Islam in East Timor

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The Annur Mosque in Dili

About 0.2% of the population in East Timor profess Islam . Most of them are Sunnis .

Overview

In the 2015 census, 2,824 East Timorese residents admitted to belonging to Islam. 1,695 of them lived in the municipality of the state capital Dili , 258 in Baucau , 236 in Lautém , 212 in Viqueque , 113 in Manufahi , 106 in Liquiçá and the rest in the other municipalities .

Since 2005, in addition to the numerous Christian holidays, the festival of the breaking of the fast (end of Ramadan ) and the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice have been public holidays.

As president of the Konsellu Nasionál Izlámiku Timor-Leste KONISTIL ( German  National Council Islam East Timor ), Ahmad Ali Alayudi was replaced by Pascoal Sidik Lemorai in 2019. President of the Center of the Islamic Community in East Timor (Konsellu Nasionál Islamika Timor-Leste CENCITIL) is Arif Abdullah Sagran (as of 2020) and Boaventura da Silva, the representative of the Konsellu Superiór Musulmanu Timor-Leste.

  • Pascoal Sidik Lemorai (2020)

  • Arif Abdullah Sagran (2020)

  • Boaventura da Silva (2020)

Mosques

The largest mosque in the country is the Annur Mosque in Dili. It is located in the Kampung Alor district , the former quarter of the Arab minority of East Timor, and dates from 1981. It also has its own school. There are other mosques in Baucau , Lospalos and Liquiçá .

history

East Timorese Muslims at the Sugar Festival (2019)

Malay and Arab traders visited the island of Timor at an early stage - nevertheless there was no evangelization of the population. At the end of the 19th century, Arabs from the Hadramaut immigrated to Portuguese Timor . During the Indonesian occupation (1975–1999), Muslim Indonesians joined them, many of whom left the country after East Timor regained independence.

Since governor Filomeno da Câmara de Melo Cabral (1911–1913), the head of the Arab community, like that of the Chinese, was a representative of the municipal commission of Dili. In 1940 the Arab minority began building the first mosque building in Dili. The apostolic administrator of Dili , Jaime Garcia Goulart , donated bricks for it and later, like his successors, visited the mosque on Muslim holidays.

From the end of the Second World War , parts of the population of Arab origin supported efforts to join the Portuguese Timor colony to Indonesia. In 1975 Indonesia occupied East Timor. At the height of Suharto's transmigration policy , the proportion of the East Timorese population that came from Indonesia reached up to 20%, according to Indonesian sources. It is noticeable that the proportion of Muslims was still only 4%. This was due to the fact that mainly Catholics immigrated. About 4,000 children were brought from East Timor by Indonesian soldiers, officials and religious organizations in the 24 years of occupation. According to a secret military document, Indonesian soldiers were supposed to support the transfer of children to Indonesia to spread Islam in East Timor. Many children went to strict Muslim schools and were forcibly converted. The kidnapping, however, was never official state policy. Numerous children have simply disappeared to this day. During the occupation, many East Timorese converted to the Catholic faith as a counter-movement against the predominantly Muslim occupiers.

In December 2002, the Annur Mosque in Dili was set on fire by demonstrators who protested against the then Prime Minister Alkatiri , who is of Muslim faith and belongs to the minority of Arabs. Dilis Bishop Basílio do Nascimento apologized to the Muslims for this.

During the riots after the parliamentary elections in 2012 , some demonstrators tried to damage the mosque. 16 of them were arrested by the police .

Web links

Commons : Islam in East Timor  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística : Results of the 2015 census , accessed on November 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ SAPO Notícias: Governo aprova novo feriado e data da invasão indonésia passa a Dia da Memória , February 12, 2016 , accessed on February 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ The President's Facebook page: PREZIDENTE REPÚBLIKA RONA KONFISAUN RELIJIOZA NO EMPREZÁRIU SIRA-NIA HANOIN KONA-BA ORSAMENTU JERÁL ESTADU 2019 , January 10, 2019.
  4. ↑ Tatoli: Prezidente KONISTIL Apela Atu Hametin Pás no Estabilidade , June 5, 2019 , accessed on April 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ Suara Muslim: Minim pendidikan Islam, Pelajar Timor Leste Banyak yang Tidak Mau Kembali ke Negaranya. , August 15, 2018 , accessed January 22, 2019.
  6. ↑ Tatoli: Konfisaun Relijioza Konfia Xefe Estadu Hakotu Impase , January 31, 2020 , accessed on April 20, 2020.
  7. ↑ The National: Mosque hangs on as example of tolerance , June 22, 2008, accessed May 3, 2013.
  8. ↑ Reliefweb: Supporting all faiths in Timor-Leste , accessed on May 3, 2013.
  9. ↑ Laura Suzanne Meitzner Yoder: Custom, Codification, Collaboration: Integrating the Legacies of Land and Forest Authorities in Oecusse Enclave, East Timor, p. 63 ( Memento of March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.5 MB). Yale University 2005.
  10. ↑ a b Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor , available from the Centro de Estudos sobre África, Ásia e América Latina , CEsA of the TU Lisbon (PDF file; 805 kB).
  11. ^ Gunn: History of Timor , p. 134.
  12. ↑ Asiaweek: A home away from home , September 8, 2000, accessed May 3, 2013.
  13. ↑ a b Australian Department of Defense, Patricia Dexter: Historical Analysis of Population Reactions to Stimuli - A case of East Timor ( Memento of September 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.1 MB)
  14. ↑ Kate Lamb: East Timor's stolen children , Global Post, July 8, 2012 , accessed July 11, 2012.
  15. ^ ETAN, December 31, 2002, CNS: East Timor bishop apologizes for rioting, attack on mosque
  16. ^ The Free Library: Bishop apologizes for riot, attack on mosque. , accessed May 3, 2013.
  17. ↑ Guido Goullart (AP): East Timor president calls for security forces to restore order after post-election violence , July 16, 2012 , accessed January 4, 2016.