700 years of Muslim identity in Philippines

700 years of Muslim identity

in the Philippines

By Abdel Aziz Dimapunong

Imam, Masjid Alkhairi, Manila

Director, Maranao Arts And Cultural Heritage

Manila . Friday, February 9, 2007. In today’s issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a noted columnist, Ambeth R. Ocampo writes about an agency in the Philippines that is mandated to identify and mark historical places. Mr. Ambeth noted that: “These markers are not only reminders of historic events, but proof of the development in historical research, interpretation and thinking.” He added: “Contrary to popular belief, history can also change, and this act of revisiting and revising the past is a hotly debated part of the historian’s mandate”.

I believe that the search for historical landmarks, if done with honesty, is tantamount to the search for the truth and going out of every hoax. As we delve into historical and archeological evidences, we find that Islamic civilization had long been here hundreds of years before the arrival of the Spaniards.

Last Monday, February 5, 2007, a noted columnist of the Arab News in Saudi Arabia also writes about historical landmarks. On that issue, the Arab News features an article about the surviving mosques in Madinah since the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). P.K. Abdul Gafour cites a study conducted by the Madinah Research & Studies Center which was done on the basis of historical evidence and authentic reports. According to Dr. Abdul Basit Badr, director of the center, there are five mosques that survived until today including the Prophet’s Mosque and Quba Mosque. Badr said his organization had identified the mosques on a map with the help of satellite pictures.

The prophets Mosque in Medina City

Last Monday, February 5, 2007, the Arab News featured an article about the surviving mosques in Madinah since the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). The article (P.K. Abdul Gafour) cited a study conducted by the Madinah Research & Studies Center which was done on the basis of historical evidence and authentic reports. According to Dr. Abdul Basit Badr, director of the center, there are five mosques that survived until today including the Prophet’s Mosque and Quba Mosque. Badr said his organization had identified the mosques on a map with the help of satellite pictures.

In the Philippines, several studies were also conducted concerning mosques with historical significance in this country. As early as 1986, a group of Maranaos headed by Grande Dianaton and Omama Rascal submitted a proposal to the World Muslim League for the reconstruction of Masjid Bab Arahman (Door of Mercy) which they claimed to have been originally established some 600 years ago. The proposal was submitted through the late Ambassador of the Philippines to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mauyag M. Tamano. This mosque is located in Balindong, at the mouth of the river Taraka in Lanao Del Sur, by the side of Lake Lanao. It is believed that this is the oldest mosque in the island of Mindanao. However, the proponents failed to provide a historical background of this Masjid. Nevertheless, Masjid Bab Arahaman has been reconstructed and it is now the main Masjid in Taraka. It is also a shrine where investitures of sultans in the locality are held.

Last November 24, 2006, the Philippine Senate, under the sponsorship of Senator Edgardo Angara, approved a bill on final reading that declares the Sheikh Karimul Macdum a national shrine. The Angara sponsorship in the Senate was made after the lower house had also approved its version of the bill. In the lower house, the bill was sponsored by Congressman Angara, son of the senator.

Based on historical records, Masjid Sheikh Karimul Macdum is the oldest mosque in the Philippines. This mosque was built in 1380, or 627 years ago. On further accounts by the historian Dr. Cesar Adib Majul, a tombstone in Bud Dato, Jolo reveals Islamic inscriptions that show a date based on Islamic Hijrah calendar. The date is 710 A.H. corresponding to 1310 A.D. That was 697 years ago. By this account, it is reasonable to infer that Islam was already in Jolo, Philippines for more than 700 years. Dr. Majul inferred “that by the end of the thirteenth century or at the beginning of the fourteenth century there was already a settlement or colony of foreign Muslims in Jolo Island.”

Historical account on Muslims in the Philippines

There are historical records on Moro (Muslim) history in the Philippines including that of Dr. Najeeb M. Saleeby (Studies in Moro History, Law and Religion) and Cesar Adib Majul (Muslim in the Philippines). The most relevant here is the coming of Islam to the Philippines by the historian Cesar Adib Majul. The following is the Majul account which also cited an account by Saleeby.

Begin quote.

In 878 A.D., on account of an anti-foreign policy in China and a rebellion in the Celestial Empire, hundreds of Muslims were massacred in South China, and hundreds of those who survived flocked to the ports of the Malay Peninsula. Blocked from returning to China, these traders began to engage in a local trade in Southeast Asia. They gradually came to learn about new products. When, by the tenth century, Muslim merchants were allowed once again to return to China, they did not abandon the traffic in these new products or the use of the new routs since the trade with the Malay peoples was profitable. It was a trade, too, in which the Malays began to participate intimately - especially the port chiefs. Scholars generally believe that Muslim merchants made Borneo known to the Chinese during the tenth century. Since Borneo is close to the Philippines it can be presumed that Muslims traders had begun to know Sulu at least by that time, if not earlier. In any case, there is evidence that Arab ships, or rather, ships captained by Arabs, had reached China from some island in the Philippines during the tenth century.

