen as a barrier to the threat of cultural Westernization and spread of corruption that accompanied the 1970s oil boom.
   Consequently, the Saaudi royal family and their religious establishment looked for a cause with which to deflect the growing zealotry from Wahhabist theofascism, a danger highlighted by the seizure of the Grand Mosque at Mecca by heavily armed Islamic Studies students in 1979. The diversion that the royal family seized upon was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Wahhabism gained considerable influence in the Muslim world following a tripling in the price of oil in the mid-1970s. Having the world’s largest reserves of oil but a relatively small population, Saudi Arabia was in a position to spend tens of billions of dollars throughout the Muslim world promoting Islam, and in particular Wahhabism, which was sometimes referred to as “petro-Islam”. Its largess funded an estimated “90% of the expenses of the entire faith,” throughout the Muslim world. It extended to young and old, from children’s madrassas to high level scholarship.
   “Books, scholarships, fellowships, mosques” were paid for. It rewarded journalists and academics who followed it; built satellite campuses around Egypt for Al Azhar, the oldest and very influential Islamic university. The financial power of Wahhabist advocates has done much to
   overwhelm less strict local interpretations of Islam, and has caused the Saudi interpretation to be perceived as the “gold standard” of religion in many Muslims’ minds.
   Saudis had spent some $90 billion, according to one estimate, to export Wahhabism globally. Much of this Saudi funding went towards the
   establishment of Wahhabi-dominated religious schools, colleges, and other social and cultural infrastructure, while in non-Muslim countries alone, the Saudis financed the construction of some 2,000 schools, 1,500 mosques, and 210 Islamic centers between 1982 and 2002.
   Saudi financial power also means that it can control key Muslim publishing houses, promoting Wahhabi texts and ensuring the suppression of Sufi, Shi’a, and other Muslim works now deemed non-Islamic. It also supports the training of imams and endowments to universities (in
   exchange for influence over the appointment of Islamic scholars). The lack of a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy within Sunni Islam renders traditional religious institutions weak in the face of well-funded Wahhabi missionary activities. In Batticaloa, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Thailand, Wahhabis have co-opted (or replaced) village and neighborhood imams, and there is a fresh stream of converts returning from stays as guest workers in Saudi Arabia. The children of poor converts are often taken to Saudi Arabia for “education” and many are returned as cannon fodder for use by Wahhabi terrorist fronts. In India, efforts are underway to capture a portion
   of huge Muslim minority. In Southern part of India, even a few years ago, one could not distinguish between a Hindu and a Muslim from
   either his dress or language. Once the Muslims from Southern India started going to the Gulf countries for jobs, many of them returned getting acculturated to the Arabic language, dress and customs, resulting in visual divide between the two communities. In India in recent years, a growing number of madrassas graduates have been enrolling in higher institutions of Islamic learning in the Arab world.
   This is particularly the case of graduates of educational institutions associated with the Jama’at-i Islami, the Deobandis and the Ahl-i Hadith, all three of which are fiercely opposed to a range of popular customary practices and preach forms of ‘Wahhabi’ Islam. Once they return to India, graduates of madrassas and Islamic universities in the Gulf States often go on to teach in madrassas or set up Islamic institutions of their own on a form of Islam that they have imbibed during their years of study in the Arab world. Such institutions publish literature, in Urdu, English, Hindi and regional languages, opposing many aspects of poplar Indian Muslim culture, reiterating the notion that key aspects of medieval Arab culture are integral to their way of imagining Islam. The spate of bombings in Benaras, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and
   the suspected role of SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) demonstrates clearly how Islam has undergone transformation in India and the extent of indigenization of terror networks

3. Lorenzo Says:
   August 19th, 2013 at 4:32 pm

   Well said NT.

   “The spate of bombings in Benaras, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and the suspected role of SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) demonstrates clearly how Islam has undergone transformation in India and the extent of indigenization of terror networks.”

   AHA! How we are talking. This is going to be the NEXT BIG THING.

   And where is their LATEST hiding places? SOUTH ENDIA!

