 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present The Pacific Story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the people to its destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific. And it's meaning to us and to the generations to come. Islam in the Pacific. Five times a day, imams throughout Islam call the faithful to prayer. And Muslims from Morocco to the Philippines, from Manchuria to the Dutch Indies, kneel and touch their foreheads to the ground in the direction of Mecca. And this is their creed. There is no God. It's expressed the fundamentals which have made the Muslims one of the most powerful groups on earth. Today there are 250 million Muslims in the world. Three quarters of these live in lands washed by the Pacific Ocean. Their influence on world affairs is great. In the years to come, it may still be greater. Even today, many people of the Pacific are becoming Muslims. Arabians began converting the people to the Pacific to Mohammedanism more than a thousand years ago. You said for me, Holy One. Yes. You are a seafaring man. I have been a traveler and trader all my days. I am told you have journeyed far to the east. Yes. I have visited India and China and the islands beyond. Are these lands as wondrous as they are fabled? India and China are the greatest lands in all the world. Rich in wealth and in ancient wisdom. With my own eyes I have seen the miracles of their medicine. And their scholars are skilled in astronomy and mathematics and chemistry. And they are cunning in the arts of music and painting and calligraphy. So we have heard they are more fabulous than man has ever dreamed. But they know nothing of Islam. They have religions of their own. Our prophet before he died, bad us carry his word to them. Our belief is strange to them, but they have a great knowledge of their own. We will seek their knowledge and carry to them the word of our prophet. How can I serve Holy One? When will you be ready to sail to the east? In two days now. Three of us missionaries will go with you. We will carry to the far east the sacred word. The boats of the Arabs loaded with brocades and jewelry, perfumes, porcelains and glassware put out to sea and headed eastward. And with them went the missionaries of Islam. Many long days must pass Holy One before we see the far away shores of India. Time and distance are nothing in Islam. We bring the word. At sea, at the shore, the faithful turned toward Mecca and uttered their prayers. While the Arab merchants traded their precious goods, the missionaries spread the word of the prophet. The prophet says. India as in North Africa and near east. In fact, Mohammedism caught the imagination of the people. Muslim mosques were built and these became the centers of Muslim education. Islam spread to India and to China. Most august emperor. The embassy of Arabs from across the seas is here. And pray for their audience with your celestial highness. Did them enter? Yes, your highness. Were they ambassadors of Arabia? The emperor of all China. We'll see you now. Thank you. Come. The emperor. The ambassadors of Arabia. Were the ambassadors? China welcomes you. I bring this gift to your celestial highness. I bring this gift to your celestial highness. I bring this gift to your celestial highness. A thousand thanks to your ruler and to your land and to you. Were the ambassadors of Arabia. You will kneel according to our custom before our most gracious emperor. Our faith forbids that we kneel before any man. Even a sovereign. We kneel only before Allah our God. Most gracious emperor. According to their belief. The worthy ambassadors kneel only before their God. Celestial highness. We come with good tidings of the word of the prophet. Before God all men are equal. Each must live according to his own faith. We shall not judge you according to ours. Islam spread to China and to the isolated regions of Central Asia, thousands of miles from the sea. Arabs, ardent followers of Islam, came and settled in the territories that are now St. Yang, Kansu, Chinggai. Chinese were converted to Mohammedanism in ever greater numbers. The Arabs and the Chinese and the peoples of the native tribes intermarried. Islam in China became strong and spread throughout the Far East and out into the islands of the Pacific. The Mohammedans now dominate the great island of Mindanao and the Shulo Archipelago. The Mohammedans are now the most numerous group in all the Dutch East Indies. The Mohammedans are increasing in number and their influence is growing in the great settlements. In the islands, in the great land masses of Asia, everywhere echoed the words of the faithful. Muslims everywhere worked together for the advancement of Islam. From far and near the Muslims of China, of the Philippines, of the Dutch Indies, of the straight settlements of India. From far and near the Muslims of the world made pilgrimage to Mecca. And deep within them grew a movement of drawing together, of uniting all Muslims. They yearned and worked for Pan-Islam. In India, the Muslims worked tirelessly to convert believers in other faiths to Mohammedanism. We Muslims worship one God. Hindus worship many gods. We Muslims believe that all men are equal before God. Are the Muslims really converting many Indians to Mohapendism? Quite a good number, Mr. Walton. Yes. You see, the Muslims believe in going out and converting whomever they can. The