8 Jawi
Candi Ruman
Jawi was developed during the advent of Islam in Maritime Southeast Asia, supplanting the earlier Brahmic scripts used during Hindu-Buddhist era. The oldest evidence of Jawi writing can be found on the 14th century Terengganu Inscription Stone, a text in Classical Malay that contains a mixture of Malay, Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies. There are two competing theories on the origins of the Jawi alphabet. Popular theory suggests that the system was developed and derived directly from the Arabic script, while scholars like R. O. Windstedt suggest it was developed with the influence of the Perso-Arabic alphabet.[1]
The ensuing trade expansions and the spread of Islam to other areas of Southeast Asia from the 15th century carried the Jawi alphabet beyond the traditional Malay-speaking world. Until the 20th century, Jawi was the standard script of the Malay language, and gave birth to traditional Malay literature when it featured prominently in official correspondences, religious texts, and literary publications. With the arrival of Western influence through colonization and education, Jawi was relegated to religious education, with the Malay language eventually adopting a form of the Latin alphabet called Rumi that is currently in general usage.
Today, Jawi is one of two official scripts in Brunei. In Malaysia, the position of Jawi is protected under Section 9 of the National Language Act 1963/67, as it retains a degree of official use in religious and cultural contexts. In some states, most notably Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, Jawi has co-official script status as businesses are mandated to adopt Jawi signage and billboards. Jawi is also used as an alternative script among Malay communities in Indonesia and Thailand.[2]
Until the early 20th century, there was no standard spelling system for Jawi. The earliest orthographic reform towards a standard system was in 1937 by The Malay Language and Johor Royal Literary Book Pact. This was followed by another reform by Za'aba, published in 1949. The final major reform was the Enhanced Guidelines of Jawi Spelling issued in 1986, which was based on the Za'aba system. Jawi can be typed using the Jawi keyboard.
According to Kamus Dewan, Jawi (جاوي) is a term synonymous to 'Malay'.[7] The term has been used interchangeably with 'Malay' in other terms including Bahasa Jawi or Bahasa Yawi (Kelantan-Pattani Malay, a Malayan language used in Southern Thailand), Masuk Jawi[8] (literally "to become Malay", referring to the practice of circumcision to symbolise the coming of age), and Jawi pekan or Jawi Peranakan (literally 'Malay of the town' or 'Malay born of', referring to the Malay-speaking Muslims of mixed Malay and Indian ancestry).[9] With verb-building circumfixes men-...-kan, menjawikan (literally 'to make something Malay'), also refers to the act of translating a foreign text into Malay language. The phrase Tulisan Jawi that means 'Jawi script' is another derivative that carries the meaning 'Malay script'.[7]
Prior to the onset of Islamisation, the Pallava script, Nagari, and old Sumatran scripts were used in writing the Malay language. This is evidenced from the discovery of several stone inscriptions in Old Malay, notably the Kedukan Bukit inscription and Talang Tuo inscription. The spread of Islam in Southeast Asia and the subsequent introduction of Arabic writing system began with the arrival of Muslim merchants in the region since the seventh century. Among the oldest archaeological artefacts inscribed with Arabic script are; a tombstone of Syeikh Rukunuddin dated 48 AH (668/669 CE) in Barus, Sumatra; a tombstone dated 290 AH (910 CE) on the mausoleum of Syeikh Abdul Qadir Ibn Husin Syah Alam located in Alor Setar, Kedah; a tombstone found in Pekan, Pahang dated 419 AH (1026 CE); a tombstone discovered in Phan Rang, Vietnam dated 431 AH (1039 CE); a tombstone dated 440 AH (1048 CE) found in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; and a tombstone of Fatimah Binti Maimun Bin Hibat Allah found in Gresik, East Java dated 475 AH (1082 CE).[11][12] Islam was spread from the coasts to the interior of the island and generally in a top-down process in which rulers were converted and then introduced more or less orthodox versions of Islam to their peoples. The conversion of King Phra Ong Mahawangsa of Kedah in 1136 and King Merah Silu of Samudra Pasai in 1267 were among the earliest examples.
