Islam in Sri Lanka is practised by a group of minorities who make up approximately 8% of the population[1][2]. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The Muslim community is divided into three main ethnic groups: the Sri Lankan Moors, the Indian Moors, and the Malays, each with its own history and traditions. The attitude among the majority of non-Muslims in Sri Lanka is to use the term '"Muslim" as an ethnic group, specifically when referring to Sri Lankan Moors.
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History of Islam in Sri Lanka
With the arrival of Arab traders in the 8th century, Islam began to flourish in Sri Lanka. List of Sri Lankan flags The Flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag, consists of gold lion passant holding a sword in its right fore paw in front The first people to profess the Islamic faith were Arab merchants and their native wives, whom they married after converting to Islam. By the 15th century, Arab traders had controlled much of the trade on the Indian Ocean, including that of Sri Lanka's. Many of them settled down on the island, encouraging the spread of Islam. However, when the Portuguese arrived during the 16th century, many of their Muslim descendants (Sri Lankan Moors) were persecuted, thus forcing them to migrate to the Central Highlands and to the east coast of the country.
During 18th and 19th centuries, Javanese and Malaysian Muslims bought over by the Dutch and British rulers contributed to the growing Muslim population in Sri Lanka. The Javanese are an Ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Java. Their descendants, now the Sri Lankan Malays, adapted several Sri Lankan Moor Islamic traditions while also contributing their unique cultural Islamic practices to other Muslim groups on the Island. The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50000 persons The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's
The arrival of Muslims from India during the 19th and 20th centuries has also contributed to the growth of Islam in Sri Lanka. Most notably, Pakistani and Indian Muslims have introduced Shia Islam and the Hanafi school of thought into Sri Lanka, however although most Muslims on the island still adhere to the traditional practices of Sunni Islam. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Hanafi ( Arabic حنفي school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ( Madhhabs Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic
In modern times, Muslims in Sri Lanka are handled by the Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs Department, which was established in the 1980s to prevent the continual isolation of the Muslim community from the rest of Sri Lanka. Today, about 8% of Sri Lankans adhere to Islam; mostly from the Arab-descendant Moor and Malay ethnic communities on the island. The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50000 persons
Sri Lankan Moors
The Sri Lankan Moors make up almost 95% of the Muslim population and 7. The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's 2% of the total population of the country (16,405,535 people in 2005). Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims of Shafi School. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Arabic language brought by the early merchants is no longer spoken, though various Arabic words and phrases are still employed in daily usage. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Until the recent past, the Moors employed Arwi as their mother tongue, though this is also extinct as a spoken language. Arwi (لسان الأروي Lisān-ul-Arwī; அரபு-தமிழ் Arabu-Tamil; Arabic-Tamil is an Arabic and Tamil influenced Currently, the Moors of Sri Lanka use Tamil as their primary language which includes many loan words from Arabic. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Moors are also fluent in Sinhala, an Indo-European language spoken by the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese The Sinhalese are the main ethnic group of Sri Lanka. They speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and number approximately 15 million people with the Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Thus, the Moors are a multilingual ethnic and religious group, lacking linguistic cohesion.
