MALDIVES

Brief history and background information

Maldives, consisting of over 1,192 coral islands and located 417 mi (671 km) South West of Sri Lanka, is most popular for its natural beauty and as a top tourist destination. These coral islets are stretched over an area of 35,200 sq mi (90,000 sq km).

Maldives, also called the Cowrie Islands by Arab travellers, is home to and the only source for Maldives cowrie shells or Cypraea Moneta. The original name MahalDvipa or Mahaldvip became Arabicised, around the 10th century, by Middle Eastern travellers to Mahaldib. Later this name got Anglicised by the European travellers and emerged "Maldives". However, throughout history, Maldivians have always used the name "Dhivehi Raajje" (meaning; country of the Dhivehi people) Records show that Maldives was not an unknown country to the rest of the world. There exists documentary evidence of a Maldivian's visit to Rome in the 4th century AD and to China in the 7th century AD. Early travellers from India, Indonesia, North Africa, the Red Sea and Persian Gulf areas were the first settlers in the Maldives. The three major sources of immigration are believed to be the peninsula of India and Sri Lanka, the Arabian coast and Africa and the western shores of the Malay Peninsula.

Capital
Male, the Capital City of Maldives is also an island by itself with an area of one to two square kilometres. Due to various social and economic reasons, one-third of the population lives in Male making it one of the most densely populated capitals.

Maldives comprises of 1192 coral islands and has a population of 394,999. Maldives is still considered as one of the two 100% muslim country.

Language
Maldives has its own language and script. Dhivehi is the local language and the script is known as Thaana. Thaana is written from right to left, similar to Arabic, with the vowels above and below the consonants. Since English is the medium of education, almost all young people speak/understands English. Yet, there is a significant segment of the population who rely on the local language when listening to religious lectures or reading religious literature.

View of Islamic Centre, Male.

Population
Maldives has a population of 394,999 (July 2011 est.) inhabiting 200 islands, while around 90 islands are tourist resorts and the rest are uninhabited islands.

Religion
Maldivians embraced Islam in the year 1153 of the Gregorian calendar (548 Hijri calendar). Maldives is one of the two 100% Islamic nations in the world. Prior to conversion, both Buddhism and Hinduism were known to have existed in the islands' history. The life of a common man in Maldives would be built around his religion. People wake up with the early Morning Prayer call and start the day early.

Currency
Maldivian currency is known as Maldivian Rufiyaa and one US Dollar is equal to MRf 15.42.

Condition of Islam
The story of how Islam came to Maldives is a myth. It is said that a sea monster would come every fortnight and a virgin girl was given to the monster as a sacrifice. The next morning the girl would be found dead. A Moroccoan scholar by the name of

Language of the Maldivian people is Dhivehi and the script is called Thaana.

AbulBarakaatulBarbaree (also contested as a Turkish scholar called Tabriz) had apparently recited Quran and chased away the monster. The promise he enacted from the Sultan for saving the country was for conversion of the entire country into Islam. The entire nation converted into Islam within a span of 100-150 years. During the early years, there were a number of Sufi visitors from neighbouring countries which introduced various Sufi acts (such as Mawlid celebration, grave worship, etc). Alhamdulillaahi, these acts began to cease during the Presidency of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom since 1978. Gayoom sought his education at Azhar University and was deemed as a major scholar by the general population. While there were a number of beneficial developments compared to the few years preceeding his presidency, Gayoom also introduced a strong state-control on religious affairs and a moderate Islam based on Ashariaqeeda was promoted. Multi-party democracy was introduced to the Maldives in the year 2003. A large number of people welcomed it as an escape route from the 30-year rule of Gayoom which was fraught with claims of oppression, torture and corruption. This brought about a major paradigm shift with calls for various elements of democracy such as freedom of expression, religious freedom, equal rights, etc. With this opportunity for freedom of speech and expression, religiously inclined and irreligious groups were also free to spread their ideas and messages. However, Salafiyya remained a thorn for most people and, as a result, one of the active talibul-ilm, was barred from talking about religion in public gatherings. This ruling was later overturned through the court of law. Following the introduction of multi-party democracy in 2003, an Islamic political party (called Adhaalath Party) was formed. As there are a large number of sheikhs educated from Madina University, Azhar University and Pakistani institutions in that party, they have much control over determining various matters relating to religion. Adhaalath Party's two leaders are currently the Minister and State Minister of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. As such, they have a much strong hold on determining the religious affairs of the nation. The Ministrry is in charge of issuing permits to toulab al-

Map of Maldives islands

'ilmto give religious lectures in public, issuing permits to use Masjids for dawah work, etc. There also exists an NGO, Jamiyyathusalaf, which is more inclined towards political Islam and has a takfiri-ikhwaniidealogy. They have connections with Adhaalath Party and are supportive of popular da'ees such as ZakirNakir, Yusuf Estes, Bilal Philips, etc There also exists a khawaarij style group. There was an increase in their numbers during the early 2000. However, their number has now dwindled to some extent. With the change of government and introduction of democracy, now they have been allowed to perform Jummah prayers behind their own imam. Some of them were involved in the only 'terrorist' act that the nation witnessed in 2007, the 'Sultan Park Bombing' which injured a few tourists. At present, there are more activities being undertaken to further strengthen democracy and 'human rights' at the cost of Islamic injunctions.

Condition of Salafiyya
Salafiyya was introduced to the Maldives around 2002. Currently there are around four toulab al-ilm, who received their education from Madina University and around 300 Salafis in Maldives. There were two or three toulab al-'ilm of Salafiyya who recently deviated for various reasons. Due to the few toulab al-'ilm in and other constraints, dawah work is much limited. Alh'amdhulillaahi, currently there are five Salafi students in Madina University. With regard to connection with Salafi scholars and sheikhs : Some of our Salafi brothers have attended Salafi activities such as the 'Five Pillars Umrah' by Salafi Publications and the Birmingham Summer Conference of 2011. During Hajj and Umrah trips, they have also sought private audiences with Sheikh Rabee, Sheikh Muhammad bin Haadi, Sheikh Abdullah al-Bukhaari. Close contacts are being maintained with the latter two scholars. In addition, Sheikh Abdhullaah al-Ma're al-Adhani visited the Maldives mid 2011.

Salafiyya was introduced to the Maldives around 2002 and, today, there are about 300 salafis.

Salafis do not have any centre or masjid. Much of the duroos are held in masjids or in private homes. Permission to use the Masjids are given on renewable basis for a period of three months and that is also strictly to teach 'Ministry approved' books. Though Salafiyya is still at a nascent stage in the country, it is slowly spreading from the capital island into the outer atolls.

(December 2011)