Oceans That Speak: Islam and the Emergence of Malay World

The Malay world has for centuries been a crossroads of cultures. Geography has put it at the centre of trade networks between east and west; the monsoon winds made the region a sanctuary for merchants and mariners, bringers of more than trade cargoes. When Islam arrived in the Malay world, the aesthetic landscape changed forever. Not even European colonisation could hold back the tide that came with improved travel and communications between the Muslims of Southeast Asia and the heartlands of South Asia and the Middle East.

This book explores the complex currents of exchange that came with the movement of people, ideas and faith. The creative outcome is highly distinctive and often overlooked. Oceans that Speak gives a voice to this heritage, expressed in the writing of pre-eminent scholars in the field and the matchless collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.