Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices – 2nd Edition

Maldives
Country Overview

Population 330,000

Sunni Islam 100 percent

INTRODUCTION The Maldives is defined by its leaders as a 100

percent Muslim state. As such, except in the
Officially a Sunni Muslim country, the expatriate community, there are no other active
Maldives, known by Maldivians as Divehi religious faiths in the country. Islamic law, or
Raajje, is a group of 19 coral atolls in the Indian Sharia, forms the foundation of the legal
Ocean, with about 1,200 flat islands lying on its system.
reefs. Only about 200 of the islands are
inhabited. The Maldives is 260 miles (420 RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
kilometers) off the southern tip of India and
about 435 miles (700 kilometers) southwest of Religious freedom is greatly restricted in the
Sri Lanka. The Chagos Archipelago lies almost Maldives, and every citizen is required by law
315 miles (500 kilometers) to the south. The to be Sunni Muslim. The Maldivian constitution
total land area of the Maldives is 115 square states that the president’s foremost duty is to
miles (298 square kilometers). protect and promote Islamic principles and does
not permit the public practicing or propagation
The Maldivian national language, Divehi, is an of any other religious faith. The display of
Indo-European language with its own script that symbols of other religions, as well as the
has heavily borrowed words from Arabic. There importing of icons, religious statues, and
is a high literacy in the country, both among religious literature, is forbidden. Expatriate
men and women. According to tradition, Sunni residents, however, are permitted to practice
Islam has been the religion of the Maldivians their religion in their private lives and may own
since the twelfth century CE, when a visiting a restricted amount of religious books, such as a
Islamic scholar converted the last Buddhist king Bible, for personal use.
to Islam. The atolls of the Maldives are
stretched across the path of the ancient seaborne Sunni Islam of the generally conservative Shafi’
trading route between Arabia and Southeast Madhab (school of thought) is formally defined
Asia and have been continuously populated for by the government as one of the distinctive
millennia. Long considered an isolated and characteristics of the country, giving it religious
remote place, the Maldives became a major harmony, historical continuity, and a national
tourist destination beginning in the 1970s. identity. Islamic radicalism is viewed by
Maldivian traditionalists as the spreading of
sectarianism and division (fitna), upsetting the spice route, but they had little influence in the
balance of the nation. As a result, the Maldives.
government of Maldives has undertaken to
curtail the influence of Islamic militants, In 1887 the king of the islands placed the
including Wahhabi hardliners. A Muslim Maldives under British protection, retaining
converting to another faith is considered in internal self-rule. At that time some young
violation of Islamic law, resulting in severe Maldivians were sent to further their education
punishment and the loss of the rights to in Ceylon. In 1932, during king Shamsuddin’s
citizenship. rule, the first constitution was proclaimed, and
in 1965 the country became fully independent
MAJOR RELIGION from the United Kingdom. The centuries-old
monarchy ended in 1968 when Prime Minister
SUNNI ISLAM Ibrahim Nasir proclaimed the Maldives a
DATE OF ORIGIN Twelfth century CE republic and became its president. He embarked
on a modernization drive, secularizing the state,
NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS 330,000 opening the country to tourism, founding a
Maldivian shipping line, destroying the royal
HISTORY palace, and building new structures in the
capital.
Arab travelers who visited the Maldives before
the twelfth century wrote about a flourishing In 1978 the new president Maumoon Abdul
culture in the islands before the last Buddhist Gayyoom scrapped Ibrahim Nasir’s secular
king decided to convert to Islam. The precise process and began a policy of Islamization of
reasons why this monarch decided to abandon the Maldives based on the model established by
his ancestral Buddhist faith are not known, but Pakistani President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
tradition tells about a visiting Muslim Sheikh However, by mid-1980s Muslim Wahhabi
that performed miracles in front of the king. hardliners, who desired an even more severe
After his conversion the Maldivian king became form of Islamification, began to oppose
Sultan Ibn Abdulla, or Muhammad-ul-Ādil. Maumoon, who then assumed near-dictatorial
Buddhist monks from important monasteries in powers. Following popular discontent with
other atolls were brought to the capital and were Maumoon’s long tenure and the approval of a
beheaded. Buddhist statues were destroyed, and new constitution in 2008, direct presidential
stupas were defaced by breaking the top spire. elections were held. The winning candidate was
This was followed by the building of mosques M. Nasheed, a young politician with a wide
at the sites of desecrated Buddhist monasteries base of support that included pro-secular youth,
