Abstract:
The religion of Islam has been introduced in Mecca by the Prophet Muhammad (Sal) in the 7th
century AD. Islam has begun to spread too many countries during his lifetime due to his
continue enormous efforts. Even after the death of the Prophet, a sequence of Islamic
propaganda work was carried out by his Companions and Islamic preachers, paving the way for
his spread throughout the world. Thus, many pioneers were responsible for the spread of Islam
and its influence among the people worldwide. It is noteworthy, that the work of the pioneers of
Islamic propaganda is behind the large numbers of people in Southeast Asia who can still follow
Islam today. The contributions of the so-called Sufi saints, especially in these countries, are
considered to be very important. The Islamic religion began to gain influence among the people
through their honest actions, social interactions, unselfish social services, moral values, and
cultural role models. Although some research efforts have been made on their works, services,
and contributions to social change, there is less clarity and influence on the Islamic propaganda
work and services of Sufi scholars in Southeast Asia than on the influence of Indian and Sri
Lankan Sufi pioneers among the Tamil-speaking population. The reason for this is the lack of
clarity among the people about those occult scholars. Therefore, the study treats on to explain
how Islam was spread by Muslim Sufi scholars in Southeast Asian countries and how much Sufi
scholars contributed to spread of Islam and development of Arabic Language, as well as their
propaganda strategies and methods. This study is a social descriptive research that based entirely
on secondary data. The researchers have used text books; scholarly research articles, journals,
university theses and websites from Arabic, English and other languages in secondary data
collection and those data are analyzed. This research briefly explains how Islam spread in
Southeast Asian countries, highlighting the achievements of Muslim Sufi scholars in spreading
Islam and their propaganda approaches. Exemplary attitudes and presentation style should be
important for the success of a religious campaign and its influence among the people. It is
important to note here that in order for a campaigner's success to move fully towards the goal,
social approaches and mechanisms must be put in place.