   Student Islamic Movement of India has raised an Islamic army in Kerala.
   Islamic groups attached to Student Islamic Movement of India have killed 25 Hindu leaders (MOSTLY BJP) in Tamil Madu in the last 4 years.
   Asad Sally of SL has joined the Student Islamic Movement of India in TN. He plans to IMPORT this to SL.

   Are we not having fun.

   But we must support the break up of Endia and violence against Endia. Our enemy’s enemy is our friend. The battle between Endia and Saudi on Endian soil will be a SMASH HIT.

4. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   August 20th, 2013 at 5:16 am

   The vast majority of the Muslims in Sri Lanka had been using the Tamil and Sinhala as their home language. The basis of language will inevitably result in embracing the culture of the language they speak. Now Arabic becomes popular in Sri Lanka and several Muslims speak Arabic at home.

   34 years ago, on November 24, 1979, a whole day conferences of Muslims from different parts of Sri Lanka convened under the auspices of the Organization for the Promotion of Arabic language in Sri Lanka by the following, namely:

   Justice M.M. Abdul Cader, Judge, Court of Appeal, AI-Haj Abdul W.M. Ameer, President, International Islamic Institute, Moulavi M.I. Abdus Samad, All Ceylon Jammiathul Ulema, Moulavi M.A. Abdul Hassan, Director, Arabic Study Circle, AI-Haj M.A.M. Abdul Hassan, President Kal-Eliya Ladies Arabic College Dr. Badiudin Mahmud,(SLFP) former Minister of Education, Mr. H.A.K. Haji Omar, Company Director, Mr. M.A.M. Hussain, Retired District Judge, Dr. M.H. Macans Markar, Joint Secretary, Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home, Moulavi A.A.M. Masood, Member, Naleemia Institute of Islamic Studies Society M.H. Mohamed, (UNP) Minister of Transport, S.M. Musthapha, Attorney-at-Law, Kandy, M.H.M. Naina Marikar, (UNP)Acting Minister of Finance and Planning, Al-Haj M.I.M. Naleem, President, Naleemia Institute of Islamic Studies Society Sir Razik Fareed, Life President, All Ceylon Moors’ Association, AI-Haj P.A. Saldhak, Company Director, AI-Haj D.D. Saldin, Project Manager, Islamic Secretariat, Moulavi M.H. Shahul Hameed, Khalieefa-thus Shathuly, Sheikh Esmail, Resident Iman, Dawoody Borah Mosque, Dr. M.A.M. Shukri, Head of Dept. of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Sri Lanka, Kelaniya, Al-Haj P.M.M. Yoosuf, President, Ceylon Jamaath-E- Islam

   At this conference the following resolution moved by Mr. A.M. Ameen, Director General of the Islamic Secretariat was unanimously adopted:

   “Whereas the Arabic Language is sacred to the Muslims being the language of the Holy Qur’an,

   And whereas the Arabic is a force uniting the Muslims all over the World.

   And whereas Arabic language has assumed in the modern World a status of very great importance,

   And whereas a better understanding, will foster cordial relations and establish a closer link with our country and the peoples of the extensive Arab speaking lands in the World,

   This Conference representative of Muslims from all parts of Sri Lanka resolves to take all steps necessary for the promotion of the study and use of Arabic language in Sri Lanka and respectfully seeks the assistance and co-operation of the Government of the Republic of Sri Lanka and of all the Governments of the Muslim World and especially of the Governments of the Arab countries to implement the objects of this Conference.”

5. Lorenzo Says:
   August 20th, 2013 at 5:56 am

   Divide and rule!

   IF Arabic REPLACES Tamil among Tamil speaking Muslims in Eastern SL, that is fantastic.

   DIVIDE the minorities into SMALLER groups. Then it is easy to handle them.

   BOTH Tamil and Arabic are equally ALIEN languages to SL.

6. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   August 20th, 2013 at 10:20 am

   People who are still in denial of the arabization of Sri Lanka over the last 30 years particularly should take note of the fact that 90% of the madrassahs in Sri Lanka are funded by Saudi and UAE. These are the places where our young minds are brainwashed with hate filled warped Wahhabi ideology and by the time they are 15, they actually believe that blowing themselves along with innocent civilians including women and children to pieces will give them heaven and the 72 virgins!