and the forced conversion of all Buddhist as well as the Wahhabi hardliners that had
subjects to Islam. opposed Maumoon. In February 2012 the
democratically elected government was brought
Sunni Islam, along with its traditional
down by a coup d’état engineered by groups
institutions, was firmly established in the
linked to the former dictator Maumoon,
islands on the eve of the age of exploration. In
including members of the security forces, hired
mid-sixteenth century, not long after Portuguese
street gangs, and major tourism industry
seafarers had entered the Indian Ocean, a
investors backed by a corrupt judiciary.
Maldivian king converted to Roman
President Muhammad Waheed, who became
Catholicism. There was firm local opposition,
president after the coup d’état, called for
and a struggle ensued to keep the Maldives free
national unity after Islamists destroyed ancient
from the influence of the Portuguese and their
Buddhist remains at the National Museum
religion. Dutch and French seafarers succeeded
shortly after he took office.
the Portuguese in the control of the seaborne
EARLY AND MODERN LEADERS Muhammad Imaduddin IV was the king who
ruled for the longest period of time in the
Early Maldive history is obscure. A legendary Maldives; his reign lasted for 48 years between
king from the neighboring subcontinent named 1835 and 1882. Muhammad Shamsuddin III
Koimala is said to have been the founder of the (1879–1935) ruled the Maldives in the first half
first kingly dynasty in the islands. In the local of the twentieth century. He was the monarch
oral tradition Koimala is often credited under whose auspices the first Maldivian
additionally with having become the first constitution (1932) was drafted and proclaimed.
Muslim ruler after converting to Islam, although
a time span of over thousand years separates Muhammad Amin (1910-54), also known as
both events. Amin Didi, became president of the first
republic in 1953. He attempted to modernize
A Muslim from Tabriz in Persia, Maulāna and secularize the Maldivian state. Amin had an
Shaikh Yūsūf Shams-ud-Dīn, also known as imposing appearance and hailed from a noble
Tabrīzugefānu, is hailed in the Tārīkh, a local family that included French ancestry. Besides
historical chronicle in Arabic, as the holy man reforming the military and the ceremonies of
that brought about the conversion to Islam of the state protocol, Amin also made a
the last Buddhist king in the twelfth century. contribution to Maldivian literature.
Moroccan explorer Ibn Batūta, however,
mentioned that the saint was Abū’l Barakāt the Abdullah Afīf (1916–93) was the leader of the
Berber from Morocco. short-lived breakaway state of Suvadives. The
secession took place in 1959, encompassing the
Queen Khadija was the ruler of the islands southernmost atolls of Addu, Huvadu, and Fua
when Ibn Batūta reached the Maldives in the Mulaku. The three atolls became again part of
fourteenth century. Al Idrisi, an Arab traveler the Maldive Islands in 1963, and Afīf was
who had visited the islands before the exiled to the Seychelles, where he died three
conversion to Islam, already expressed his decades later. Despite his role as a separatist
bewilderment about the Maldives being ruled leader, Afīf is still renowned in the southern
by a queen instead of a man in his Kitab Nuzhat atolls for his integrity and moral stature.
Al Mushtaq Fi Ikhtiraq Al Afaq.
Ibrahim Nasir (1926–2008) was the prime
According to Maldivian epic works, minister of the last king of the Maldives and
Muhammad Thakurufaan (d. 1585) helped free oversaw the signature of the declaration of
the islands from the Portuguese in the mid- independence from the British in 1965. Three
sixteenth century, and he has become one of the years later he abolished the ancient monarchy,
main figures of Maldivian nationalism. becoming the first president of the second
Muhammad Thakurufaan hailed from an island republic. Nasir sought to expand the
located at the northern end of the archipelago, modernization and secularization of the
and his residence has been preserved as a Maldivian state initiated by Amin. The first
national monument. tourist resorts, which would later become the
In the latter part of the sixteenth century, a mainstay of the Maldivian economy, began
Muslim East African crewman who deserted a operating under his rule. After being ousted
foreign trading ship for unknown reasons was from power, Nasir lived in exile in Singapore,
found praying on a sandbank near Malé. He was where he died in 2008.
brought to the capital, where a cult was built MAJOR THEOLOGIANS AND AUTHORS
around him and where he became known as
Sheikh Najib Habashi. No theologians and authors are known from the
Buddhist era. The works and the memory of
Maldivian Buddhist religious figures have been Dīnuge Magu (Path of Religion), published
effectively obliterated. After a long silent weekly in the local language during his tenure.
period, the first noteworthy Muslim authors of Through this journal he sought to promote an
the country began to propagate their works four ideology based on the official Maldivian form
centuries after the conversion to Islam. of Sunni Islam.

