Islam had an advantage over other religions, because it was founded by merchants! Converting places to Islam only required books, while converting places to Hinduism required temples, which were much costlier. So in the 13th century, many locals in Indonesia began converting to Islam. Why? The 1965 attempted coup, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, has long been blamed on the still-banned Indonesian Communist Party, historically supported by China, and this further strengthened anti-Chinese sentiment. Many Chinese converted to Islam in order to better blend in. According to historian M.C. Ricklefs, legends describe the conversion of rulers to Islam in coastal Malay regions as a "great turning point" marked by miracles (including the magical circumcision of converts), the confession of faith, and adoption of Arabic names. The Samudera Pasai Sultanate (Malay: كسلطانن سامودرا ڤاساي), also known as Samudera or Pasai or Samudera Darussalam or Pacem, was a Muslim kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The kingdom was believed to have been founded by Merah Silu, who later converted to Islam and adopted the name Malik ul Salih, in the year 1267 CE. cp4rP.

indonesia converted to islam