The Interplay Between Islam and Civilization : the Case of East Asia

Among the various civilizations of the present day which are all grounded in world religions, only Islamic civilization has established clear rules, not only in moral and ethical codes but also in the form of legal prescriptions, for the regulation of relationships between the different cultures it has assimilated, and relationships vis-à-vis other civilizations. This paper is concerned firstly with presenting models of the rules of Islamic civilization governing both internal and external relationships, and secondly, taking a closer look at Islam in East Asia. The expansion of Islam into Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Indian subcontinent, and Eastern Europe was achieved as a result of military conquest under the Khilāfah - Dār al-Islām model which was first, was first established for reasons of political stability, after which these societies gradually become Islamicized through voluntary conversion. On the other way, in East Asia Islam came through peacefu1 means without conquest by force, so the pattern of its Islamicizatin is different from Khilāfah- Dār al=Islām model. Insofar as the Islamicization of East Asia was not implemented through the military conquest model of Khilāfah - Dār al-Islām - Dhimmah, it traces its roots not to the Sharī’ah, but rather to Tauhīd, the concept of the Oneness of Allah. Islam was spread through linking it to already existing Tauhīd-like religious elements, and giving them new vital meaning. And the civilizations in the region before the advent of Islam are dominated by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shiotoism, which are all eclectic and inclusive rather than exclusive contrary to Western Civilization which is based on the Christianity. In China under the policy of restoration of Chinese culture by the Ming明 dynasty, Muslims of Central Asia started to assimilate themselves into Chinese culture. From then on, Taoism Confucianism, Buddhism and Islam were lumped together as 'the four teachings' of China and Muslims became an integral part of Chinese self-understanding, while the Muslim community has neither established political supremacy nor been integrated into Khilāfah - Dār al = Islām in the history of Islam in China The Malays are one of the four maj or Muslim ethnic groups which have a population of around 20 million in the contemporary Islamic World, i.e., the Arabs, the Turks, the Urdu speaking Muslims in Indian Subcontinent and the Malays, and they are the absolute majority of the Muslims in East Asia, mainly living in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and the south of Thailand. According to Abudurrahman Wahid, the former president of Indonesia, the Republic of Indonesia is Dār Sulh, State of Truce, which is neither an Islamic state nor an Enemy state but a state which does not institutionalize the Islamic law but allows Muslim citizens freedom to practice their religion, based on Dar Sulh theory of Shāfi'ī legal school. Indonesia's constitutional principles are summarized into so called Pancaeila, five principles, and the first is belief in Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (a deity which is great and unique) .In enacting the constitution, the Islamic groups failed to make Islam the official religion but succeeded in making 5 official religions, Islam, Catholic Christian, Protestant Christian, Hindu and Buddhism, all of which are supposed to believe in Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, i.e, Tauhīd (monotheism). Thus Indonesia Islam has not presented itself as state religion enforcing SharT'ah but a universal religion of TauhTd that can make all the religions return to their original message of monotheism. Japan had no direct contact with Islam until Meiji(1968-1912) Era. That is why Muslim is still an absolute minority in Japan and they live almost neglected and unknown and they have little influence in it thus far. But the situation is gradually changing now, and the most important event in view of the civilizational dialogue of Islam was the initiative of Kono Yohei, ex-foreign minister of Japan, to establish an Islamic studies circle inside the ministry in 2000, one of the main pillars of which is promoting 'the intercivilizational dialogue with Islamic World”, as well as the amalgamated Shintoic-Islam theology are embraced after the Second World War, for the Japanese civilization boasts a highly syncretic religious culture, where world religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism has already being practiced alongside the indigenous religion of Shinto since long before. Thus we can expect to open up new civilizational horizons through the civilizational dialogue between Islam and the East Asian Civilizations.