Vādū Dannakalēfānu, also known as Nāibu Muhammad Ibrahim Luthfi and Hasan Ahmed
Tuttu and Muhammadu Jamāl-ud-Dīn, was a Maniku are considered significant authors in
religious learned man of the late sixteenth Maldives. Their writings are mainly in Divehi,
century. He spent his last years in near reclusion and their work was primarily based on the
in Vādū Island, Huvadu Atoll, after having geography and the history of Maldives.
lived most of his life studying in Hadhramaut, Aminatu Faiza, known by her pen name
Southern Arabia. Nāibu Tuttu is the author of Daisymaa, is one of the country’s foremost
the Boḍu Tartību, a book in the Maldivian poets, weaving together the life and the religion
language about practical aspects of Islam. This of the islands.
scholar rigorously followed the Shafi’ school of
thought in matters of Fiqh (Islamic HOUSES OF WORSHIP & HOLY PLACES
jurisprudence), and his book is still in use In the twelfth century the first Muslim king
among traditional Maldivian Muslims in such ordered mosques to be built in all inhabited
matters as the proper procedure for burials. islands in order to replace the Buddhist temples
Husain Salahuddīn (1881-1948) worked to and shrines. Since that time the place of
strengthen Islam as part of the national identity worship for Maldivians is the mosque.
of the islands. He translated the Sirat, the There are mosques in every inhabited island, as
biography of the Prophet Muhammad, into the well as in the staff quarters of tourist resorts.
Maldivian language. Salahuddin also wrote an Islands with a significant congregation have
epic account eulogizing the role of Muhammad larger Friday mosques. Traditional Maldivian
Takurufānu, the Maldivian nationalist hero who mosques used to be very small structures of
is credited with having kept the Portuguese at coral stone and wood without a minaret built
bay in mid-sixteenth century. His son Ibrahim near the local graveyard. The mosque ceilings
Shihab (1909–88) was also an influential writer were elaborately carved and lacquered, and the
and statesman.
roof was thatched with coconut leaves.
Sheikh Muhammad Jamil, also known as Jamil Despite its relatively small size, the most
Didi (1915-89), greatly contributed to the important mosque in Maldives is the
religious development of the Maldivian people. seventeenth-century Old Friday Mosque in the
He translated Arabic texts and wrote primers on capital Malé. It has an unusually shaped minaret
essential devotion emphasizing morality and the rising above tombstones of ancient kings and
broadly accepted traditional social norms. Jamil queens located nearby. There are more than 700
developed a straightforward writing style, using mosques for men and about 200 mosques for
clear language whenever possible, so that every women throughout the country. The latter are a
Maldivian would understand the religious and traditional feature in some islands, but in 2009
moral teachings. Some of his descendants are the Islamic Ministry threatened to close all
prominent figures in the Maldivian government. women’s mosques, claiming that the
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom government was trying to cut expenditures.
studied at Al Azhar University in Egypt. As a Most mosques have been rebuilt or renovated in
religious author, he interpreted the Koran and recent decades owing to an influx of mainly
its message for the Maldivians in the journal Saudi funds. The Islamic Center with its Grand
Friday Mosque was built in 1984 with major accompanied by the boys of the household
funding from outside Maldives. The gold- except for the very small ones. During Friday
colored dome of this mosque is the first prayers all other activities are expected to cease.
building sighted when approaching the capital. According to local custom, it was considered
inauspicious to do any work, such as fishing, at
In the mid-twentieth century there was a small Friday prayer time.
church at the Royal Air Force base in Gan
Island, Addu Atoll. It was used by military Religious festivals in the Maldives tend to
personnel of the air base and was desecrated promote unity among Maldivians, as they
after the British left in 1976. involve communal worship, festivities, and
entertainment. The two major Islamic festivals
WHAT IS SACRED? are the Bodu Idu (Id al-Adha), or Feast of
Sacrifice, and the Kuda Idu (Id al-Fitr), the
Traditionally in the Maldives mosques had to be
kept scrupulously clean by the community, and feast marking the end of the Ramadan fast.
a lamp had to be kept burning inside at all Maldivians celebrate these festivals in the same
times. The Koran, as a holy book, has to be way as Sunni Muslims elsewhere do. In some
treated with care as well. People should never islands traditional music, games, and dances are
sit at the same level as the Koran, so it needs to often part of the holiday celebrations. The
