Masjids in Burma or Myanmar

A brief Introduction about Islam in Burma

(Facts taken from the article I contributed in Wikipedia the free encyclopedia and my postings or articles in San Oo Aung’s Blog)

History

The first Muslims arrived in Burma’s Ayeyarwady River delta, on the Tanintharyi coast and in Rakhine in the 9th century, prior to the establishment of the first Burmese empire in 1055 AD by King Anawrahta of Bagan. These early Muslim settlements and the propagation of Islam were documented by Arab, Persian, European and Chinese travelers of the 9th century. Burmese Muslims are the descendants of Muslim peoples who settled and intermarried with the local Burmese ethnic groups. Muslims arrived in Burma as traders or settlers, military personnel, and prisoners of war, refugees, and as victims of slavery. However, many early Muslims also held positions of status royal advisers, royal administrators, port authorities, mayors, and traditional medicine men.

Persian Muslims arrived in northern Burma on the border with the Chinese region of Yunnan as recorded in the Chronicles of China in 860 AD. Bermese Muslims were sometimes called Pathi, a name believed to be derived from Persian. Many settlements in the southern region near present day Thailand were noted for the Muslim populations, with Muslims often outnumbered the local Burmese. In one record, Pathein was said to be populated with Pathis, and was ruled by three Indian Muslim Kings in the 13th century. Arab merchants also arrived in Martaban, Margue, and there were Arab settlements in the present Meik archipelago’s mid-western quarters.

During the reign of the Bagan King, Narathihapate (1255-1286), in the first Sino-Burman war, Kublai Khan’s Muslim Tatars invaded the Pagan Kingdom and occupied the area up to Nga Saung Chan. In 1283, Colonel Nasruddin’s Turks occupied the area up to Bamaw (Kaungsin). Turk people (Tarek) were called Mongol, Manchuria, Mahamaden or Panthays.

Muslim sailors and traders

Beginning in the seventh century, Arab travelers came from Madagascar traveling to China through the East Indian Islands, stopping in Thaton and Martaban. Bago seamen, likely to be Muslims, were also recorded by the Arab historians of the 10th century. Following this, Burmese Muslim sailors and soldiers were reported to have traveled to Malacca during the reign of Sultan Parameswara in the fifteenth century. From the fifteenth to seventeenth Centuries, there were several records of Burmese Muslim traders, sailors and settlers on the entire coast of Burma: the Arakan coast, (Rakhine), Ayeyarwady delta and Tanintharyi coast and islands.In the 17th century, Muslims controlled business and became powerful. They were appointed Governors of Mergui, Viceroys of the Province of Tenasserim, Port Authorities, Port Governors and Shah-bandars (senior port officials).

Demographics

Islam, mainly of the Sunni sect, is practiced by 4% of the population of Burma according to the government census. However, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2006 international religious freedom report, the country’s non-Buddhist populations were underestimated in the census. Muslim leaders estimate that as much as 20% of the population may be Muslim.

Various groups of Burmese Muslims

• Muslims are spread across the country in small communities. The Indian-descended Muslims live mainly in Rangoon. See Burmese Indian Muslims.
• The Rohingya are a minority Muslim ethnic group in Northern Rakhine State, Western Burma. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in five northern townships of Rakhine State: Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Akyab, Sandway, Tongo, Shokepro, Rashong Island and Kyauktaw.
• Panthay, Burmese Chinese Muslims.
• Muslims of Malay ancestry in Kawthaung. People of Malay ancestry are locally called Pashu regardless of religion.

Religion and society

Official policy

The stated official policy of the government of Burma is that all all ethnic, religious, and language groups in Burma are equal. The Lordship of the Supreme Court of Rangoon remarked: “Today, in the various parts of Burma, there are people who, because of the origin and the isolated way of life, are totally unlike the Burmese in appearance of speak of events which had occurred outside the limits of their habitation. They are nevertheless statutory citizens under the Union (of Burma) Citizenship Act….. Thus mere race or appearance of a person or whether he has knowledge of any language of the Union is not the test as to whether he is a citizen of the Union”. Additionally, in 2005, the Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a declaration concerning freedom of religion:

All ethnic groups in Myanmar have been throughout the country since time immemorial. They have been living united in peace and harmony since the time of ancient Myanmar kings. Myanmar kings, in return, looked after the members of other religious faiths by kindly giving them religious, social and economic opportunities equal to those awarded to Buddhists. It is well known that, in order to enable his Majesty’s royal servants to fulfill their religious duties, Rakhine frame Mosque, Half-broken Mosque, Panthe Mosque, Mandalay Battery Ward Mosque and Christian Churches were allowed to be built and to perform respective religious duties during successive Myanmar kings. The Parton of the Fifth Buddhist Synod, King Mindone (1854 to 1878), during his rule built Peacock rest house in the Holy City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Muslims from Myanmar who went there on Haj pilgrimage to stay comfortably while they were there for about one and a half months. That act was one of the best testimonies in Myanmar history of how Myanmar kings looked after their Muslim subjects benevolently. Since the time of ancient Myanmar kings until the present day, successive Myanmar governments have given all four major religions an equal treatment. All the followers of each religion have been allowed to profess their respective religious faith and perform their respective duties freely. Myanmar’s culture is based on loving kindness; the followers of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism in Myanmar are also kind-hearted people as Myanmar Buddhists are.

Translation of the official complaint letter to the Senior General Than Shwe by the Five Myanmar Islamic Organizations’ Chiefs Five Myanmar Islamic Organizations’ official complaint letter to the Senior General Than Shwe

Translation_

Leader head:

——————————————————————————————————————–

Union of Myanmar

League of the all Myanmar Islamic Organizations

No 214 Captain Sun Pet Street, Papetan Township, Yangon.

Phone – 388146

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