Floating Surau: Adaptation strategy of Islam

The greatest opportunity when I visited Cambodia in 2010, it was a travel with very rich experiences and hospitality of Muslim community there. My personal contact with haji Musa, the owner of Muslim restaurant in Siem Reap, give me different understanding on culture diversity and enrich my perspective how Muslim is survive in Buddhist country and creating harmony with people who live with different believe. My personal touch has resulted an specific information of Muslim adaptation that I got from Muslim community of Siem Reap regarding floating Surau (mosque). The adaptation strategy that Islam as religion does not only have single interpretation and culture that the process of ijtihad has happened that showed by existence of floating surau (mosque). According to the oral history of Haji Musa and several respondents, they said, Muslim community that settled in seam reap or Kampong Champ was coming from Palembang, a part of Indonesia province. The exodus was happen in period of Sriwijaya Kingdom. Comparing to my research experience, in certain Muslim community in Indonesia, this adaptation strategy is the process of Muslim reflection toward their nature and environment. Various motivation became a background of those people, some was endorsed by nature condition and others endorsed by high reflection of human-ecology-religion relation and values. This process is not a simple process mechanical understanding but is more a process of organic understanding to see diversity and to create a harmony. I realized that, currently, Muslim in Indonesia faces difficult situation to understand their history on diversity and harmony, beside the impact of crystallization of shallow understanding on religious life.(rn)

Source of picture: Muslim Community of Siem Reap, Cambodia.          

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