Islam in Brunei

Old Brunei was a nation of Malay Hindu-Buddhists, according to a Chinese account of Puli, believed to be an early Chinese reference to Brute Old Brunei was said to have similar Malay-Hindu Buddhist traditions and customs as Funan or Kumlum in Malay state of Indochina.

Islam is believed to have existed ever since the fourteenth century with the Islamization of Awang Alak Betatar, with the adapted Muslim name Sultan Muhammad Shah, as the first sultan to rule Brunei.(1363-1402).

Hence, Islamic law is assumed to have been practiced by Bruneian society. With Islam, Brunei asserted and expanded its role as an independent and dominant trading power in the region. Its trade and territories grew with the spread of Islam to encompass existing Malay kingdoms in Borneo and the Philippines.

Brunei participated in the intellectual network of Islamic South-East Asia and beyond through different channels Tariqahs, educational centers, political ties, trading network, religious figures and personal ties formed important nodes of networks.

Today, Islam, primarily of the Shafiite School of Jurisprudence, is alive and thriving in Brunei. Birth, marriage, divorce, burial and other social ceremonies in Brunei are generally done according to the Islamic law.
Islam in Brunei