Islam in Suriname

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BRIEF HISTORY OF ISLAM IN SURINAME

In Suriname, there are a large number of Muslims, and they constitute twenty percent of the total population of 425,000 of the country. That figure was larger before 1975, however migration to the Netherlands caused a decline among the Muslim population. The Muslims of Suriname made history in 1946 when they founded that country’s first political party, the Muslim Party.

Three distinct Muslim communities exist in Suriname today. The Javanese who came from the Indonesian Archipelago and have been living in the country for more than 50 years. Indo-Pakistanis came as indentured labour for more than 100 years ago. There is also a growing Afro-Surinamese community here. (1) In Suriname the South Asians are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi School (Mazhab) of taught, while the Indonesian belong to the Shafi School.

The Africans were the first Muslims in this region. Today with the diligent efforts of scholars and researchers, the role of Muslims as an indigenous people in this part of the world are receiving serious attention. Thanks to the efforts of scholars such as Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick of Toronto,Dr. Sulayman Nyang of Howard University, Adib Rashad of Washington, DC, and Abdullah Bilal Omowale of Trinidad, the history of the African Muslims of the Western Hemisphere is now coming to light. (2). “Until recent years, the presence of Muslims in the Western Hemisphere during the pre- Columbian and antebellum periods was known only to the most disciplined of researchers and historians. Intellectual dishonesty and lethargy and Euro-centric conceptions of history were the primary culprits behind this conspiracy of silence that virtually erased Islam from the pages of Western formative history.” (3)

“The impact of Islam on the lands of the Caribbean may have begun with West African Mandinka seafarers and adventurers landing on the tropical isles well over a century before Columbus"accidentally discovered" the New World islands. According to scholars, the Islamic practices of the "black" Carib Indians and the appearance of Indian women with face veils chronicled in the diaries of Columbus scream loudly that the Moors, so dreaded by the Spanish, had left an indelible mark before the Christianization of the West. (4) The African Muslim presence in the region from the 16th century is well substantiated.As the trans-Atlantic slave trade brought millions of Muslims into the Caribbean, and lands such as Suriname. “The "Bush Negros" in Surinam, led by Arabi and Zam-Zam, defeated the Dutch on many occasions and were finally given a treaty and their own territory (near French Guyana) which they control until today.” (5) Apart from Muslims of Indian descent in this period Muslims from Java brought by the Dutch settled in Surinam. Suriname is isolated from the Caribbean because of itsgeography and colonial legacy. The Javanese are an integral part of Surinamese society. All ethnic groups in Suriname have maintained their space. Culturally and geographically Suriname is isolated naturally from the Caribbean. There is also a handful of immigrants from the Middle East who came mainly from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine to Suriname. Islam was reintroduce to Suriname in June of 1873 when the Lalla Rookh arrived with close to thirty-seven Hindustani Muslims. The thirty-seven were from Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Mirzapur, Lucknow, Allahbad, Jaunpur, Azamgargh, Gaya, Faizabad, Muzaffarpur, Sewree, and Benares (Varanasi). From 1873 to 1916 Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, the Northwest Frontier and Bihar continued arriving in Suriname. These mainly Urdu speaking Muslims were from the Sunni Hanafi Mazhab, and they celebrated the Eids as well as Muhurram and Milad-un-Nabi. The strong influence of the Shia and the sufis of North India could be felt in Suriname. Urdu is the functional language of the Hindustani Muslims of Suriname to this day, and the community has resisted“arabization.” The Amadhiyya movement has penetrated Suriname’s Muslim community. Some of the finest mosques reflecting Mughal architecture they have built. On the other hand, the Sunnis have built one of the largest mosques in the region using a combination of arabesque and Mughal architecture. They also boost one of the finest Islamic learning centres in the region for children and Imams.

The Javanese Muslims from Indonesia began arriving in Suriname in the 1890’s. The Suriname-Javanese community is kejawen, following the syncretic practices and beliefs of Java. (6) In this community the keblat (qibla) expresses a unique diasporic experience and identity. From the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) villagers were recruited from Java as contract workers for the plantations in another Dutch colonial land, Suriname. Most of them were kejawen Muslims. Kejawen Islam, which was dominant in Javanese villages, is a syncretic Islam which incorporated old Javanesebeliefs, including Hindu-Buddhist elements. (7)