be kept elevated on a special stand. Prophet Muhammad’s birthday is observed in
Maldives, though without the same high spirit
Graveyards have been held in special reverence. of festivity found during the Bodu Idu or Kuda
Women’s graves were marked by elaborately Idu.
carved rounded coral tombstones and men’s by
pointed ones. The often isolated tombs of Maulūdu was a traditional Muslim religious
revered persons were small buildings known as festival that involved chanting devotional songs
ziyaraiy. They were kept as clean as the in praise of the Messenger of Allah. In some
mosque, often with white flags planted within islands the celebration included the building of
the enclosure. a decorated pavilion that was lit with oil lamps
at night, as well as a large amount of special
Fandita is the traditional sorcery practiced by food. The chanting was done by a group of
local healers largely in order to cure the well-regarded men arrayed at one end of the
ailments of ordinary people. Formerly it was pavilion. This festival has been discouraged by
believed that, while other diseases could be religious hardliners since the 1980s.
cured by means of folk medicine (Divehi bēs),
fever could only be cured by fandita. Local MODE OF DRESS
Maldivian magic is syncretistic, incorporating Religious men who regularly attended mosque,
ancient local charms along with Koranic verses. as well as the mudīmu (the caretaker of the
mosque), were commonly dressed in white.
Maldivian folklore is marked by a widespread
belief in evil spirits causing disease and They favored a white long-sleeved shirt and a
monsters coming from the sea. The Koran is mostly white or light-patterned sarong (mundu),
seen as supporting this popular belief through an ankle-length cloth fastened around the waist.
certain verses referring to creatures known as Since President Nasir’s time, the government
jinn. has encouraged male officials to wear Western-
style clothes. A white kerchief (rumā) or a
HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS white skull-cap (tākiha) are normally used as
covering during worship.
Friday is the weekly holiday for Maldivians.
Men go to Friday prayers at noon, often
It was never customary for Maldivian women to and pork are available in tourist areas but are
wear veils or headscarves in daily life, but it restricted to foreign visitors.
was imperative that they wear their hair combed
and arranged neatly in a bun. Traditionally they RITUALS
wore a full black waistcloth (kandiki) and a Religious rituals in the Maldives are much like
long, shoulder-to-ankle dress in bright colors those in other Islamic nations. The ritual prayer,
(libās) on top of it. Noble ladies wore a salat, is conducted five times daily. Since 1981
patterned waistcloth (fēli). Schoolgirls wore a law enforces the closure of shops and offices
Western-style uniforms until the Islamization of in the islands for about 10-15 minutes after the
the 1980s imposed uniforms with a veil. prayer call.
Although government regulations have sought
to curtail the use of female dress that covers the During the month of Ramadan, islanders fast
face, Wahhabi men and other hardliners force during the daytime. Tea shops and restaurants
female members of their families to wear the are closed. Working hours are also limited.
full black veil. Selling food during the daytime in the month of
Ramadan is a punishable crime in the Maldives.
DIETARY PRACTICES In addition to abstaining from food and drink,
Most of the traditional Maldivian culinary most Maldivians listen to the Koran and the
preparations were based on three items: fish, recitation of religious texts, such as the Sirat, or
rice, and coconuts. There used to be little biography of the Prophet. The fast is broken
variety in the average daily diet. Rice was after sunset with a special meal and begins
imported, but some islands used to grow taro, again at dawn. Special prayers are recited
millet, and breadfruit. Traditional food included during the night.
the fruits of certain mangroves (kullavah, Maldivians always carefully buried their dead,
kandū), bananas, and the screwpine fruit and funerary rites were an essential part of
(kashikeyo). Vegetables were scarce and were island tradition. The ceremony before the burial
cultivated in small gardens adjacent to houses. usually took place at the main family home. The
The most common were chilies, drumstick deceased person was ritually washed and
(muranga), eggplant, sponge gourd (torā), and wrapped in white shrouds (five for women and
certain green leaves (kullafila, massāgu, three for men), which were given a strong
digutiyāra).
fragrance with camphor.
The most valued fish was tuna, which was also Local highly regarded men recited funeral
preserved as Maldive fish. Sea turtles and their prayers, while visitors came to “see the face” of
