Migrating Worlds -Yemeni Hadhramis in South East Asia

Report on the August 2005 conference on "Hadhrami Identity Maintenance or Assimilation" held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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 idea of having a specialized conference on the subject, is the result of a joint meeting held in Mukalla, in Yemen, during 2004 between the Dean of the Kulliyyah of Islamic Reavealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (IIUM) and the management of the Hadhramawt University of Science and Technology.

The conference highlighted patterns of the Yemeni-Hadhrami integration into Southeast Asian countries. It examined the contribution of the Yemeni-Hadhrami scholars to the Shafi’I school and Sufi practices in SEA. The aim was to offer and opportunity to participating scholars for a multi-disciplinary forum in order to explore the various aspects of the Yemeni-Hadhrami migration into South East Asia (SEA) and also to contribute to the understanding of the patterns of interaction among diverse cultures, values and beliefs in the region.

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 participated in the Indian Ocean trade, has the longest continued presence in the SEA region. Under discussion were historical circumstances such as favoring and disfavoring migrants of Arab origin, and 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, which was 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 used to cover 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, in the 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 systems 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, (The Book of Roads and Kingdoms), Ibn Khurradadhbih gives an estimate of the Indian Ocean and also says, in addition, that "WaqWaq" lies exactly halfway around the world of Qulzum. With is 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" - about the country where the spices grow. The Malay speaking peoples of Malay and the Indonesian archipelago would became inter-mediateries 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 Sindbad 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 in the field of politics and society. Held during the conference was also 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 modern Republic of Yemen is entering an intensive era of development and growth, the Yemeni Hadhramis from SEA are once again in the forefront, this time in exploring business and investment opportunities in Yemen.