Muslims In Cambodia

Cambodia is one of countries in the mainland Southeast Asian region. It locally stands in the two states together from Vietnam and Laos, commonly known as Indochina. Cambodia has shared and surrounded by elongated neighboring nations with Thailand to the West and North, Laos to the Northwest, and to the East and the Southeast of Vietnam, with the Gulf of Thailand to the Southwest. With the land area of 181,040 square kilometers. The population is about of 14 million people. The populations of an estimated 90% of Cambodia are of ethnic Khmer origin and comprising descendants of Cham Muslims.
Cambodia has practiced Buddhism as religion but there are also numbers of Islam and Christian. The official language is Khmer, while other languages of Muslim Cham and Chinese are widely always spoken among their respective of those groups.

Islam is the religion of Muslims called the Cham (also referred to Khmer Islam). The Cham Muslims are better known as the Champa people, who came from the kingdom of Champa (today in Vietnam)
The population of Muslims in Cambodia today is about 800,000 habitants, which almost 95% percents are Cham Muslims as the largest religious minority ; form up 5 percent. All of Muslims are Sunnis of the Shafii School. The Cham Muslims are considered Malays and the language they speak is understood by the Malays. Malaysia has some Cham immigrants and the link between the Chams and the Malaysian state of Kelantan is an old one.
The early starting as the 11th and 12th centuries, it was believed that Arabian and Indian Muslim traders brought Islam to Southeast Asia via business contacts. The new religion was later mixed with domestic beliefs and customs when Islam began to infiltrate the civilization9 around the world. The story of the Cham Muslim people in Cambodia descend from refugees of the kingdom of Champa, in what is today central ruled by Vietnam. In 1471 Kingdom of Champa was collapsed and many Cham Muslims fled to Cambodia. Some groups fled northwards to the Chinese island of Hainan where they are known today as the Utsuls and others moved to Aceh. The empire began to decline in the late15th century, became a Vietnamese vassal state in 1697 and was finally dissolved in1832.
Today, Muslims who are living along different areas in Cambodia such as the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers and in Batdambang, Pouthisat, Takev, Kampot, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thum, and Kampong Chhnang provinces. At some time before the seventeenth century, the Cham Muslims and some of those in adjacent Vietnam converted to Islam, probably as a result of contacts with their Malay kin who had embraced that religion century earlier.

Muslims under Khmer Rouge’s communist regime:( 1975-79)
During the Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge time, Cambodian was plunged into crisis and many million people were ordered to evacuate from all cities and transferred to different rural areas. In addition, over two million people were pushed into country side to ward uncertain fate, and million people died in short period of time from malnutrition, overwork, incompletely treated disease and as well execution. This regime , Cambodia was built as socialism without model.
Under this regime of 1975 to 1979, The Muslims were suffered worst of all particularly brutal repression, and large numbers were killed. They were forbidden to both practicing Islam and follow their tradition. They were suppressed and push to over work everyday without giving some food. But they were forced to eat non halal food such as pork, dead flesh, which contradict to religion that they cannot do, and they were killed if Muslims refused.

The population of Muslims reported during the 1960s is about 800,000 and that half of Muslim people were killed in 1975. In 1962 there were about 135 mosques in the country. According to sources, 132 mosques were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era, many others were desecrated, and Muslims were not allowed to worship during that time. Most the educated people, the elite, professionals and government workers were executed. Especially, all schools were their target not as educational center for children as well as school and institution facilities were completely demolished.