eggs were also eaten. Nearly every household the displayed body for the last time. It was
used to rear chicken, which were mostly eaten considered a disgrace for a Maldivian not to
as chicken curry. Sugar was formerly obtained have the proper funerary rites performed after
from the sap of coconut palms (rā), but it has death.
become scarce, and Maldivians now consume
imported white sugar. It is customary to chew The location and arrangement of the burial
areca nut along with betel leaf and cloves after place was a matter that was given great
meals. consideration by islanders. The dead were
buried with their face facing Mecca. Burial
Special sweets and drinks are prepared during grounds and isolated tombs (ziyāraiy) were the
the holy month of Ramadan to be enjoyed after most important landmarks in every island
breaking the fast. Reflecting Islamic dietary village, and most traditional celebrations
restrictions, alcoholic beverages, pork, and pork involving cooking and extensive meals, as well
products are outlawed in the Maldives. Alcohol as important social gatherings, were associated
with commemorative funerary ceremonies. girl was given one or more special dresses
Opposed by Wahhabi hardliners, the use of (libās) during a celebration with a meal
carved tombstones in the graveyards and the especially prepared for the event, and friends
elaborate funerary rituals have been on the and neighbors were invited. Although formerly
wane since the 1980s. very important in Maldivian society, the Libās
levvun custom has gradually vanished since the
Compared with the traditional burial, birth, and early 1980s.
menarche ceremonies, which were celebrated
with much fanfare amid cooking and feasting, MEMBERSHIP
the customary Maldivian marriage rites were
low-key events. In the last decades, however, The government does not aggressively
marriage celebrations and birthday parties have propagate Islam among expatriate non-Muslim
increased in importance, largely replacing some workers in Maldives. The authorities, however,
of the older rituals. expend a great deal of energy promoting the
spirit and culture of Islam, officially outlawing
RITES OF PASSAGE the propagation of any other religion in the
country. In practice, however, the government
A Maldivian baby is usually given an Arabic casts a relatively lenient eye on Hinduism and
name on the seventh day after birth. Most Buddhism, rarely censoring religious scenes in
islanders have an informal local name, as well Hindi movies, for instance, while firmly
as an official Arabic name. opposing the radio broadcasts of certain
The naming ceremony is accompanied with Christian programs in Divehi language from
ritual prayers followed by a celebration with other countries.
friends and relatives. In some of the islands it is Ever since the nineteenth century the Maldivian
customary to shave part of the baby’s hair on government has steadfastly opposed the
the day of naming. translation of the Bible into the Divehi
The circumcision of boys between the ages of 7 language. The first translations of the Gospels,
to 10 is compulsory by tradition in the made almost two centuries ago, were lost. In the
last two decades the Bible Society of Maldives
Maldives. Usually the local doctor (hakīm)
performs this rite, although in Malé this is based abroad has translated and published parts
normally done in a hospital. The circumcision of the Bible in Divehi, but the Supreme Council
ceremony takes place in the boy’s home, which for Islam responded by issuing a fatwa banning
is decorated and open to the community. these publications in the Maldives.
Visitors are entertained with traditional drum In recent years, and for the first time in the
music, games, and dances. They are also treated history of the islands, there have been
to special food while the boy lies in the middle Maldivians who have publicly declared
of the room on a bed surrounded by relatives, themselves atheists, rejecting Islam altogether.
who massage his feet and generally attempt to Following their avowal these persons have been
keep him comfortable. The boy also receives harassed and, in some instances, have been
gifts. The festivity lasts almost a week until the victims of violent attacks resulting in serious
boy is healed. injuries.
Libās levvun was the ceremony held on the SOCIAL JUSTICE
occasion of the menarche, the time of the first
menstruation of girls. This puberty ritual The government’s promotion of tourism has
marked the time when they were no longer been repeatedly criticized by militant Muslim
considered children and were introduced into politicians. Detractors have argued that tourism
the society as women ready for marriage. The
could lead to the erosion of the privileged hardliners, such as Wahhabis, who disregard
position of Islam in the nation. local social norms.

