ArabMelayu

ArabMelayu is a term used in some Southeast Asian scholarship and discourse to describe historical and ongoing connections between Arab communities and Malay-speaking populations in the Malay Archipelago, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, and parts of the southern Philippines. It does not denote a single ethnic group but a spectrum of identities tied by history, religion, and exchange.

Historically, Arab traders, scholars, and clerics interacted with Malay polities from medieval times through the early modern era. Coastal ports along the Strait of Malacca, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo served as hubs for commerce and learning. Intermarriage, Islam, and the transmission of religious and legal knowledge contributed to blended cultures, with Arabic and Persian scholarship shaping Malay literature and practice.

Cultural influence includes language, names, and religious life. Arabic loanwords appear in religious and administrative domains, and naming practices often reflect Arab-Malay heritage. Sufi networks and Islamic institutions from the Arab world helped shape religious life in coastal communities.

In contemporary usage, ArabMelayu may refer to people of mixed Arab and Malay ancestry or to communities perceived as having Arab-Malay heritage. Usage varies regionally and can reflect social status, religion, or family history; it is not a fixed ethnolinguistic category.

Scholars emphasize the diversity of Arab-Malay interactions and caution against treating the label as a homogeneous modern identity.