Hindus don't try to win new converts. I see. The Hindus are passive and tolerant. The Muslims, on the other hand, are active and in many ways intolerant. Then the Hindus tend to, shall we say, efface themselves. But to put it another way, the Hindus are by and large obedient to the rules of society and of the family. Your Muslim is more of an individual. The Muslim religion allows more freedom to the individual. We Muslims worship no idols, but only the true God. You who will join Islam, follow me. In the northeast of India, the Muslim strength was greatest. In some regions, 95% of the population was Mohammedan. In the northwest provinces and the northeast provinces together, there were 65 million Muslims. Scattered throughout the rest of India, there were 25 million more. Centered principally about Delhi, Agra, Aligarh and Lucknow. Their growing strength began to assert itself politically. For a good many years, the Muslims had moved step by step toward what we might call separatism. You mean they regard themselves as apart from the other Indians? In a way, yes. They think of themselves as closer to the Muslims of other countries than to, say, the Hindus of India. That's that pan-Islamic thinking, isn't it? Yes, and they've come to this way of thinking through rather a long process. Back in 1909, for example, they were given a separate vote to elect their own representatives in the provinces in which they were in the minority. I see. In effect then, they are no longer a minority. Not in the same sentence before. And ten years later, in 1919, they were given representation in excess of their numbers in the minority provinces. You mean that they were given more representation than their percentage of the population? In the minority provinces, yes. Then actually, the Muslims had more political power for their numbers than the other groups of India. Actually, it was a step towards equalizing the representation of the various groups. And just ten years ago, in 1935, the Muslims were given four separate electorates, in addition to the representation they had in the minority provinces. Seems to me that this has placed the Muslims in a very favorable position in India. It has given them great political strength. You see, they demanded these spatial arrangements, as they said, to safeguard their interests. I see. And out of this has grown the claim that they are separate people and as such entitled to separate homeland. So, you see, it's not only a matter of representation here in India, but it's also... The Pan-Islamic movement, the idea of uniting all Muslims in one ideal state, has been underway a long time. In the Dutch East Indies, there was an active Pan-Islamic movement just before the First World War. And from time to time, Muslims in one country have made demands on behalf of Muslims in other countries. It was back in 1919, I think, that the Muslims of India and the Kilafat movement tried to force the British government to restore the keel up to the throne of Turkey. You mean in the interest of Pan-Islamism? Yes. The truth was that the Turks themselves, although they were Muslims, wished a republic. Uh-huh. That's a little like what the Nazis did in 1938 and 1939. Made demands for the Sudeten Germans who lived outside of Germany. There is a very close parallel. You see, the Pan-Islamic idea takes it for granted. The Pan-Islamic idea crystallized in the Pakistan movement in 1933. Pakistan means the land of the pure. This was Chaudhary Ramat Ali, a leading Muslim. Pakistan means the pure in religion. We have used the name Pakistan because it is made up of the first letters of the regions of what we wish someday to be our state. Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Sindh. These regions are in India's northwest. But they also include the Muslim regions of the northeast. Bengal and Assam. For Pakistan is more than a geographical thing. We think of it as including all Muslims wherever they are. Within India, the leaders of the Pakistan movement talked more of Muslim solidarity, more of partition. Politics and religion became entangled. Members of the Pakistan movement took the position that the Muslims were not only a distinct religious group, but were in fact a nation apart from other nations. The solution of India's problem is nationalism, not separatism. So spoke Hindu leaders. To begin with, the two proposed Muslim states in India would be worse off economically. If they were separated from the rest of India, then if they remained part of national India. Because of their resources? Yes. These regions you see are poor in industrial and agricultural resources. The industry could be developed, couldn't it? There are no coal or iron in these regions. And even if the two proposed Pakistan states were set up in India, there would still be a 25 billion Muslims in India outside of these two states. You mean scattered throughout India? Yes. The 65 million in the northwest and the northeast would have a separate homeland. But the 25 million would have no homeland. Do you think there would be agitation in the Pakistan states 25 million back into Pakistan? At least it would create a new set of problems, a serious or more serious perhaps, than the problems that now exist. You must understand that the ideal Muslim state is one in which everyone is a Muslim. And this is what the Pakistan movement hopes to achieve. You see, the Muslim demand