Initially tourism and fisheries provided full- POLITICAL IMPACT

employment, but unskilled jobs have been
increasingly taken over by migrant workers. In the Maldives Islam and politics are closely
While local unemployment has soared, there related. The nation’s president must be a Sunni
were about 50,000 Bangladeshis in the Muslim. Furthermore, the government uses all
Maldives in 2011, making up nearly a sixth of its power to enforce religious conformity,
the population of the country. Almost a third of considering the protection and promotion of
the Bangladeshi migrant workers are without Sunni Islam as one of its primary tasks, viewing
proper documents. Often despised and Islam as the glue that holds the islands together
mistreated by Maldivians, they work for a very as one harmonious nation.
low pay and are kept in poor living quarters, The role of the Islamic religion in Maldivian
often in near-slavery conditions. society, however, has changed significantly
The wealth from tourism has brought an since the beginning of the 1980s, when
increase in drug abuse as well, especially government–led Islamization was enforced
among the unemployed Maldivian youth. through campaigns such as Dīnuge
Formerly a society based on mellow and Hēlunterikan (Religious Awareness). That
peaceful values, recent times have seen the process helped breed local Wahhabi hardline
proliferation of violent street gangs in the groups who identify with international Islamic
Maldives. This phenomenon is most terrorist organizations. Wahhabis refuse to
conspicuous in the capital, where groups of acknowledge the right to rule of their own
young men congregate in public areas authorities, who they claim give precedence to
intimidating passers-by and starting fights. laws that are un-Islamic. This attitude has flared
Gang members are mostly unemployed youth up in a number of incidents, such as violence on
who often are drug users and are affiliated to the island of Himandū in October 2007, when
religious militant groups as well. Street gangs enraged Salafis attacked policemen using
use violence during political rallies and cause knives and clubs while throwing stones at them.
property damage to businesses and In spite of the increasing rifts in society created
neighborhoods. Manipulated by politicians,
by religious issues, Maldivians see their religion
gangs played a high-profile role in bringing as an identity marker. Most fear a loss of Islam
down former President Nasheed’s government resulting in a loss of Maldivian identity.
in February 2012.
Notwithstanding the great number that have
SOCIAL ASPECTS embraced virulent and revolutionary Islamic
ideologies in the past decades, Maldivians tend
The rate of divorce has been very high to be quietly conservative in their political
throughout the history of the islands. The views, reflecting their desire to preserve what
Maldives is listed in the Guinness World they see as the values of the Maldivian nation.
Records as the country with the
highest divorce rate in the world with CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
10.97 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants per year. The Maldivian courts apply a mixture of Sharia
Polygyny was frowned upon in traditional (Islamic law) and civil law mellowed by
society, but it is legally allowed in the country traditional island values; thus, the amputation of
with about 1 in 11 men having more than one hands and the death penalty are not enforced. In
wife. Most polygamous families are religious the fourteenth century Moroccan traveler Ibn