   Wake up and smell the flesh Sri Lankans.

   And to those who speak of the wonderful life in Saudi Arabia for Muslims and their wonderful equity system where women cannot vote or drive, I would ask you to go to talk to the laborers who work there and are abused daily by their Arab masters!

7. Mr. Bernard Wijeyasingha Says:
   August 20th, 2013 at 2:23 pm

   this phenomena is being felt in non Muslim nations across the world except in Japan. To quote the article:”There is a problem related to Muslim population growth as big as the elephant in the room. As can be seen from Peter Hammond’s compelling theory, the problem is Muslim population growth rate. This is what must be fixed as a matter of priority.

   Violence must not be used as a means of resolving matters. Peaceful means must be exhausted in finding an amicable solution which includes birth control of Muslims whose population growth rate has been astronomical by any standard, education including reproductive health education, restriction of Saudi Arabic funded religious activities, stopping the proliferation of mosques and prayer houses and the implementation of one law for all.”

   I fully support all suggestion in that quote. In addition conversions should be banned and regulations can be passed that are “pro Buddhist” in a similar manner that it is being passed in Europe where regulations that are “pro European” are being passed. In an earlier article it was reported that Muslims build structures claiming them to be ware houses to Boutiques etc. Here Colombo can exercise regulations regarding the purpose of these buildings. Other suggestions is to build structures offensive to building a mosque such a pig farm during the time Muslims claim what they are building is not a Mosque. The greatest weapon is if Buddhism becomes a state faith which then could pass the necessary regulations to prevent the Muslims from many of their customs and force them to adhere to the Buddhist principals of Sri Lanka. Another is to take examples of the regulations that Japan has effectively put in place preventing the growth of Islam in that nation and they are:

   Did you know this about Japan..

   Have you ever read in the newspaper that a political leader or a Prime Minister from an Islam Nation has visited Japan?
   Have you ever come across news that the King of Iran or a Saudi Arabia prince has visited Japan?
   ‘Japan, a Country keeping Islam at bay. Japan has put strict restrictions on Islam and all Muslims.
   The reasons are:
   a) ‘Japan is the only Nation that does not give Citizenship to Muslims.
   b) In Japan permanent residency is not given to Muslims.
   c) There is a strong ban on the propagation of Islam in Japan .
   d) In the University of Japan, Arabic or any Islamic language is not taught.
   e) One cannot import the Koran published in Arabic language.
   f) According to data published by Japanese government, it has given temporary residency to only 2 lakhs
   Muslims, who need to follow the Japanese Law of the Land. These Muslims should speak Japanese
   and carry their religious rituals in their homes.
   g) Japan is the only Country in the World that has a negligible number of embassies of Islamic Countries.
   h) Japanese people are not attracted to Islam at all.
   i) Muslims residing in Japan are the employees of foreign companies.
   j) Even today visas are not granted to Muslim doctors, engineers or managers sent by foreign companies.
   k) In the majority of companies, it is stated in their regulations that no Muslims should apply for a job.
   l) The Japanese government is of the opinion that Muslims are fundamentalist and even in the era of globalization, they are not willing to change their Muslim laws.
   m) Muslims cannot even think about getting a rented house in Japan .
   n) If anyone comes to know that his neighbor is a Muslim then the whole neighborhood stays alert.
   o) No one can start an Islamic cell or Arabic Madrasa in Japan
   p) There is no personal (Sharia) law in Japan .
   q) If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim then she is considered an outcast forever.
   r) According to Mr. Komico Yagi (Head of Department, Tokyo University ) There is a mind frame in Japan
   that Islam is a very narrow minded religion and one should stay away from it.
   s) Freelance journalist Mohammed Juber toured many Islamic Countries after 9/11 including Japan . He found
   that the Japanese were confident that extremists could do harm
   Google “Japan a country keeping Islam at bay” and go to the site titled “Japan is the only country keeping Islam at bay – religion”

8. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   September 12th, 2013 at 11:10 am

   Dogmatic Islam is morally deficient. Islam elevates to moral status many ancient and ill-informed rules that may have been designed for reasons of hygiene, politics, or other reasons in a bygone era

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