One of the more reliable “tarsilas” (genealogical accounts) of Sulu narrates how a certain Tuan Masha’ika arrived at Jolo Island in the area of Maimbung and married a daughter of the ruling family. He came at a time, according to the account, when the people were still worshipping stones and other inanimate objects. That his origin is associated with extraordinary events only implies that he represented and old and highly developed culture. That he was a Muslim is evidenced by the typically Muslim names of most of his children. It is also known that the term “Masha’ika” is one of the plural forms of the word “Shaikh” and was used to denote descendants of saintly people in South Arabia to distinguish them from the Sharifs or Sayids who were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Significantly, this tarsila account indicates that the descendants of Tuan Masha’ika began to move northward on the Island of Jolo. That they were people of note, or had prestige, can be inferred by existing accounts about them as well as by the assertion that they were also descendants of a female member of the local ruling family or aristocracy. But what is important in this particular account is that it asserts the existence of Muslims in Sulu who married into the local population.

On Bud Dato, a few miles from Jolo town, there is a tomb that has been looked after for more than six hundred years. Without going into details, the tombstone reveals that the deceased was foreign Muslim who died away from his land of origin. The date is 710 A.H. or 1310 A.D. [underscoring mine] By the nature of the care given to the grave and tombstone, and because the tombstone seems to have been imported or constructed in Sulu by Muslims, it can be inferred that by the end of the thirteenth century or at the beginning of the fourteenth century there was already a settlement or colony of foreign Muslims in Jolo island. I would like to speculate that this is the time of the coming of Tuan Masha’ika; although I am not suggesting that the Tuan and the deceased foreign Muslim were one and the same.

The “tarsilas” tell about the coming of a certain Makhdum Karim [underscoring mine] who on account of his saintly qualities was also called Tuan Sharif Awliya, this last term being used for holy men. He is said to have traveled extensively and effected conversions. Najeeb Saleeby, [underscoring mine] a student of Sulu history and the scholar who first published some of the most important “tarsilas”, wrote that the Makhdum must have come in the second half or possibly around the middle of the fourteenth century. And this calculation tallies well with the date usually given for the coming of other makhdumin to java and Balambangan. These makhdumin were probably Sufis with missionary aims. As is well known, the Sufis, (that is, Muslims with certain mystical inclinations and belonging to brotherhoods) had come to the Indonesian Archipelago at around this time to spread Islam, having fled when Baghdad fell to the Mongols in the last half of the thirteenth century. It is not really correct to say that Makhdum Karim was the first man who introduced Islam to Sulu. What probably happened was that he reinforced Islam among the foreign Muslim, or their descendants, and with their help and support and the use of their settlement as a base, he was able to effect conversions among the surrounding local and older population.

Islam must have seen by now fairly well spread among the population around Buansa as evidenced by the narration that when baguinda (prince) coming from Sumatra landed with his courtiers and warriors, the local opposition against him was weakened when some Muslims (among them the grandchildren of Tuan Masha’ika) came to his support. This was at the end of the 14th or early in the 15th century - the date is not certain. Another version has it that the religious men of both factions, that is, the Buansa party and the party of the baguinda, promoted him as ruler in Buansa – his acceptability to the datus of Buansa being induced by the fact that the Sumatran prince was a Muslim. In any case, the coming of the baguinda with learned men in Islam must have contributed to the increasing consciousness of Islam among the people of Jolo, especially those in the area around Buansa.

After this time, Islam must have been deep among the datus and chiefs of Jolo in that they were willing to accept as their Sultan a foreign Muslim known as the Sharif-ul-Hashim. This Muslim, purportedly an Arab, did not come and impose Islam or a Sultanate among the People. Rather, by the time of his arrival the datus and mass of the people had become sufficiently sophisticated in their Islamic knowledge and had developed a high enough level of Islamic consciousness that they readily accepted the political institutions required by orthodoxy. The Sharif-ul-Hashim is calculated to have arrived in Buansa around the middle of the fifteenth century. Let me emphasize that this sharif is an historical figure and not the figment of Tausug imagination. His beautiful tomb still exists on one of the slopes of Mount Tumantangis, the tallest mountain in Jolo. All his titles are inscribed on his tomb for anyone who cares to go up there and read them. It is significant that one of his titles is Maulana, suggesting that he was a guide and teacher. Actually, the conversion of the interior or mountain tribes in Jolo, the Buranuns, is credited to him. In effect, this mean that the coastal peoples of Sulu and the mountain peoples, the later possibly older in the island than he coastal folk, came to share the same faith and submit themselves to one political and spiritual head. As is well known, the sultans of Sulu have all claimed descent from his sharif, called the first sultan.

To summarize the introduction and spread of Islam in Sulu, around the beginning of the fourteenth century or possible earlier there was already a colony or settlement of foreign Muslims on the island of Jolo. They were likely traders who married local girls and died and were buried in Jolo, not without having left descendants. After the middle of the fourteenth century, Muslim missionaries appeared to effect conversions in Malay lands. They were probably Sufis and their teachings were infused with mystical overtones. Around the turn of the fourteenth century, Muslims from other Malay lands came to establish a principality. By the middle of the fifteenth century, Islam must have been quite widespread, making the local chiefs and people receptive to the adoption of Islamic political institutions, more specifically that of the sultanate.

