INTRODUCTION

F. LANDA JOCANo

I

The papers in this volume were delivered as lectures at a specialseminar on FILIPINO MUSLIMS: THEIR SOCIAL INSTITUTIONSAND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS held at the Asian Center,University of the Philippines, from July to September 1981. Thissemm'ar is part of the continuing program of the Center on studieson PHILIPPINE ETHNIC CULTURES. It is hoped. that throughthese lectures, delivered by experts on various areas of ethnic hf'e-ways, students, educators, policy-makers, and educated laymen shallacquire broader knowledge about Filipino society and culture andshall develop a deeper sense of affinity with each other, therebyhastening the building of a national community.

The first of these lecture series has been focused on FilipinoMuslims. Because of biased historical judgements in the past, theFilipino Muslims have been unjustly portrayed in academic literatureand consequently sufler innumerable difficulties in asserting them-selves as part of the mainstream of the national polity. For a longtime, they were relegated to the status of “minority.” It was only untilrecently that studies about Muslim culture have sought to bridgethe gap between the Christian and the Muslim ethnic groups. Culturalignorance generally breeds misunderstandm'g, prejudices and conflictsthat rend us apart.

FILIPINO MUSLIMS

II

Traditionally, Filipln'o ethm'c groups who have embraced Islamas a religion and a way of life have been classrfi'ed as part of the“cultural commum‘ties.” Perhaps this may be true for the smallergroups. However, for demographically large groups, like the Tausug,Maranao and Maguindanao, the classification is not appropriate. Theyshould be classified along with the major groups, like the Tagalogs,Ilocanos and Bisayans. Only religion differentiates them from therest of the Filipm‘o population.

Filipino Muslims live in well-established settlements scatteredthroughout the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. Thehighest demographic concentration of these people is in the provincesof Lanao, Cotabato, Davao, the Sulu Archipelago and in the neighbor-ing islands of Basilan and Balabac. These groups are not ethnicallyhomogeneous. They are known by many different names. Those oc-cupying the regions along the banks of- Simo-ai river from Cotabatoto. Davao and the riverine valleys of Labangan to Margosatubig m’Zamboanga del Sur are known as hiaguindanaon. The Maranao residein the region around Lake Lanao, the northern coast of Iligan Bayand the southern coast of Lanao and Malabang. The region north ofSimo—ai river in Cotabato, including the eastern region areas of Pecong,Illna Bay and Buldon are inhabited by the Iranuns. The Tausug po-pulate the islands of the Sulu archipelago, southern Palawan, and incertain places in Davao and Zambo-anga del Sur. Aside from thesemajor groups, there are around five minor ones, namely: Sangil, Bad-jaw, Jama Mapun, Molbog Sama and Yakan.

There is marked social distinction among these ethno-linguisticgroups. This is largely due to strong emphasis on local history andtraditions, social organization and religion. For instance, the Tausugconsider themselves superior to the other groups because they havea well-established political organization and they were Islamrz'edearlier. The Maranao are proud for being the famous brassworkersin the area. The Maguindanaon are reputed to be relatively the betteragriculturists. The Sama continue to maintain distance from the Badjaw.Thus, there are ethnolm'guistic differences in even religiously homo-geneous groups.

Accordm'g to lm‘guists, the dialects spoken in Sulu and some partsof Mm’danao belong to the Central Philippine subgroup and areclosely related to such major languages as Tagalog and Cebuano.

3INTRODUCTION

The subsistence pattern among these ethnic groups varies fromd1'vers1fi'ed wet agriculture of the Maguindanaon and Maranao towell-developed fishing and pearl diving among the Sama and Badjaw.Commerce and trade are the principal sources of m'come among theTausug and Jama Mapun.

Traditionally, political leadership among these people revolvesaround the datu, who is a combination of political leader, landlord,judge and religious functionary. The position of the dam is hereditaryalthough the datu’s authority is largely derived from his personal abilityand community prestige obtam’ed either through wealth or heredity.The data owes allegiance to the territorial sultan, who occupies thehighest social, political and religious status m' society.

The modern Filipino Muslims are distinguished from their Chris-tian neighbors in the manner of dress and other dominant culturalcharacteristics. The men usually wear headresses, with a white turbandistinguishing those who had gone to Mecca on pilgrimage. The women,however, do not cover their faces with veils (chador) as among theMuslims in the Middle East. Pork and beverage are avoided in accord-ance with the prohibition of the Koran.

