We’re back with another piece on the history of Muslims around the world!

Every week, team Amaliah bring you a little research we’ve compiled on the history of mainly minority communities, in some of the most obscure to the most known places in the world. This week, we’ve brought you a little scoop on Muslims in Cambodia.

A brief History

Islam first arrived in the country through the Cham people a community of Austronesian origin who fled to Cambodia during the 13th century from war in the Kingdom of Cham. A muslim, and majority Shia community, the Chams lived peacefully in Modern day Cambodia until they were conquered by the Vietnamese who eventually granted the Muslim community refuge.

It’s from this minority community that formed the foundations of Early Islam in this part of the world, and by the mid 1900’s, there were over 100 mosques belonging to the Cham people, as they were allowed to organise themselves and create a religious system separate from the rest of society, occupying Muslim only villages and public events.

The war on Islam

The massacre that took place at the hands of Khmer Rouge during the mid 1970s left Cambodian Muslims well and truly in the firing line. According to reports, between 100,000 to 500,000 Muslims were killed in the horrific onslaught, significantly reducing a population that had previously made up at least 15% of the Cambodian population. A Cham resistance took place ensuing in the mass killing of the Cham people.

Today, talks have resumed at the UN over whether we can called what happened during the Khmer Rouge rule a genocide or not in their attempt to cull religion during their communist rule.

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 Today

The psychological effects of the trauma have had lasting effects on a society that’s been described as not having prospered in the political or civil realms.

As a result of the war, and the end of the war, the Cham population were forced to assimilate with the Khmer population and have since intermarried with Khmers, Vietnamese and Chinese, but were still forced to adopt cultural practices of the Khmer, like keeping the hair short amongst women.

Today, the Cham people experience relative peace, but with the debate of their genocide still in the courtrooms of the UN, it’s likely that the trauma will ever be forgotten.