in the Philippines, Thailand, and Burma, for exam-
ple. In the Philippines, Muslims comprise an esti-
mated 5–7 percent of the total population of 82
million, concentrated on the southern islands. In
Thailand, Muslims constitute an estimated 5–10
percent of the 62 million population: a significant
population of Malay-speaking Muslims in South-
ern Thailand share cultural and historical ties with
Malays, which have been promoted within a recent
ethnic resurgence; in Indochina as well, the Cham,
many of whom are Muslim, have formed an impor-
tant minority (Nakamura 1999). Nakamura also
describes Indian Muslims in Indochina, who form
small groups there, as in many other parts of
Southeast and East Asia.
Philippine, Thai, and Singapore Malay Muslim
family and kinship practices follow versions of the
basic insular Southeast Asian bilateral, extended,
female-focused kinship patterns, but as in Indo-
nesia and Malaysia, there are separate family law
provisions for Muslims in each of these countries.
In the areas affected by separatist movements,
however, there has been extensive disruption of
family and kinship patterns. There is little focused
information on the kinship practices of Muslims in
Indochina, although Nakamura has reported
female-centered kinship and family patterns among
the Cham (1999; see also EWIC I, 228–31).
The 1990 census in China lists 17.6 million Mus-
lims in China, mainly in the northwest and central
provinces. Jaschok and Shui (2000) note how
Islamic law defines the relationship between hus-
band and wife in a way that overlaps with Chinese
“traditional” (sic) practices, granting men a range
of rights over women in households. Jaschok and
Shui see women’s engagement in the post-revolu-
tionary, modern labor force as bringing a greater
degree of equality, and divorces, once infrequent,
are on the rise. They argue that Muslim women’s
instrumentality in China, especially within female
mosques, preserves and invigorates the faith. Glad-
ney also sees Hui Muslim Chinese marriage net-
works across large geographical distances as an
important way of preserving cultural identity (1991,
255). In the other East Asian countries, Muslim
numbers are small, and information sparse, al-
though transnational migrants, such as Indonesian
domestic workers, are a growing presence in places
such as Hong Kong.
Among the 280,000 Muslims in Australia (from
70 countries), women have higher than average
post-school qualifications and involvement in non-
standard occupations, marry at a younger age than
average, and divorce more frequently, with Islamic
southeast asia, east asia, australia, and the pacific 353beliefs around marriage and divorce subjected to
Australian family law (Saeed 2003). Muslim women
have been active in organizations, including the
influential Muslim women’s National Network
of Australia. Saeed notes that there is extensive
disagreement among Australian Muslims about
women’s roles, especially segregation and dress
codes (2003).
In the Pacific, the main Muslim presence is the 16
percent of Indo-Fijians who are Muslim. (Descend-
ants of indentured plantation labor, Indo-Fijians
comprise 44 percent of Fiji’s 830,000 population.)
There is little focused material on Indo-Fijian gen-
der, family, and kinship relations, but Lateef (1993)
reports the re-establishment in the diaspora of
some patterns from India, extensive change in fam-
ily and kinship patterns recently with moderniza-
tion, a persistence of arranged marriage (albeit
via marriage bureaus), and growing numbers of
love marriages which parents still try to contain.
Women’s groups have highlighted issues of domes-
tic and ethnically-based violence toward Indo-
Fijian women.Bibliography
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