The Role of the Chularajmontri (Shaykh al-IslOEm) in Resolving Ethno-religious Conflict in Southern Thailand

Abstract

The century-old conflict in southern Thailand, which began with Siam’s annexation of the former Malay sultanate of Negara Patani in 1909, reemerged viciously in 2004 – with no end in sight. The Thai state expected that its official head of the Muslim community at the national level, the chularajmontri (shaykh al-Islam), whose office was set up in 1945 to integrate all Thai Muslims into the new nation-state of Thailand (formerly called Siam), would lay a significant role in resolving the southern conflict. Thus, this office was entrusted with tackling the issue of ethno-religious nationalism among the southern Muslims, an important factor lying at the root of this conflict. The office was expected to address the Thai nation-state’s political and socio-religious needs via promoting a pro-integration religious interpretation of Islam. This paper contends that its failure to contribute toward the conflict’s resolution lies in the differences in the two parties’ historical, ethnic, and religious interpretations of Islam.