At the early stage of Islamisation, the Arabic script was taught to the people who had newly embraced Islam in the form of religious practices, such as the recitation of Quran as well as salat. The Arabic script was accepted by the Malay community together with their acceptance of Islam and was adapted to suit spoken Classical Malay. Six letters were added for sounds not found in Arabic: ca, pa, ga, nga, va and nya. Some Arabic letters are rarely used as they represent sounds not present in modern Malay however may be used to reflect the original spelling of Arabic loanwords. The sounds represented by these letters may be assimilated into sounds found in Malay's native phoneme inventory or in some instances appear unchanged. Like the other Arabic scripts, some letters are obligatorily joined while some are never joined.[13][14] This was the same for the acceptance of Arabic writing in Turkey, Persia and India which had taken place earlier and thus, the Jawi script was then deemed as the writing of the Muslims.[15]
The oldest remains of Malay using the Jawi script have been found on the Terengganu Inscription Stone, dated 702 AH (1303 CE), nearly 600 years after the date of the first recorded existence of Arabic script in the region. The inscription on the stone contains a proclamation issued by the "Sri Paduka Tuan" of Terengganu, urging his subjects to "extend and uphold" Islam and providing 10 basic Sharia laws for their guidance. This has attested the strong observance of the Muslim faith in the early 14th century Terengganu specifically and the Malay world as a whole.[11]
The development of Jawi script was different from that of Pallava writing which was exclusively restricted to the nobility and monks in monasteries. The Jawi script was embraced by the entire Muslim community regardless of class. With the increased intensity in the appreciation of Islam, scriptures originally written in Arabic were translated in Malay and written in the Jawi script. Additionally local religious scholars later began to elucidate the Islamic teachings in the forms of original writings. Moreover, there were also individuals of the community who used Jawi for the writing of literature which previously existed and spread orally. With this inclusion of written literature, Malay literature took on a more sophisticated form. This was believed to have taken place from the 15th century and lasted right up to the 19th century.[15] Other forms of Arabic-based scripts existed in the region, notably the Pegon alphabet used for Javanese in Java and the Serang alphabet used for Buginese in South Sulawesi. Both writing systems applied extensive use of Arabic diacritics and added several letters which were formed differently from Jawi letters to suit the languages. Due to their fairly limited usage, the spelling system of both scripts did not undergo similar advanced developments and modifications as experienced by Jawi.[16]
The script became prominent with the spread of Islam, supplanting the earlier writing systems. The Malays held the script in high esteem as it is the gateway to understanding Islam and its Holy Book, the Quran. The use of Jawi script was a key factor driving the emergence of Malay as the lingua franca of the region, alongside the spread of Islam.[19] It was widely used in the Sultanate of Malacca, Sultanate of Johor, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Brunei, Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Pattani, the Sultanate of Aceh to the Sultanate of Ternate in the east as early as the 15th century. The Jawi script was used in royal correspondences, decrees, poems and was widely understood by the merchants in the port of Malacca as the main means of communication. Early legal digests such as the Undang-Undang Melaka Code and its derivatives including the Codes of Johor, Perak, Brunei, Kedah, Pattani and Aceh were written in this script. It is the medium of expression of kings, nobility and the religious scholars. It is the traditional symbol of Malay culture and civilisation. Jawi was used not only amongst the ruling class, but also the common people. The Islamisation and Malayisation of the region popularised Jawi into a dominant script.[20]
Royal correspondences for example are written, embellished and ceremoniously delivered. Examples of royal correspondences still in the good condition are the letter between Sultan Hayat of Ternate and King John III of Portugal (1521), the letter from Sultan Iskandar Muda of Ach Darussalam to King James I of England (1615), and the letter from Sultan Abdul Jalil IV of Johor to King Louis XV of France (1719).[20] Many literary works such as epics, poetry and prose use the Jawi script. It is the pinnacle of the classic Malay civilisation. Historical epics such as the Malay Annals, as listed by UNESCO under Memories of the World, are among the countless epics written by the Malay people. The Sufic poems by Hamzah Fansuri and many others contributed to the richness and depth of the Malay civilisation. Jawi script was the official script for the Unfederated Malay States when they were British protectorates.
Today, Jawi is one of the official scripts of Brunei.[19] In Malaysia, it is used for religious and cultural administration in the states of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Pahang and Johor.[citation needed] Various efforts were in place to revive the Jawi script in Malaysia and Brunei due to its role in the Malay and Islamic spheres. Jawi is also seen on the reverse of Malaysian ringgit and Brunei dollar banknotes. Malays in Patani still use Jawi today for the same reasons.[citation needed]