Batūta, who had been appointed as supreme
judge by royal order, reported that once when 1970s during President Nasir’s secular tenure.
he ordered the hands of people guilty of stealing Traditional Maldivian music has affinity with
to be cut off according to religious law, most the music from North India. Local folkloric
spectators in the hall fainted. Average dance was performed either by men (Gaa Odi
Maldivians still privately consider acts of Lava, Bodu Beru) or by women (Bandiyā
violence, even if committed in the name of Jehun), but it was not customary for men and
Islamic law, barbaric. women to dance together.

The government sanctions floggings and In the 1970s young people quickly adopted
banishment to remote islands, though, legal modern dances in parties and fairs. President
punishments that have been practiced in the Maumoon, however, seeking to change the
Maldives for centuries. The flogging and religious, political, and sociocultural structure
subsequent exile is particularly common among of the country, outlawed dancing among
women getting pregnant out of wedlock. Maldivians. In 1980 the few establishments
where Maldivians of both sexes used to dance
Islamic education for children has been together, such as Icege in the capital, were
imparted in small island madrassahs (Muslim closed. Staged dances of the traditional kind
schools) in Maldives for centuries, and since the were permitted, but discotheques were restricted
1900s Maldivian families have largely favored to tourist resorts.
secular schools for higher education. However,
beginning in 1984 large well-funded Islamic By limiting dance and music among the
schools with foreign teachers were opened in Maldivian people, militant Islamic groups were
the Maldives, and religious education was successful in largely stifling popular
extended into the high-school level. Successful entertainment on the islands in recent decades.
students went to Islamic religious universities Nonetheless, there were some islands in which
abroad to further their studies, often with the youth managed to avoid restrictions and
scholarships subsidized by foreign Islamic stage light merriment (Mali neshun, Kodi
organizations. It has been mainly through these kendun), particularly during religious festivals
schools that the Islamization of society was such as Bodu Idu.
accomplished, above all the enforcement of the
wearing of the headscarf among Maldivian OTHER RELIGIONS
girls.
In recent history there was only one distinct
In the 1980s Maldivian parents began sending religious minority in the Maldives, the Bohra
their sons and daughters to the new Islamic merchants. These were Ismā’ili Shiite Muslims
religious schools with the hope that their who used to live in Malé as a separate trading
children would become morally upright people community. They were originally from Bombay
in the future. Instead, some young Maldivians and Gujarat and owned the main shops in the
forsook the ancient indigenous traditions and capital, having settled there in the 1800s. There
emerged as political activists after completing are no statistics regarding their numbers, but
their studies, sponsoring violent causes and not they built the fine mosque known as Bandara
paying the customary attention to the guidance Miskiy that still stands. After being accused of
of their parents or the older people of the island. unfair trading practices and monopolizing
commerce, all Bohras were expelled by
CULTURAL IMPACT Muhammad Amin in the mid-twentieth century.

