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THE ORIGIN OF ISLAMIC RELIGION IN MYANMAR
By DR. MAR LAR THAN. LL.B, LL.M, PHD (LAW). ADVOCATE. International Islamic University Malaysia.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, officially The Republic of The Union of Myanmar is one of the Southeast Asia countries. Myanmar is the 40th largest country in the world1 as well as the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 53.9 million people. Myanmar is the pluralist country; there are many ethnic groups belonging to different religions: Muslims, Hindus and Christians, living together and its majority race is Myanmar (formerly known as Burmese) who are majorly Buddhists. According to the Myanmar official statistics, the main religions of the country are Buddhist 89.2%; Christianity 5%, Islam 3.8%; Hinduism 0.5%; Spiritualism 1.2% and others 0.2%. However the World Factbook of CIA shows Buddhist 89%, Christian 4%, Muslim 4%, animist 1% and other 2% of the population.
The first and classic written history of Myanmar, which is called Maha Rajaweng, has shown that Muslims first arrived in Myanmar around AD 1050. It is believed that the first Muslims were brought as captives of war by some of the early Myanmar kings. Then they were allowed to settle down in the kingdom, and were allowed to serve in the royal army in the kingdom because they were intelligent and strong.6 They later got married to Myanmar women and their population gradually increased. When their population increased, the king let them be governed by their own laws and appoint their own judges from within their communities.
The second category of Muslims in Myanmar is the Indian Muslims who migrated into Myanmar as a result of colonisation and annexation. When Myanmar was colonized by the British, it was governed by British India and many Indians migrated into Myanmar and settled in several places. Many of these Indians were Muslims and as a result, the Muslim population tremendously increased. Therefore, Islam and Muslims have a long history in Myanmar although there is no clear evidence of the application of Islamic personal law until the third Myanmar Empire. Nevertheless, Islamic personal law is believed to have been applied in Muslim communities for a long time. Then it has been apparently developed in British colonial rule.
The early occupiers of what is present-day Myanmar were described by the Europeans as the Birman or Barman or Burmese people. They lived mainly in the hinterland and along the river course of Irrawaddy. Before the civilisation era, they had no religion but they worshiped invisible beings called Nat and they strongly believe that invisible Nat ruled their daily lives.12 Gradually, they had interactions with and were influenced by the Aryan immigrants and Kshatriyas from Northern India who introduced Buddhism.
Meanwhile, as the history of how Buddhism was introduced into Myanmar is clear to a large extent, the history of introduction of Islam and the advent of Muslims in Myanmar fluctuates. According to a part of Myanmar history, the first sign of the entrance of Muslims in Myanmar was during the reign of king Bhinnaka, a descendant of king Kan Raja Nge, one of the two sons of king Abhi Raja, who was reported to come from northern India to settle in Irrawaddy and established the Tagaung dynasty and is reputed as the first king in Myanmar. Kan Raja Nge succeeded Abhi Raja on the demise of the latter and he was succeeded by several other kings until the reign of Bhinnaka when the Tagaung dynasty was destroyed by invasions of the people known as Taruk and Taret, who were believed to be Chinese and Manchu from the east. According to historical evidence left by these invasions, the invaders were considered to be Muslim although there is no hint that they introduced Islam or imposed Islamic personal law on the Myanmar people.
However these facts are handed down as oral history, there was not yet any record in written history of Myanmar verifying their veracity. Yet, another part of the story relates that one Sayed Mohammad al-Hanafea who was believed to be one of the descendants of Caliph Ali was the first Muslim to arrive in Myanmar around A.D 680.18 Mohammad was believed to have attacked Queen Kaya Pari in Maungdaw and after defeating her in battle, converted her and followers to Islam before marrying her. However, the arrival of Sayed Mohammad al- Hanafea to Myanmar is not contained in any written document, though his tombs and his wife’s tombs still exist on the peaks of Mayu hills near Maungdaw region, western part of Myanmar. Except for his tomb, there was no specific record of Islamic religions and Muslims in this period.
Firstly, in 1404, king Narameikhla who ruled the Arakan or Rakhine region was forced to flee to Gaur, the capital of Bengal Sultanate which had been ruled by a Muslim since 1203 AD because the king of the first Myanmar Empire invaded it. Narameikhla was welcomed by Bengal Sultan Ahmed Shah and he served as an officer in the king’s army when he reached Bengal. Long after, in 1430, Narameikhla requested Nadir Shah who succeeded to the place of Sultan Ahmed Shah, to help to regain his throne in Rakhine and Nadir Shah granted an army under the command of a general Veli Khan to try to re-conquer.