The Sri Lankan Moors lived primarily in coastal trading and agricultural communities, preserving their Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs. During the period of Portuguese colonisation, the Moors suffered from persecution, and many moved to the Central Highlands, where their descendants remain. Portuguese Ceylon (Ceilão refers to a former Portuguese territory in Sri Lanka ( Ceylon) representing a period in Sri Lankan history from
East coast Moors
On the east coast, Sri Lankan Moors are primarily farmers, fishermen, and traders. Their family lines are traced through women, as in kinship systems of the southwest Indian state of Kerala, but they govern themselves through Islamic law. Kerala ( Malayalam: {{Kerala in Malayalam}}; Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. [3]
The Malays
The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50,000 persons. The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50000 persons A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger Galle (ගාල්ල in Sinhala; காலி in Tamil) (pronounced as one syllable in English gɔːl the same as "Gaul" and in Sinhalese Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The concept of a Malay race ( Bangsa Melayu) was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840 Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Their ancestors came to the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were colonies of the Dutch. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Most of the early Malay immigrants were soldiers, posted by the Dutch colonial administration to Sri Lanka, who decided to settle on the island. Other immigrants were convicts or members of noble houses from Indonesia who were exiled to Sri Lanka and who never left. The main source of a continuing Malay identity is their common Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which includes numerous words absorbed from Sinhalese and the Moorish variant of the Tamil language. The Sri Lankan Creole Malay language is a unique mixture of the Sinhalese language and the Tamil language with Malay. Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's In the 1980s, the Malays made up about 5 % of the Muslim population in Sri Lanka and, like the Moors, predominantly follow the Shafi school of thought within Sunni Islam. The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic
Indian Moors (Memons, Bhoras, Khojas)
The Indian Moors are Muslims who trace their origins to immigrants searching for business opportunities during the colonial period. Some of these people came to the country as far back as Portuguese times; others arrived during the British period from various parts of India. Majority of them came from Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, and unlike the Sri Lankan Moors, are ethnically related to South Indians. Tamil Nadu ( Tamil:, Country of the Tamils, t̪ɐmɨɻ n̪aːɽɯ is one of the 28 states of India. Kerala ( Malayalam: {{Kerala in Malayalam}}; The Memon, originally from Sindh (in modern Pakistan), first arrived in 1870; in the 1980s they numbered only about 3,000, they mostly follow the Hanafi Sunni school of Islam. Memon (મેમણ میمن मेमन an Ethnic group originating from Pakistan and India trace their roots largely to Sindh,a province Sindh ( Sindhī: سنڌ Urdu: سندھ is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The Hanafi ( Arabic حنفي school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ( Madhhabs Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic
The Dawoodi Bohras and the Khoja are Shi'a Muslims came from northwestern India (Gujarat state) after 1880; in the 1980s they collectively numbered fewer than 2,000. Dawoodi Bohras ( Arabic: داؤدی بوہرہ Hindi: दवूदि बोह्रा are the main branch of the Bohras, a Musta‘lī subsect Ismaili Khojas About six hundred years ago the Persian -born Pir Sadruddin arrived in Sindh. Gujarat (ગુજરાત Gujǎrāt, pronounced) is a state in western India. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year These groups tended to retain their own places of worship and the languages of their ancestral homelands.
Notes
- ^ Background Note: Sri Lanka - US department of State)
- ^ Sri Lanka -International Religious Freedom Report 2006
- ^ Kmaraikayar. Retrieved on 2007-07-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival
References
- This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA) freely available for use by researchers The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- Victor C. de Munck. Experiencing History Small: An analysis of political, economic and social change in a Sri Lankan village. History & Mathematics: Historical Dynamics and Development of Complex Societies. Edited by Peter Turchin, Leonid Grinin, Andrey Korotayev, and Victor C. Peter Turchin is a specialist in Population dynamics and Mathematical modeling of historical dynamics ("cliodynamics" Leonid Grinin (born in 1958 is a philosopher of History and sociologist Andrey Korotayev (born in 1961 is an anthropologist, economic Historian, and sociologist. de Munck, pp. 154-169. Moscow: KomKniga, 2006. ISBN 5484010020
- Pieris, Kamalika. The Muslims and Sri Lanka. [1]. Mission Islam, 2006.
External links
- Spiritual Voice of Sri Lanka Muslims
- Political voice of Sri Lanka Muslims
- Community portal of Sri Lanka Muslims
- Sri Lankan Muslim Community Website
- Sri Lankan Muslims Online News Website
- Sri Lankan Islamic Website
- History Of Muslims In Sri Lanka
- The Story Of Sri Lanka's Malays
- Sri Lankan Malays and their coexistence
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