The Thai king, who is the head of the state, is the patron of all religions, according to the long-standing tradition of the Thai monarchy and also as per the provisions of the constitution of Thailand. The Thai monarch has always extended royal patronage and support to Thai Muslims as he has done to the people of other religious faiths. Islam and Thai Muslims have thus been supported by every Thai king during their reigns.
The Thai monarchs have consistently supported Islamic affairs and have been involved in many activities and ceremonies celebrated as part of religion of Islam. The king appoints the Chularajmontri (Shiekhul Islam or Grand Mufti), who is nominated by the prime minister, after first receiving approval from the Provincial Islamic Committees. The Shiekhul Islam is assumed as the leader of the Thai Muslims. King Bhumibol Adulyadej has also launched a project to translate the Holy Qu’ran into the Thai language.
The king often allocates his personal funds for the construction and restoration of mosques or Islamic monuments. The kings and the queens have always participated in the ceremony marking the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (called Maulidinnabi) celebrated by the Thai Muslim community every year. In their absence, they appoint a high-ranking member of the royal Thai family to preside over Islamic functions and festivals.
According to the constitution, Thai Muslims enjoy the same level of support, freedom and protection, which other Thai citizens enjoy. They have the full liberty to practice their faith and propagate the Islamic belief as well as take part in religious and social affairs inside and outside the country. They also enjoy same political rights and they participate, without any discrimination, in the Thai political system of democracy in which the king is regarded as head of state.
Successive Thai governments and parliaments have attached great importance to promoting Islamic affairs and the status of Thai Muslims. Both institutions are also committed to the protection of Thai Muslims so that they can preserve their identity and live according to Islamic principles, traditions and ways of life. In this spirit, an Act on the Administration of Islamic Organizations was enacted in 1997, leading to the formation of the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand.
The Central Islamic Committee is presided over by the Chularajmontri (Shiekhul Islam or Grand Mufti), who acts as a state adviser on Islamic affairs. Under the central body, each province with a sufficiently large Muslim population has its own Provincial Islamic Committee. The provincial chapter acts in an advisory capacity on Islamic affairs at the provincial level and has the power to appoint the committee of mosque. At present, there are a total of 3,460 committees of the mosques nationwide.
In the field of education, the National Education Act stipulates that individuals, families, communities, and social and religious institutions, including non-governmental organizations, shall have the right to provide basic education and shall be entitled to equitable benefits given by the government. The Thai Muslim youth thus have the full liberty to study Islam offered by various Islamic entities at a very young age. Usually, young Thai Muslims are first enrolled in the pre-school development center (rawdah) run by the local mosques. After that, they are enrolled at a center for religious and ethics training (tadika) also run by the local mosques.
At the primary and secondary school levels, Thai Muslims are able to choose between attending regular schools or private Islamic schools (Pondok or Ponoh) or private schools that offer instruction in both religious studies and regular subjects. At the university level, the government had set up the College of Islamic Studies in Pattani Province in 1988. In 1998, a private Islamic college was set up in Yala Province, with financial support from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and other sources including the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
On several occasions in the past, Saudi Arabia sponsored Thai pilgrims to perform Haj. This is in addition to a large number of scholarships given by the Jeddah-based IDB to Thai students. Hence, Muslims of Thailand enjoy similar rights and freedom like the other citizens of other faiths. It was way back in 2003 that an Islamic Bank of Thailand, based on Shariah law and practices, was also established with the government’s support to extend banking services to the Muslim communities.
