Tôn giáo The Cham beliefs and religions in Vietnam: Issues need to be clarified

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to contribute to clarifying the original names of Cham religious groups and beliefs. Specifically, what are the Cham Jat, Cham Ahiér, Cham Bani/Cham Awal, and Cham Islam? Simultaneously, this article also points out the relationship among the above Cham religious groups and these Cham groups with other religions. The research results show that through the process of exchange, when absorbing Brahmanism, Hinduism or Islam from outside, the Cham people always consciously localize them, so Cham Ahier is not completely similar to Brahmanism of India and Cham Bani/Awal is not also completely similar to Islam of Arab. In conclusion, the article suggests that in order not to deviate from the content while analyzing and explaining these issues, researchers should use the original terminologies and self-names of Cham beliefs and religious groups such as “Cham Jat” for the Chams practicing indigenous beliefs, “Cham Ahíer” for the Chams were influenced by Hinduism and Islam; “Cham Bani/Awal” for the Chams influenced by Islam, and “Cham Islam” for the Chams practicing the orthodox Islam. To achieve these results, this article uses the ethnographic/anthropological research methods including mainly the fieldwork, the participatory observation, the document collection, and the manuscripts analysis and comparison, combined with the theory of historical particularism developed by Franz Boas and the theory of cultural exchange - acculturation of American anthropologists to analyze and explain the above-mentioned issues.