for a separate homeland is only the first step. The objective of the Pan-Islamic movement is to link all the lands of the Muslims together. So, you see, what happens now at this time is of the greatest concern. So spoke Hindu leaders. But the leaders of the Pakistan movement continue to think in terms of a Muslim state. They look toward China, where there was somewhere between 45 million and 65 million Muslims. Most of the Muslims in China are centered in Xinjiang, Kansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang. These four Chinese provinces should cease to be part of China and should become part of Pakistan. This proposal was made to the leaders of the Muslims in China, but they were not of like mind. We Chinese Muslims have no thought of bringing the four Chinese provinces into the separate state of Pakistan. The Chinese Muslims had been strong for years, but their thinking had been different from that of the Indian Muslims. Once they had swept through Xinjiang in a bloody conquest of the entire province. And in the years since, they revolted again and again. You have come here to Sinkyang, Mr. Walton, to study the Muslim problem? Yes. I have traveled to a good part of the East on the same mission. India, Afghanistan, the Dutch Indies. It is my advice that you leave at once. Well, I've come a long way. If you wish to return, you will understand that we Chinese are unable to guarantee at this time that you will be safe. There may be another uprising at any time. The relations between the Chinese and the Chinese Muslims were changed by the invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese in 1931. Immediately, both the Chinese nationalist government and the Japanese made bids for the support of the Chinese Muslims. The Chinese nationalists drew closer to the Chinese Muslims. And the Japanese sent Chinese Muslims out into Sinkyang as agents. The Japanese are the friends of Islam. I have studied in Japan, and I know they have sent many of us Chinese Muslims on pilgrimages to Mecca. All of us Muslims must see that our course is to fight the Chinese nationalists. The time has come for us to rise up. While the Japanese agents were acted in Sinkyang, the Chinese nationalists and the Catholic man king tried to figure what the Chinese Muslims would do. Would they listen to the Japanese propaganda, or would they throw their allegiance to the Chinese nationalist government? What do you think, Chen? You lived among them a long time. The Chinese Muslims are a little moved by the Japanese propaganda, Mr. Walton. You think they will draw closer to you nationalists? That is hard to say. But it is sure that they will use this situation to better their own political position in Chinese affairs. They're supporting your policies. Do not be deceived by that. They have not forgotten our years of conflict with them. They seem to be cooperating with them. Our course lies in working to develop harmony with the Chinese Muslims. Real harmony. And this will be one of our touchiest problems. The Chinese Muslims were just one of the problems of the Chinese nationalist government. They were also the Chinese communists. The Muslims submitted phenomenal control by the nationalists. But the communists elected to fight the nationalists. The communists fought their way across China to the northwest. The nationalists pursued them. This posed a serious problem to the Muslims. Well, how do you Muslims feel about these nationalist forces moving into your country here? We must admit them so that they can isolate the communists. You have never admitted them before in these numbers. This is a practical matter. The communists are here, and we must be protected against them. The Muslims realized that in the name of the fight against the communists, their region had been taken over by the nationalists. None of this was lost on the Japanese who saw an opportunity to drive a wedge between the Muslims and the nationalists. You have nothing in common with the Chinese nationalists. You have much more in common with Japan. So spoke the Chinese Muslims sent down from Manchuria as agents of the Japanese. We Chinese Muslims in Manchukuo know the integrity of the Japanese. The Muslim leaders of China's far west? Listen. What do the nationalists offer you? Nothing but submission to their central government. The Japanese offer you the right to rule yourself. And consider this. One day the Japanese will extend their control all the way across China to your territory here. Is it not better to accept the hand of friendship the Japanese offer you now? The Chinese Muslims saw the hidden hand of Japanese intrigue. They saw the Japanese purpose, and they drew closer to the nationalists. In 1938 in Hangkou, they organized to counteract the Japanese. They have tried to stir us to revolt against the nationalists, and they will try to stir up revolt among you. Chinese Muslims traveled far abroad to advise Muslims in other lands of the Japanese intrigue. The welfare of Islam does not lie with the Japanese. They are seeking to promote uprisings among us for their benefit. The Chinese Muslims traveled to Burma and to India, to Malaya and North Borneo. They talked to the sultans and they talked to the people, and everywhere they said the same things. Do not be deceived by the Japanese. They spoke as Chinese, fighting for the welfare of their land, rather than as Muslims alone. When the