III

The Islamlz'ation of southern Phil'ippm'es represents the earliestknown exogenous culture to penetrate the archipelago during thepre-European contact and to establish a permanent politico-religiousfoothold in the country. There were many other people who cameto the archipelago durin'g pre-colo-nial times like the Indians, Siamese,and the Chinese. However, these people did not establish a footholdwith powers to transform the indigenous culture to a new configura-tion. The Indians, with Hindu religious persuasion, brought in Hm'ducultural orientation but this stopped short at folklore and religiousbeliefs. The Chinese infl'uence was mainly m' trade and food practices.However, the Muslims expressed themselves in institutionalized reli-gious and political systems.

Scholars have presented several views for the Islarm'c expansionin the country. The first one looks at the phenomenon in termsof an individual sultanate developing its own external relations withother principalities in the archipelago. The second considers Islamiza-tion as part of the general spread of the religion in the entire South-east Asia. Comparatively, the second proposition is the more accepta-

4 FILIPINO MUSLIMS

ble stimulus for Islamic intrusion in the country. As Professor Majulhas argued: “The coming of Islam to the Philippines cannot be fullyunderstood and appreciated except as part and possibly as the checkedand frustrated process, of Islamic expansion from the north of Suma-tra in its eastward course to the rest of Malaysia.”

It needs to be pointed out that Islamic influence did not enterthe country in full force as the Spanish and Americans did. Ratherit filtered slowly but deeply. Historically, it started as early as the13th century. Following an anti-Arab upheaval in South China, theArab traders sought refuge to areas of Southeast Asia, hoping thatas soon as tension eased they could go back to carry normal tradingrelations with the Chinese. Meanwhile, they established new traderoutes with the neighboring islands of Insular Southeast Asia. Astrading centers grew, “temporary way stations were established inthe ports where the traders conducted business. In time, these tem-porary dwelings grew into permanent residence as their commercialinterests in the area expanded.”

As the residence became stable, the traders married into thefamilies of their wealthy trading partners, making the partnershippermanent. One of the trading ports where such strategy took placewas Sulu. In fact, Sulu genealogy traces the introduction of Islamto Tuan Mashaika and later to Karim ul-Makhdum who did not onlycome to trade but also “to teach” the people about the new faith.The kinsmen of the families who were married to these foreign tradersgot “converted” first. From here on, the process of conversion waseasy and it was facilitated through trade and commerce.

With the support from big and wealthy families, Islam spreadthroughout the area. With conversion came the consolidation of 111‘-fluence into political power. The communities which respondedfavorably to Islam were brought together under the Mosque, with thenew faith as the rallying point. Islam became a new way of- life. Withpolitical power, the Sultanate was introduced and the scattered banuaswere brought together into a political community, the bangsa (nation).With strong economic base derived from trade, reinforced by firmlyestablished religion, the new political system became entrenched andpowerful. The Sultanate of Sulu was one of the three major sultanateswhich dominated the maritime trade in Southeast Asia durm'g the14th and 15th centuries. It was also able to resist the Spanish andAmerican attempts, during the succeeding years, to bring it under theircolonial control.

5INTRODUCTION

The process of Islamization of southern Philippines may be out-lined as folows:

9:.

Religion(convers

ion)

Sultanate(consolidation

of politicalpower)

Kinship/marriage(establishing commu-

nity membership)

ISLAMIZATIONPROCESS

Trade(tradi

ngpartne

rs)

IV

Today, Filipino Muslims are taking active part in the deve10pmentof a unified national consciousness—of being Filipinos, irrespectiveof faith and cultural backgrounds. The reahz'ation has come. Thereis a need to come to terms with ourselves. One can remain a goodMuslim Tausug, Maguindanao and Maranao, among others, withoutbeing alienated from the ideals and aspirations of the country. Perhaps,it is in the continuous dialogues such as the seminar, in which thesepapers were delivered, that we all can gain a broader knowledge anda better understanding of each other as a people. It is from understand-ing and respect of each other’s ethnic lifeways that we can drawwisdom, resiliency, and the strength to consolidate ourselves m’toone national community.