Islamic Reformation in Thailand by the Al-Islah Association Intellectuals, 1933-1957

Abstract

This article aims to study the Islamic reformation among Muslim intellectuals of Siam which was the movement whose beginnings coincided with the Siamese revolution of 1933 and lasted until 1957. The Islamic reformation during this period led to transfiguration of the Thai Muslim sense of identity. The study of how the Muslim intellectuals created the Islamic reformation during this period is an important piece in understanding the history, wisdoms and ideas of Thai Muslim society by giving a clear explanation of how religious thoughts—which include the Islamic school of thought, Islamic revival, the returning to adherence to the Quran, and the inner conflict of Islamic ideas—shaped the new figure of Thai Muslim society from 1933–1957 and how the political and social context of Siam was involved in shaping the figure of the Islamic reformation in Siam. Moreover, the arrival of the Islamic reform movement in Siamese society coincided with the context of great political changes which occurred in 1933. Under a more open political climate, religious identity was selected to replace the existing ethnic identity, becoming the key factor driving the importation of a new type of Islam that differed from the original perception of Islam among the Muslim population in Siam. This shift in religious identity later became a negotiating tool in relations between Muslims and the state power structure.