Two Rituals, a Bit of Dualism and Possibly Some Inseparability: “And so that’s how we say that Chams and Khmers are one and the same.”

Scholarship on Muslims in Cambodia often revolves around a series of cultural, religious and social contrasts between Champa and Cambodia, between Chams and Khmers. Yet such an approach depends in turn on an apprehension of ethnic boundaries as given, fixed, and permanent. Consideration of two Cham rituals suggests a more nuanced perspective. These rituals are the Imam San Mawlid, a Muslim saint’s anniversary, and the Mamun, a possession ceremony to invite royal spirits. While both events are said to celebrate Cham culture and history, Khmer elements make the flexibility, the porosity and the fluidity of identities finally rendered illusive, if not inseparable.