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Orang Asli Being Indigenous and Muslim

Here the issue being discussed sometimes is about being indigenous and Muslim. An indigenous person always stands for protecting the environment and realizes that human sustenance depends on nature. An indigenous person comes from a people that lived on their land and preserved their environment from time immemorial. By definition indigenous people are people who have lived on their land since time immemorial and indigenous peoples around the world have much in common all equally suffering at the hands of industrialized nations and corporate entities.

In the Middle East and Central Asia many Muslims are detached from protecting their environment and in general have nothing to do with any indigenous culture. However there are Muslims in the Middle East and Central Asia who work on preserving the environment and educating the general population to protect the environment. There are also Muslims in other locations who are truly indigenous and live in harmony with the environment. The Orang Asli Muslims are one of them. An indigenous Muslim person who is interested in issues dealing with being Muslim and indigenous can look at the Orang Asli Muslims in Malaysia.

Orang Asli which means original peoples or aboriginal peoples in Malay.

Being the indigenous population of Malaysia, they are recognized by the Malaysian government and society.

A third of the 147,000 Orang Asli are Muslims.

The Orang Asli are divided into three main groups with each group being divided into sub-groups:

1.Negrito - Kensiu 232 members, Kintak 157 members, Jahai 1843 members, Lanoh 350 members, Mendriq 164 members, Batek 1255 members. Total of 4001 individuals.

2.Senoi - Semai 43892 members, Temiar 25725 members, Jah Hut 5104 members, Che Wong 664 members, Mah Meri 2986 members, Semaq Beri 3545 members. Total of 81,826 individuals.

3.Aboriginal Malay - Temuan 22162 members, Semelai 6418 members, Jakun 27448 members, Orang Kanaq 83 members, Orang Kuala 4067 members, Orang Seletar 1407 members. Total of 61,585 individuals.