Although Sunni Islam generally restricts arts Ever since the government endorsed the Al
such as music, Maldivian culture includes Quds Fund campaign in the 1980s and
certain artistic expressions that flourished in the portrayed Jews as enemies of Muslims, virulent
anti-Semitic rhetoric has been common in the Amir, Hasan. Islamism and Radicalism in the
Maldives, above all among Wahhabis and other Maldives. Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate
religious hardliners. There has also been an School, 2011.
increasing use of religious issues in politics,
often leading to derogatory statements about Bell, H.C.P. Excerpta Maldiviana. New Delhi:
Christianity and Judaism, as well as accusations Asian Educational Services, 1998.
of cooperating with foreign Christian -------------. The Maldive Islands; Monograph
missionaries among politicians. The on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy.
intimidation of Maldivians calling for a more Colombo: Ceylon Government Press, 1940.
tolerant interpretation of Islam led in October
2012 to the murder of a prominent member of Forbes, Andrew. “The Mosque in the Maldive
parliament, a Muslim scholar supporting the Islands: A Preliminary Historical Survey.”
traditional Shafi’ school of thought. Archipel 26 (1983): 43–474.

The largest expatriate community is made up of Maloney, Clarence. People of the Maldive
Bangladeshi laborers, who are mostly Muslim Islands. Madras: Orient Longmans, 1980.
and who generally arrived beginning in the
1990s. Other foreign workers are Buddhist, Maniku, Hassan A. The Islands of Maldives.
Christian, and Hindu. They are mostly Malé: Novelty Press, 1983.
Filipinos, Sri Lankans, South Indians, and
Romero-Frias, Xavier. The Maldive Islanders:
Thais. They usually work in the tourist resorts
A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient
and in a number of other, mostly menial,
Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona: Nova
occupations.
Ethnographia Indica, 1999.
Xavier Romero-Frias
---------. Folktales of the Maldives.
See Also Vol. 1: Islam, Sunnism Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2012.

Bibliography Young, I. A., and W. Christopher. Memoir on

the Inhabitants of the Maldiva Islands.
Ali Naaz, Aishath. Rapid Situation Assessment Bombay: Transactions of the Bombay
of Gangs in Male. Malé: The Asia Foundation, Geographical Society, 1836.
2012.
Muhammad Jamil
A distinguished Maldivian writer and politician,
Muhammad Jamil (Jameel) Didi (1915–1989)
emphasized morality and the preservation of
broadly accepted social norms, expressed in
Divehi as Heu Nubai (Good versus Bad). His
works include Dīniyat, Ta’alim Diyāna, and
Dhu’ū sul Akhulaaq, which provided religious
lessons and daily moral guidance. In order to
convey basic moral teaching, Jamil translated
foreign fables, adapting them to the Maldivian
context. Jamil also wrote poetry, as well as the
lyrics of the Maldivian national anthem.

Jamil was the son of Abdullah Kamal-ud-Dīn,

attorney general of the Maldives, and studied at
Al-Azhar University in Egypt. He became
minister of justice in 1953 and attorney general in
1956. Jamil did not see any role for religious
political militancy in Maldivian society, preferring
to promote the time-honored values of gentleness,
personal devotion, social harmony, and respect for
the established authority. After his death in 1989,
President Maumoon recognized him with the
Usthaz-ul-Jīl (Generation Teacher) title.

Jamil was in favor of a modern state, but he was

also aware that the steadfast allegiance to Islam in
traditional Maldives was strengthened by a dense
structure of island customs and family
relationships. He remained faithful to the
conservative Shafi’I school of thought and
regarded the promotion of other Islamic sects
(mainly Salafism) as dangerous, introducing
unnecessary divisions in the country. Therefore,
he has been criticized by religious hardliners
hostile to local traditions.