Vietnam, where Daoist-inspired practices in which ethnic minorities are regarded as “contemporary ancestors” of the Vietnamese people, whose tutelary spirits safeguard their respective lands, had overtaken earlier neo-Confucian views of minorities being regarded as the “junior siblings” of the majority Vietnamese with notions of ethnic minorities as “mired in the past”. Conclusion The Cham Muslims in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam have long established a community for themselves centred on the Islamic religion and a way of life defined by Islamic values. The scholarship on Cham ethnicity discussed above portrays how despite pluralistic accounts of origin and linguistic diversity, the Chams’ self-identification as Muslims unifies the Chams not only across the Delta but also across national boundaries. State narratives of isolation and remoteness in relation to geographical situations of ethnic minorities are in paradox for the Chams of the Delta where cross-border networks of engagement, extra-local trade and religious connections attest instead to their cosmopolitanism. Assistance from the Cham Muslim diaspora across the globe, urban emigrations, followed by state efforts at infrastructure development have also enabled them to exercise political agency as seen in higher education levels among the young, livelihoods bolstered by relatives’ remittances. The Chams have also been able to utilise their religion in seeking support and recognition across co-regionalists in their pursuit of education and better opportunities beyond their localities which have contributed to the preservation of their identity and culture. The works of Taylor and other contemporary scholars as studied above portray the various means of Cham resistance to state assimilation efforts and to an ethnic minority status bounded by nation-state ideologies and categorisations that re-affirm self-identification as a unifying element, where despite the existence of traditional ritualistic beliefs, Islamic faith and cultural values bind the Muslim Chams of the Mekong Delta. See also Religion in Vietnam Islam by country References Notes Sources Census tables Vietnam