ABSTRACT
Moslem merchants from Hindustan, especially from Gujarat, brought Islam to the Indonesian Archipelago. Indonesian chronicles describe the first arrival of Islam in legendary form. Malacca was the main starting point of Islam propaganda in the archipelago, as its trading relations to the east and to the west increased rapidly. As long as the Arab states have diverging interests, Pan-Islamism will remain an empty word. One of the reasons why it was possible for Islam and for Christianity too, to spread so easily in the Indonesian archipelago, is the great sense for syncretism of the inhabitants of Indonesia. The scientific study of Islam in the Indies began with Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje’s arrival in Batavia in 1889. Clause 97 of the "Regulation for Commissaries-General" stated, that "the prayer meetings of all religions in the Netherlands Indies have the protection of the High Government, provided, that this prayer meeting is of no danger for public order".
