Islam—Philippines | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Muslim Filipinos (or as many prefer to be called, Philippine Muslims) represent about 4.5 percent of the Philippines population. They are concentrated in the islands of the Sulu archipelago, western and central Mindanao, and southern Palawan, and include some thirteen ethnolinguistic groups, though four of these—Maguindanao, Maranao-Ilanun, Tausug, and Samal—account for over 90 percent of the Muslim population. As in most of Southeast Asia, they are Sunni Muslims.

Islam came to the Philippines in the thirteenth century, and by the middle of the fourteenth century there were settlements of Muslim Indian, Malay, and probably Arab traders and missionaries in Mindanao and Sulu and extensive commercial relations with the Islamic world to the west. The first to embrace Islam were the Tausug of the Sulu archipelago, and by the mid-fifteenth century a Sulu sultanate had been established at Buansa (Jolo) under Sultan Abu Bakr. At its peak, the Sulu sultanate extended from Basilan north to Palawan, east to the coast of Mindanao, and west to Borneo. Jolo was the center of a trading network that stretched west to Java and north to China.

In the sixteenth century, Sharif Muhammad Kabungsawan arrived from Johore and established himself in the Cotabato area of southern Mindanao, providing the foundation for the Maguindanao sultanate. From the Maguindanao-Ilanun area, Islam expanded along the coast from northern Mindanao to the Gulf of Davao and inland to Lake Lanao andBukidnon. Also in the sixteenth century, Islam spread from Brunei to the islands of Mindoro and southern Luzon. The Philippines thus became part of the daral-Islam (international community ["household"] of Islam) in Asia.

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1565, they immediately came into conflict with the Moros ("Moors" or Muslims), beginning a bitter struggle for religious and commercial control in the Philippine islands that continued over some 350 years. Assisted by converted Christian indios (native Filipinos), the Spaniards reversed the expansion of Islam, vanquishing the Muslims from Luzon and the Visaya Islands, but they never gained effective sovereignty over Mindanao and Sulu.

When the United States took over control of the Philippines in 1898, the Moros continued to resist the foreign intrusion until a major military defeat in 1913. Subsequently, administration of Mindanao and Sulu passed from the U.S. Army to civilian authorities. Governance of Philippine Muslims initially came under the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes. Under a "policy of attraction," the U.S. administration increased expenditures on infrastructure in Muslim areas and provided scholarships for Muslims to study in Manila and the United States. Many Muslims, however, saw this as an attempt to assimilate the Moros into mainstream, predominantly Christian, Filipino society, and there were intermittent outbreaks of armed resistance. In 1946, the Philippines became independent, but there was no independence constitution, and policies essentially followed those of the Philippine Commonwealth established under U.S. rule in 1935.

By the 1950s, increasing migration to Mindanao and consequent competition for land and political influence, combined with an Islamic resurgence reflected among other things in the proliferation of mosques and madaris (or madrasahs; Islamic schools), had brought new tensions in relations between Muslim and Christian communities. These tensions escalated during the 1960s, and in 1969 a Muslim independence movement was established. By the early 1970s, Muslim Mindanao and Sulu were in a state of armed insurgency, spearheaded by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). This group, which demanded a separate Islamic state, or Bangsa Moro (Moro nation), received financial, logistical, and diplomatic support from the international Islamic community and was granted observer status with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The Marcos government made a number of concessions to Moro demands in the 1970s, including the codification of shariʿa (Islamic law) for use in specific areas of jurisdiction in Muslim regions, the proclamation of Muslim holidays (proclaimed nationally but generally recognized only in Muslim areas), the revival of the historic barter trade between Malaysia and Muslim Mindanao, and the establishment of the Philippines Amanah Bank, which employed Islamic banking principles. With the signing of the Tripoli Agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government in 1976, autonomous regions were created in western and central Mindanao and Sulu. Following the People Power Revolution of 1986, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was established, though the MNLF refused to participate in the election that set it up. An Office of Muslim Affairs was also established within the Office of the President.

The Moro insurgency has continued, albeit on a reduced scale, since the 1970s; however, in 1996 a peace agreement signed between the MNLF and the Philippine government created a Special Zone of Peace and Development (SZOPAD) in the fourteen provinces claimed for the Bangsa Moro by the MNLF and provided for a Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD) with limited powers of administration in the SZOPAD. The SPCPD was to be assisted by a Darul Iftah (religious advisory council). The OIC, which had helped bring about the 1996 agreement, was given a specific role in supporting its implementation and helping monitor the peace process. The 1996 agreement also provided for the drafting of legislation for an expanded ARMM, to be submitted to a referendum. In August 2001, the referendum was finally held, but of the fifteen provinces and fourteen cities covered by the agreement only one province and one city voted to join the four existing provinces in the ARMM. After this, the ARMM and MNLF chairman, Nur Misuari, lost office and briefly attempted to revive the armed struggle. He was arrested in Malaysia.

Two other Muslim groups—the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is a 1977 breakaway from the MNLF, and Abu Sayyaf, a group that has been heavily involved in kidnapping for ransom—have meanwhile continued the armed struggle for an Islamic Bangsa Moro. In 2002, peace negotiations with the MILF continued. The Ulama League of the Philippines has supported the peace process.

Gowing, Peter G. (1979) Muslim Filipinos: Heritage and Horizon. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers.

Majul, Cesar A. (1973) Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon City, Philippines: University of the Philippines Press.

May, Ronald J. (2001) "Muslim Mindanao: Four Years after the Peace Agreement." In Southeast Asian Affairs, 2001. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 263–275.

Mckenna, Thomas. (1998) Muslim Rulers and Rebels. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

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