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 Muslims
throughout the world generally have tended to look at their history as a
process tending towards justice, provided men make the effort to work
for it. But more than this, there is the widespread belief that the
historical process is not solely the result of Man’s intentions and
actions but there is also the Merciful and Compassionate Deity who is
involved in the direction of such a process. Thus, concomitant with the
belief that life on earth is a severe moral test, there is always the
hope that living the Islamic way of life makes it more purposive and
tends to bring about a social situation where justice and good life
become operative.
Because
of all this, it becomes understandable why Muslims in the Philippines
believe that the coming of Islam to the Philippines, and hence their
being Muslims, constitutes an instance of Allah’s mercy and
graciousness. Also understandable is the belief that their bitter wars
against the Spaniards and Americans, their resistance to any form of
European colonial design or foreign economic exploitation, and even
their internecine quarrels and the chronic epidemics that have visited
them have served to maintain their integrity as an Islamic Community.
In
so far as they are aware of belonging to a definite religious community,
Muslims in the Philippines have always made an effort to understand
their past and have never ceased to recall those men who, on account of
personal traits, character, and leadership, have helped to guarantee the
preservation of Islam in the Philippines in spite of the determined
efforts of their antagonists to deprive them of their religion, land,
and knowledge of their ancient past. A careful analysis of the history
of the Muslims in the Philippines will reveal that the character and
attitudes of present-day Muslims are not only the result of what they
have made out of themselves but also of what others have forced them to
become. Thus it is important to know how Islam was introduced and how it
expanded in the Philippines. We need to know also those forces, which
came into conflict with Islam, forces which helped to shape the
character of the present day Muslim Filipino.
_______________________________________
Peter G.
Gowing and Robert d. McAmis, THE MUSLIM FILIPINOS Their History, Society
and Contemporary Problems, Solidaridad Publish Hose (1974), Manila, pp.
1-11
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