100,000 Muslims Live In Vietnam For 28 Years Now

Bandar Seri Begawan – For more than 28 years now, 100,000 Muslims in Vietnam have been living under the Socialist Government of Vietnam.

Islam has long been established in Vietnam with a Muslim community of 100,000 out of its 80 million population.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was established in 1975 following the merger of North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

In the eleventh century the Islamic Cham Empire in Indochina has spread Islam in countries now known as Cambodia, Thailand as well as in parts of southern China and in Vietnam itself.

However, in the seventeenth century, the Cham government lost its power and was defeated.

In Ho Chi Minh City itself there are about 10,000 Muslims.

A majority of them work as farmers, fishermen, bus drivers as well as tailors.

A number of them are also involved in restaurant and construction businesses as well as making and selling handicraft products. On average, the economic status of Muslims in Vietnam is still very low.

In Ho Chi Minh City, there are eight mosques and seven suraus or prayer halls which have been built decades ago.

One of the mosques is Dong Yu Mosque locally known as an Indian Mosque.

The mosque is frequented by many people because of its strategic location in the middle of the city.

The mosque was constructed by Indian traders in 1935.

However, when the war erupted in Vietnam in 1975, all the traders fled Vietnam. Presently, the mosque is administered by the locals.

One of the locals who has been spending his life looking after the mosque since 1975 is 83-year-old Haji Mohammad Yusof.

He is not only an imam for the mosque but also someone who will be referred to on matters relating to Islamic affairs.

The fasting month of Ramadan is the time when Muslims will converge in mosques to break their fast.

The expenses for breaking the fast normally come from the traders from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

It is also interesting to note that mosques in Vietnam will hold daily talks on Islam before breaking of the fast throughout the fasting month of Ramadan. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei 

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