End of quote on Cesar Adib Majul

1521-1898 - The Muslims and the Spaniards in the Philippines

1521. The first Europeans to visit the Philippines were those under the command of Ferdinand Magellan. The Spanish Expedition came on March 16, 1521. This was wrongly accounted for by early historians as the discovery of the Philippines.

1542. Another Spanish expedition under the command of Lopez de Villalobos followed in 1542.

1564. The conquest of the Filipinos by Spain began in 1564 when Miguel López de Legaspi arrived in another expedition from New Spain. Spanish leadership was established over some small communities in some of the seven hundred islands in the Philippines. Muslim communities in Sulu, Lanao and Maguindanao were not penetrated by the Spaniards.

1571. In 1571, the Spanish foothold in the Philippines was secured by a conquest of Manila by López de Legaspi when he established the Spanish city of Manila on the site of a Muslim settlement that was previously ruled by Rajah Solaiman and Prince Abdullah (Lakan “Dula” of Tondo).

1589. The Spanish governor made a viceroy in 1589 and ruled with the advice of the royal audiencia. There were frequent uprisings by the Muslims who resented the presence of the Spaniards. By the end of the 16th century, Manila had become a leading commercial center of East Asia, carrying on a flourishing trade with China, India, and the East Indies.

1600-1663. The period from 1600 to 1663 was marked by continual wars with Muslims who the Spaniards branded as Moro pirates. This was the most persistent problem of the Spaniards. Intermittent campaigns were conducted against them but without conclusive results.

1689. When the Spaniards first explored Ranao in 1689, they found a community of Muslims in Dansalan, the commercial center of Ranao. This was also a community of Muslims who fought the invaders.

1898-1946. The Muslims and the Americans in the Philippines

1898. The Americans fought the Spaniards and eventually took over the Philippines after it was surrendered to them by the Spaniards on August 13, 1898. The Philippines was surrendered to the American forces by the Spaniards after a short “little war”. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris signed over Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million. Spain considered the possibility of withholding Mindanao and Sulu from the treaty by arguing that it did not have sovereignty over those Muslim territories. However, on December 21, 1898, US President William McKinley issued his “Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation”, which declared that USA would assume control and disposition of the government of the Philippines, including Muslim Mindanao and Sulu.

1913. The Department of Mindanao and Sulu was created on July 24, 1913 under the American Regime.

1940. Dansalan, the commercial center of the Maranao Muslims became a city in 1940. The inauguration did not take place because the Second World War intervened.

1946. Philippine sovereignty was handed back to the Filipinos in 1946. This was the end of all foreign incursions in the Philippine Islands.

History shows that the Muslims in the Philippines had been freedom fighters for hundreds of years. All throughout Philippine history, they maintained their identity as Muslims.

The Masjid Al Macdum that was declared by law as a National shrine is located in Tubig Indangan, Simunul in the province of Tawi-Tawi, the Southern tip of the Philippines that is just few miles away from the City of Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei Darussalam. The Masjid al Macdum was named after Arabian missionary Sheikh Karim Al Macdum, who was said to have built the mosque in 1380 AD, two hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines. At about this same time, another Arabian missionary also settled in the nearby seafront town of Cota Wato, which still exists as Cotawato, the precursor of Bandar Seri Begawan. He was popularly known as Imam Ahmad who married a sister of the then ruler of Bandar Begawan. Ahmad later succeeded the ruler and became Sultan Ahmad.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara is the author of the bill that declares Macdum as a National Shrine. He is chair of the Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation. In his press statement on the matter, Angara said the move is an “opportune gesture of friendship to our Muslim brothers.”

Until today the four pillars of the mosque are preserved as they were originally built. Macdum himself was believe to have been buried in Tandulbanak Sitangkai, Tawi Tawi., where a simple stone marks his grave.

The 626 year old mosque has immense historic and cultural significance for our country.” Said Angara, Its declaration as a national shrine makes it a formal part of the country’s national heritage. Muslim leaders in the Philippines say the declaration is a milestone in Philippine history, recognition to the contribution of Islam in the development of culture and civilization.

Senator Angara was also a co-sponsor of a Philippine law that declares Eidul Adha as a National Holiday in the Philippines. The other sponsor was Senator Loren Legarda. Eidul Adha is now among regular holidays under the Administrative Code. Before the law was signed, Eidul Adha used to be just a holiday for the Muslims only. Witnessed by Muslim legislators and diplomatic personalities from the Organization of Islamic Countries, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the law last November 13, 2002 at Malacanang Palace. The law also proclaims Eidul Fitr as a Muslim regular holiday in the same way as Eidul Adha.

The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) through its Legislative Assembly has already passed a law declaring the inclusion of the Sheikh Makhdum centennial celebration as one of the Islamic events entitled to a special non-working holiday within the five provinces under the ARMM.