Islamic Education Among The Muslim Cambodians After 1979
Abstract
The muslim cambodians, usually referred to as the khmer islam, are one of the components of the people of cambodia. They are mainly of the malay and the cham descendants. The malay and the cham form a single community and live peacefully side by side with the majority buddhist khmers. They are part and parcel of the cambodian nation. They participate in all daily activities of cambodians and together they are actively involved in all sphere of national development especially in education, islamic and modern national education programs. In this long process of the cambodian nation building, human resources are very important. Being muslim, the khmer islam community has a very heavy obligation to develop both modern education and islamic theological education for their young offspring, especially since the defeat of the khmer rouge in 1979. This paper traces the long process of developing these human resources through the development of education starting from primary education. This paper focuses on three model schools, one is in the city, the second one is in a province, further away from the city and the third is really in a rural area. With helps pouring in, what would become of the future of the muslim cambodians?