ABSTRACT
The Islamic communities in the region are large but vary in their position within the broader society from being dominant majorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia to being a strong minority in Malaysia to being a weak minority in the contemporary Republic of India. The vibrant vitality of nineteenth-century Islam continued in the twentieth century. In Southeast Asia during the first half of the twentieth century, the issues of winning independence, defining national identity, and creating an ideological basis for modernization were significant. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Chinese immigrants made up almost half of the population, and there was a significant Indian community. Within the Dutch East Indies, the Muslims were, at least in theory, a dominant majority, but non-Islamic traditions remained strong in the twentieth century. The Islamic groups were strong more because of the widespread support for Islam than because of effective organization or unified leadership.