nationalist governments moved westward to Chongqing, the Chinese Muslims also set up headquarters there. You see, besides being close to the nationalist government, we have here the large mosque, you see there. Yes, it's certainly impressive. It is the last and largest mosque in Chongqing. All of the others have been destroyed by Japanese bombers? Yes, they have destroyed our mosques all over China, hundreds of them, even the beautiful what you see in Xian. Oh yes, I remember seeing that. It was more than a thousand years old. Yes. You have the headquarters of your organization here in Chongqing, don't you? Yes. What do you call it? It is the Chinese Islamic National Salvation Federation. Big name. It does a big job. We have branches in 17 provinces of China, and we have more than 250 county agencies. What's there? Must be another air raid. Japanese bombers approaching. Japanese bombers approaching. Oh, sorry, we must get down there to a shelter. They don't give you much time, do they? There they come. Get down. Look at them come. When the echoes of the last bomb had died and the last Japanese plane had left, whole sections of Chongqing again lay in ruin. Flames licked high into the skies, the Chinese stood by helpless. They have destroyed our mosque, our last mosque in Chongqing. To think that it should have stood here since the Ming dynasty. Been the center of worship for thousands of our faithful. Then should have come to this. Japanese said they were our friends, our protectors. We were right about them. We were right about them. Today, the great majority of the Muslims of the world live in the lands and islands of the Pacific. There are 90 million Muslims in India, between 45 and 65 million in China, 54 million in the Dutch Indies, 650,000 in the Philippines, and considerable numbers in Borneo, the strait settlement, Tilan, and on other islands. Islam has become a power in the Pacific. Today, as in the last several decades, Islam is in a state of flux. In the Indies, there is talk among the Muslims of combinations of politics and the faith. There is a trend among the Muslims of Java and Sumatra toward mystic fraternities. This is an official of the Dutch Indies. They call these mystic fraternities tarakats. And what is the significance of these fraternities? Northern North for sure, since the Japanese now have been in Java and Sumatra for three years. But the indication is that it is political. The Muslims are organizing their political strength? That and the movement toward nationalism. You see, there has been for many years a pan-Islamic movement in the Indies. It has not been able to assert itself during these years of Japanese occupation. But it may be an important factor when the war in the Pacific is over. When that time comes, then we must take it. Even as the Islamic world has been in a state of turmoil, as various Muslim nationalities sought to advance the pan-Islamic movement, there have been changes within Islam. In the 20s, there arose one Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. I am the manifestation of both Jesus and Mohammed. I am the reincarnation of Krishna. Follow me. No, no, you speak heresy. I have been faithful to Islam all my days, and you know not of what you speak. I am the manifestation of both Jesus and Mohammed. Islamism is strong and vital, and he reeks of the dust of the ages. He is a charlatan. bitterness rose in Islam with the hand of one Muslim against another. Both the old believers and the young attacked it, yet it grew. But as it grew, the movement for pan-Islamism suffered. We cannot draw together as one people while there are yet such differences among us. The eyes of Muslims everywhere are upon us. The Chinese, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Indians. Before we can join hands with our people in other lands, we must first join hands with our own people here. The influence of the Amarijan movement waned. The strength of the Pan-Islamic movement grew. Pan-Islam! Pan-Islam! We have won our own elections and our own electorates. Now let us unite for our own homelands. Pakistan! What do you think? I don't know. What will be the borders of Pakistan? No one knows. They want to start with their states in the northwest and the northeast, and then have the Muslim majorities there and vote on where the boundaries will be. Yes, but they might vote them where it would not be acceptable to others. Yes, that is one of the big problems. It would always be the possibilities Pakistan would extend over most or all of India, as Prussia did in Germany. Pakistan! Pakistan! Pakistan! At the war's end, one of the most urgent questions in India will be the question of Pakistan. The problem promises to be all the more difficult since the close of the war may find the more than one-quarter billion Muslims in a stronger position than ever before. And with this strength, the Islamic movement may well have a rebirth, not only in India, but wherever the faithful gather to chant their creed. There's no God but God! We're going to the Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable across currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. To repeat, for a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. It is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. Your narrator, Gain Whitman. This program has come to you from Hollywood. This is the National Broadcasting Company.