THE HISTORICAL INFLUENCE OF PERSIA ON ISLAM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE NEED FOR MUSLIM UNITY TODAY Imtiyaz Yusuf College of Religious Studies Mahidol University Salaya, NakhornPathom, Thailand
[email protected] Abstract This article will firstly discuss the history of Persian influence in Southeast Asia in relation to Muslim co-existence as well as touch upon the threats to Sunni-Shia unity in Southeast Asia and end with a conclusion. In the section two, this article will discuss the contemporary Sunni-Shia relations of tensions and attempts at reproaching (taqrib) Sunni-Shia reconciliation. Keywords: Historical Influence, Persia, Southeast Asia, Muslim Unity Abstrak Artikel ini akan membahas sejarah pengaruh Persia di Asia Tenggara dalam kaitannya dengan ko- eksistensi Muslim serta sentuhan pada ancaman terhadap kesatuan Sunni-Syiah di Asia Tenggara dan diakhiri dengan kesimpulan. Pada bagian kedua dari artikel ini akan dikupas pasang-surut hubungan kontemporer antara Sunni-Shia serta upaya untuk merekatkan kembali (taqrib) rekonsiliasi Sunni-Shia. Kata Kunci: Pengaruh Sejarah, Persia, Asia Tenggara, Persatuan Muslim Introduction Southeast Asia is to referred in Sanskrit as Suvarnabhumi, as Nanyang in Chinese, as SerambiMekah – verandah of Mecca in Malay, and as Zirbadat – lands below the winds by the Arabs and Persians. Today, there are about 240 million Muslims in Southeast Asia making up about 42% of the total Southeast Asia population and 25 % of the total world Muslim population of 1.6 billion. The majority of them belong to the Sunni sect who follow the Shafii school of Muslim jurisprudence. There also Shia communities in every Southeast Asian county. With the formation of ASEAN community, Muslims will make up 42% and Buddhists 40% respectively of ASEAN region.