Champa Kingdom is one of the famous kingdom in South East Asia. Not many people know about this story. TheKingdom of Champa was found in the 2nd century and lasted until the 17th century. Their land stretched along the Central coast of what is now modern Vietnam from Hoành S½n massif (Müi Ròn) in the north to Phan Thiªt (Müi Kê Gà) in the south. The people is of Malayo-Polynesian stock with indianised culture.
When Islam came, few Champa people adopted it. However, some time between 1607 and1676, in cambodia the Cham the malays form the majority and rise one live short independant statein Thbong Khmum province. When they strong enough then force one of their own on the Cambodian throne, after which he married a Malay princess, became a Muslim, and changed his name to Ibrahimhe king of Champa became Muslim thus precipitating most of his people to enter Islam also.
Throughout the century, the Champa provinces were slowly annexed one by one until finally, by the 17th century they were completely absorbed by the vietnamese. During the reign of the Vietnamese king, Minh MÕng, the Champa were severly persecuted.
In 1594 Champa was still strong enough to help the Malay state of Johor resist Portuguese attack and Champa merchants continued to frequent the ports of Southeast Asie throughout the seventeenth century. Campa's cultural life continued to the develop autonomously, and even a distinct Campa's territory was not directly absorbed until 1834-5¹, or by one account, as late as 1883 during the French conquest².
As a consequence, the last Champa Muslim king, Pô Ch½n, decided to gather his people (those on the mainland) and migrated south to Cambodia. Whereas those on the coastline, they migrated to Trengganu (Malaysia). The area where the king and the mainlanders settled is still known to this day as Kompong Cham. They were not concentrated in one area but were scattered along the Mekong river in Vietnam, forming 13 villages along it. Throughout the years, their children were sent to Kelantan (Malaysia) to learn Qur'an and Islamic studies. Once studies were completed, these children then return home to teach others in these 13 villages. Also, another factor which helps them to preserve the true teaching of Islam was the interaction between them and the Malaysian Muslim traders who sailed through the Mekong river.
Then since 1832, when Panduranga, the last territory of Champa, was aanexed by vietnam, the people of Champa have been encountering a new situation. Their victors would like to dismantle their culture and destroy their history. In fact, the social, cultural and economical structures of Champa people still persist and quite different from those of their victors. Despite all kind of pressure, Champa people continued to preserve their cultural identity by speaking their own language, observing their own customs , wearing their traditional dress, practicing their religions. They lived in villages and social groups separately from their victors. They autonomously took care of their internal affairs. They were reluctant to the interference of strangers (vietnamese)who attemted to settle their litigical problems.
Not all the Champa Muslims migrated with the king. A group stayed behind in Nha Trang, Phan Rang, Phan Rí, and Phan Thiªt provinces (Central Vietnam). With their increasing isolation with other Muslims, they began to mix Islam with Buddhism, Hindism and Bà La Môn . Hence, their descendents became lost to the true teachings of Islam. In 1959, these descendents came into contact with the Champa Muslims in Châu Яc (one of the 13 villages in South Vietnam) and also with the Muslims community in Saigon (H? Chí Minh city).
The Muslim community in Saigon, mainly consisted of Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians and Arabs. (See "Who are the Vietnamese Muslims?") As a result of this interaction, the descendents who had lost Islam began to return to true Islam. Furthermore, with the help of the Muslims community in Saigon, mosques were built in Vån Lâm, An Nh½n, and Phѽc Nh½n (Central Vietnam).
Apart from the Champa Muslims, there are also two groups of Vietnamese Muslims which will be discussed in the article "Who are the Vietnamese Muslims?" After April 30th 1975, while the majority of Vietnamese Muslims remain in Vietnam under the communist regime, a sizable number of them managed to escape to other countries. The majority of them settled in America, France, Malaysia, India, Canada and a handful in Australia.