Living as subsistence farmers and fishermen in small villages north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Imam San Cham practice a syncretic religion that blends Islam with ancestor worship and “chai” spirit ceremonies rooted in their pre-Islamic past. While they avoid pork and alcohol, celebrate Ramadan, and consider Mohammed their prophet, other Imam San rituals fall far outside of the standard definition of Islam.
This community, with about 15,000 members, is a subgroup of the Cham, a Muslim minority settled in Cambodia and Vietnam, with whom they share a common lineage. “Modern” Cham, however, are mainstream Sunni Muslims who adhere to a conservative interpretation of their religion; they pray as prescribed - five times every day - and read the Koran in Arabic, whereas the Imam San pray only on Fridays, using a vernacular version of the Koran that’s written in Cham.
Under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, some 90,000 Cham were murdered in Cambodia, alongside other minorities. “All the Cham villages were evacuated and destroyed,” according to Farina So, a Cham oral history specialist. While on the surface the Imam San Cham appear to have recovered and enjoy the protection of the government, outside forces are challenging their traditional way of life – according to anthropologist Alberto Pérez Pereiro, they have become “the object of intense proselytization by foreign Islamic organizations, charities and development organizations,” which are pressuring them to abandon their traditional rites and practices and adopt Orthodox Islam.
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Jodi Hilton is an American photojournalist and writer with a keen interest in minorities and marginalized people. She was first introduced to the Imam San Cham in 2018 by friends Alan Lightman, founder of the Harpswell Foundation in Cambodia, and his daughter, Elyse, who wrote her master's thesis on Imam San traditions. The Lightman family has supported one Imam San community, helping them to build a mosque, school and sewing workshop. In 2018, Hilton spent several months in Cambodia, during which she divided her time between Phnom Penh and Orussey village, where a local Imam San family hosted her so she was able to spend days observing and photographing life and traditions. She is currently living in Sofia, Bulgaria. www.jodihilton.com.