Islam in the Philippines
Historically, Islam reached the Philippine archipelago in the 14th century,[2][3] through contact with Muslim Malay and Arab merchants along Southeast Asian trade networks,[4] in addition to Yemeni missionaries from the tribe of Alawi of Yemen from the Persian Gulf, southern India, and their followers from several sultanates in the wider Malay Archipelago.
[6] Those who converted to Islam came to be known as the Moros, with Muslim conquest reaching as far as Tondo that was later supplanted by Bruneian Empire vassal-state of Maynila.
[7] Muslim sultanates had already begun expanding in the central Philippines by the 16th century, when the Spanish fleet led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived.
[15] In 1380, the Sunni Shaykh Makhdum Karim reached the Sulu Archipelago and Jolo in the Philippines and established Islam in the country through trade in several regions of the island.
When the Spanish fleet led by Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippines in 1565, they were met by local datus as they traveled in the islands.
These frequent attacks gave way to naming present-day Cebu as then-Sugbo or scorched earth which was a defensive technique implemented by the Visayans so the pirates had nothing much to loot.
[23] In Luzon, a new dynasty in Maynila began under a local leader who accepted Islam and became Rajah Salalila who created a union through his marriage to the daughter of Sultan Bolkiah and Puteri Laila Menchanai of Sulu, which established Brunei's influence in the region.
[29] Moro (derived from the Spanish word meaning Moors) is the appellation inherited from the Spaniards, for Filipino Muslims of Mindanao.
[31] The 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese, Filipinos, Americans, and Spanish by the Moro/Muslims persisted and morphed into their current war for independence against the Philippine state.
They cited the complete difference in cultures and customary ways of life as the primary reason for their separation from the Muslims of mainland central Mindanao.
The first Shi'as to arrive, together with the Sufis, were the Isma'ilis and the Kaysaniyyas (earlier offshoots of Shi'ism), who eventually blended with the orthodox (ASWJ) Muslims.
This is the mainstream Sunni school of Islamic theology, founded by the Arab Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (mujaddid), and scholastic theologian, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 9th–10th century,[56][57] with the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (mujaddid), and scholastic theologian Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī in the 9th–10th century,[58][59] it established an orthodox guideline based on scriptural authority,[60] rationality, and theological rationalism.
[62] They have a few educational institutions in the country, such as the Jamiatu Al-Hikmah[63] in Mulondo, Lanao del Sur and the Muhajireen wal Ansar Academy[64] in Taguig City as well as the 3 prominent ones namely, Darul Ifta Region 9 and Palawan, Sabiel al-Muhtadien and Darul Makhdumin Madrasah, located in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.
The Tablighi Jama'at is a revivalist movement originated in South Asia, aiming at revitalizing Muslims’ practice of Islam.
The basis of unity of this group is the multi-volume compilation of articles and books called the Risale-i Nur ("epistle of light" in Turkish), which is a voluminous commentary on the Quran and Hadith by Bediuzzaman Said Nursî, one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century.
Nursî's main theme in his works is answering modern man's major crisis – the absence of certainty of Faith.
Their principles actually come from the Risale-i Nur, except that in the present political context, it has been listed as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government since 2016.
However, it is important to note that the Hizmet movement focuses on the principles of "service to humanity" and "dialogue and cooperation" as mechanisms of understanding others.
Considered by most Muslim groups as heretics and non-Muslims, Ahmadis (as they call themselves) also believe in the major tenets of Islam, except they believed that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani is the last prophet and the promised Mahdi or "messiah", of which majority of Muslim sects disagree due to the concept about the finality on the Prophethood of Muhammad.
[65] Derived from Shia Islam, the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), also called the Ahmadi Religion (not to be confused with the Sunni- and Sufi-derived messianist sect of Ahmadiyyah), is a messianist syncretic religious movement founded and led by an Egyptian-American religious leader Abdullah Hashem Aba as-Sadiq, a follower of Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric Ahmad al-Hassan, hence the name of the movement.
Having elements of Judaism, Christianity as well as Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other world religions, many of AROPL's doctrines oppose those of traditional Islam, for example, the movement believes that the Kaaba is actually in Petra, Jordan instead of Mecca, Saudi Arabia; hijab and niqab wearing is not mandatory but they are either allowed; and the belief in reincarnation.
Unlike also traditional Islam, the movement has its own sacred book called The Goal of the Wise, authored by Abdullah Hashem.
The religious movement is relatively small, although increasing members are estimated to be less than a thousand followers globally, with at least three or four Filipino converts are reported.
