Situating Transnational Islam in Nanyang History from the Colonial to the Postcolonial Era

Abstract

This article explores the changing Southeast Asian Muslim diaspora from the colonial to the postcolonial era. Based on the ethnographic and oral accounts of two Muslim brothers coming from the same Southeast Asian family, and particularly focusing on the diasporic experience of the elder brother’s migration from Pakistan to Hong Kong and finally to Britain, the article shows how the European colonial expansion in Southeast Asia altered the paths of the Muslim diaspora. By comparing the experience of the elder brother in Britain with his younger brother in Hong Kong, this article suggests the importance of agency, in the sense that one’s life history, personal encounter, and different interpretations of Islam are vital determinants as regards their paths in the diaspora and their evaluations toward non-Muslim host societies in both the West and the East.