History

Pre Europeans arrival

Islam was introduced in the Indonesian archipelago by means of sea trading. It first grew up in coastal cities throughout Malacca Strait, which is the gateway to the archipelago from the Middle East. It is uncertain of who brought Islam at the first place. Based on historical monuments, travel logs and old inscriptions, traders from Gujarat, India are the most likely to have introduced Islam in Indonesia.

The oldest historical account of the presence of Islam in the area is found in Leran, near Surabaya, the capital of East Java province. It is an epitaph of a non-native Muslim woman, estimated date between AD 1082–1102. A tombstone in Aceh written in Arabic language tells about Sultan Malik al Saleh who died in AD 1297. Al Saleh was a sultan of Samudera Pasai who was converted to Islam. Samudera Pasai is the first Muslim state in the archipelago, though it was only a small kingdom in a coastal area. Pasai name was derived from Parsi to indicate of Parsi-Indian immigrants from Gujarat who settled in the northern coast of Sumatra.

Due to its regional position in a sea trading route between China and Europe, Samudera Pasai was visited several times by notable explorers. Marco Polo in his itinerary mentioned about the presence of "Mooros" (notorious name of Muslim by Europeans in the medieval time) in Ferlec (Peureulak). Ibn Battutah, a Moroccan traveller, visited the kingdom in AD 1345–1346. In his travel log, Ibn Battutah wrote that the ruler of Samudera Pasai was a Mohammedan, who performs his religious duties in his utmost zeal. The madh'hab he used was Imam Shafi'i with the similar customs he had seen in India.

In the period between 1405–1433, the archipelago was visited by a Chinese emissary, Ma Huan, who was a Muslim. He was one of the envoys from the Chinese Emperor Yongle. In his report, he mentioned that the main states of the northern part of Sumatra were already Islamic. In 1414, he visited the King of Malacca, who was Muslim and also his people, and they were very strict believers. He also visited Java island and mentioned of "foreign Muslim colonies" in the East Java harbors. The native population, however, was still Hindus. He saw many Chinese immigrants; among them were Muslims.

The spreading of Islam throughout the archipelago had the same pattern. In Malacca, Javanese colony was founded in 1300. Newcomers from Java became Muslim. Upon their return to Java, they formed Muslim cells that spread to their families and relatives. When their ruler embraced Islam, the new Islamic state was born. Then Java traders came to the Molucca Islands. By the same pattern, a new sultanate in Ternate was formed in 1464.

In the late fifteenth century, the powerful Majapahit Empire in Java was at its decline. After had been defeated in several battles, the last Hindu kingdom in Java fell under the rising power of Islamized state Sultanate of Demak in 1520. Islam in Java then began to spread formally, largely influenced by the Wali Songo (or the Nine Saints).

European colonization

Post Independence