The Dutch and the British have made the Malays to live in two divided countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. After their independence, the country colonized by the British adopts the name of Malaysia and the country colonized by the Dutch adopt the name of Indonesia. Now some Malays live in Indonesia particularly in Sumatra and the Riau Archipelago and some Malays live in Malaysia. There are also Malays who live as minority groups in Southern Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. The Malays in Vietnam used to have a Malay Kingdom known as Champa. The Malays that settled in Riau Islands used to have their own Kingdom known as the Malay Sultanate of Riau. The administrative centre for the Malay Sultanate of Riau started in the island of Lingga and towards the ends of its glorious era moved to the small strategic island of Penyegat, an island very close to Pulau Bintan, the capital city of Tanjong Pinang. The journey by ferry from Stulang Laut in Johor Baru took us about 4 hours before we reached Tanjong Pinang. A journey by smaller speed boat to Pulau Penyegat normally takes about 30 minutes.

When we arrived at Pulau Penyegat, we immediately went to a mosque. There is only one mosque in the island named the Mosque of Sultan of Riau. The mosque was built during the time of Sultan Abdul Rahman who became the Sultan of Riau in the nineteenth century (1818 – 1832). The cement was blended with egg yolks and the mosque was built without using a nail. At the entrance of the mosque, there is a display of an Al- Quran, handwrittened by one of the learned scholars of Riau in the nineteenth century. There are many royal graves behind the Mosque. The graves with their tombstones (batu nisan) covered by a yellow cloth indicate royalty. There are so many royal graveyards in the island of Penyegat. We took a tour of the island and visited all the royal graveyards. The presence of royal graveyards in the island of Penyegat clearly indicate that once upon a time, Penyegat was an administrative centre for the Malay Sultanate of Riau. Could there be a possibility that the graves of the Sultans of Malacca are located in Pulau Penyegat or Pulau Lingga? If we can prove that the graves of the Sultans of Malacca are located in the islands of Riau then we can conclude that Malacca was only a trading port for the Malay kingdom of Riau.

Munshi Abdullah wrote that Parameswara, a Hindu Prince who came from Palembang founded Malacca. Munshi Abdullah also wrote that in Malacca, Parameswara converted to Islam and took the name of Sultan Muzaffar Shah. Did Parameswara really existed? Can we trace the origin of Parameswara from the Sultanate of Palembang? Was it true during that time that Palembang Sultanate still embrace Hinduism or had it already converted to Islam. A Batu Bersurat found in Terengganu indicated that Islam has come to the Malayan Peninsula prior to 1303 AD. Where Batu Bersurat came from? Could it be possible that the Batu Bersurat had come from the Islamic Sultanate of Malacca, as during that time there was no indication that there was an Islamic Sultanate in Terengganu?

In my opinion, there is a great possibility that the Batu Bersurat, which is a written document about Islamic laws had come from the Sultan of Malacca. Terengganu at that time could had been under the control of Malacca. In that case, Malacca must have started earlier than 1303 AD and the Sultan in Malacca was one of the Sultans in the Malay Sultanate of Riau. Recently a Batu Nisan engraved with verses from the Quran was found in Pekan, Pahang dated 1028AD. Both the Batu Bersurat in Terengganu and the Batu Nisan in Pekan, Pahang showed that Islam had come to the Malay Peninsula earlier than 1403.It was possible that the Malay Sultanate of Riau started sometimes in 900AD, and the Malays during those days had already embraced Islam. What was written by Munshi Abdullah is not necessarily true as Munshi Abdullah could have written something that he had heard from someone else? Stories passed on from one generation to another generation have very limited authenticity.

In my opinion, we should conduct research in order to ascertain what were written in our history books are accurate. Our present histories were based mainly on the writings of Munshi Abdullah. Munshi Abdullah, an Indian in origin could had written only what he heard from others. Did Munshi Abdullah have substantial evidence to show that Islam came to the Malayan Peninsula only after the conversion of Parameswara to Islam in 1403AD? Was it true what was written by Munshi Abdullah that the Sultanate of Malacca started only in 1403AD and that the Malays were Hindu prior to 1403AD? Could it be possible that the Malays have been Muslim and have never been Hindus? Javanese people are not Malays and they were Hindus before they embraced Islam. Many people can speak Malays but they are not Malays. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is an Indian with some Malay blood and his wife Dr.Wan Azizah is a Chinese with some Malay blood. Their daughter Nurul Izzah is having in her more Indian blood than Chinese blood, with little Malay blood. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah speak very fluent Bahasa Melayu but they are not Malay. Tun Abdul Razak and his son Dato Seri Najib are Bugis but they speak Bahasa Melayu more fluently than they speak Bahasa Bugis. They are having predominantly Bugis blood with some Malay blood but Bugis are not Malay people. Among all the previous Prime Ministers of Malaysia, none has or had predominantly Malay blood

Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
October 2010
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre