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Hadhrami Identity Maintenance or Assimilation in
a Conference
Migrating Worlds: Yemeni Hadhramis in Southeast
Asia
By Zahra Aljunaid and Irena Knehtl
Yemen Observer Newspaper Jan 28, 2006 - Vol. IX Issue 03
KUALA LUMPUR - The idea of having a specialized
conference on Yemeni Hadhramis was a result of a joint meeting held in Mukalla,
Yemen during 2004, between the Dean of the Kulliyyah of Islamic Reavealed
Knowledge and Human Sciences (IIUM), and the management of the Hadhramaut
University for Science and Technology. Its aim was to offer an opportunity to
participating scholars for a multi-disciplinary forum to explore the various
aspects of the Yemeni-Hadhrami migration into South East Asia (SEA) and to
contribute to the understanding of the patterns of interaction among different
culture, values and beliefs in that region.
The conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2005, highlighted
patterns of the Yemeni-Hadhrami integration into Southeast Asian (SEA)
countries. It examined the contribution of the Yemeni-Hadhrami scholars to the
Shafi’i school and Sufi practices in SEA. The conference was organized jointly
by the Department of History and Civilization, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed
Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
and the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, Malaysia. The conference was
officially opened by YB Datuk Seri Syed Hamid AlBar, Malaysia’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs with Dr. A. Nasser AlMunibari, Ambassador of the Republic of
Yemen to Malaysia as the guest of honor. Some 30 papers were presented by
scholars of international repute from 13 different countries.
The Hadhrami Diaspora in SEA, as compared to other groups, who also participated
in the Indian Ocean trade, has the longest continued presence in the SEA region.
Under discussion were the historical circumstances favoring and disfavoring
migrants of Arab origin, who were primarily engaged in trade and religious
teaching, such as colonial policies and global economic developments. At its
peak, the Yemeni Hadhramis held an important share among the traders from India,
China and Siam (present day Thailand), meeting up at this great bazaar bringing
in tea, cotton, silk, silver, porcelain, ivory, Persian carpets, brassware,
perfumes, pearls, incense in an area of bewildering variety of ethnic and
linguistic groups.
Their story needs to be documented, researched, explored, celebrated and told in
full. Their story remains an extraordinary success. For example, in Singapore
alone, towards the end of the 20th century, four periodicals were published
under Hadhrami auspices, “Al-Imam” in Malay, identified with Malay culture and
society, “Al-Husam”, bilingual in Arabic and Malay, and “Al-Islah” and “Al-Watan”,
which appeared first in Arabic and covered Hadhrami affairs.
The past now seems like a long archipelago on
the horizon. This era of intense maritime activity saw the establishment of
Muslim communities as far as India, countries of SEA and China. Muslim merchants
and ship owners held a virtual monopoly of the maritime transport trade, as well
as for bulk cargoes such as grains, vegetable oils and dried fish. A complex
system of trading networks gradually developed on sea and land. But the
simultaneity of this sudden burst of maritime activity is fascinating. Besides
sailing across the Indian Ocean, there was another sea route from Arabia to
India, the oldest of them all. It was not dependent on the monsoon and could be
sailed without the knowledge of the stars.
In a passage about the sea route to China in his “Kitab alMasalik Wa`l-Mamalik”,
or Book of Roads and Kingdoms, Ibn Khurradadhbih gives an estimate of the Indian
Ocean and also says that “WaqWaq” lies exactly halfway around the world of
Qulzum. With its name and incredible distance east wards, WaqWaq seems to
belong to legend rather than the commercial geography, but has been long
associated with the Islands of South-east Asia. Arab geographers had long known
about “Bilad Manbit al-Atar”, the country where the spices grow. The Malay
speaking peoples of Malay and the Indonesian archipelago would became
intermediaries between Islam and China, as soon all the key ports became Muslim
-predominantly, Yemeni Hadhrami.
East of the Strait of Malacca the seas were dominated by Chinese shipping.
Malacca used to be also the gateway to the Bay of Bengal, the Spice Islands (the
Moluccas) and China. While Aden was the gateway to Egypt, North Africa and the
Mediterranean, and Hormuz controlled access to the Gulf and the overland trade
to Iran, Central Asia, and the Middle Eastern heartlands. This “new” system,
and a loose alliance with the Indian shipping, lasted for nearly five centuries,
until the coming of Portuguese. As markets expanded in both the Muslim world
and in Europe, the SEA countries in particular often enjoyed semi-independent or
even independent status, a major attraction to merchants.
The key figure in this system however is the small Yemeni Hadhrami trader who
often, like Sinbad the sailor, risked his life and capital to set sail upon the
sea, and to go about the islands of South East Asia buying and selling. The
conference further explored developments which took place in Malaya during the
first decade of the 20th century, such as politics and society.
There was also held during the conference a book exhibition and an art gallery,
featuring works of local Yemeni “Hadhrami” artists in Malaysia, Datuk Syed
Ahmad Jamal and Sharifah Fatimah Barakbah. During the conference the
participants also visited the Islamic Arts Museum, of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
The situation today is coming full circle. As Yemen is entering an intensive era
of development and growth, the Yemeni Hadhramis from SEA are once again in the
forefront - this time exploring business and investment opportunities in Yemen
Copyright (c) 2004 - 2005
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