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The contribution of Mohammedanism to Philippine culture

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The contribution of Mohammedanism to Philippine culture

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Content THE CONTRIBUTION OF OH
TO
PHILIPPINE CULTURE
A Thesis
EDANIS
Presented to the School of -Social Welfare
Unive sity of Southern Cali or11ia
In Part 'al Fulfillme t
of the
Reouirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts
By
Silvestre Tu orales
J anuary 1937-
C.
This thesis, written under the direction of the
~ didate' s F acuity Committee and approved by
l its members, has been presented to and ac-
cepted by the Council on Graduate Study and
search in partial fulfillment of the require
nts for the degree of
Master . o .. Arts................ .... .. ......................................... .
.... ½ . - ~m -····················-
1 __.) I Secmilry
( ...... (c ······-·················· . ............. .
Date ... J.anuacy-..lB..33 ................. .
'
Facu°lty Committee
Profe s s or Ca.se
Chairman
.. Pro_fe s s o.r ..... an_gold .............. .
Pr ofessor Hill
D ean
C/ S l - H
DEDICATED
TO
MY DAUGHTER
EDITH EBERLE MORALES
FOREWARD
It is the aim or this study to discover the definite con
tribution or Mohammedanism to the culture and civilization or
the Philippines. The Mohammedan Filipinos are a distinct
group of people and there is no doubt that they brought with
them, when them came, culture that is different from what the
aborigines had. The Mohammedan missionaries, who labored in
the name or Allah, must have carried with them the ideals or
living from whence they came, and so this brief survey will
attempt to bring out t he socializing factors in Mohammedan
lif e, which had much to do with the present Mohammedan of the
southern ands of t he Archipelago.
I is almost ten centuries since the first Mohammedan
stepped upon Philippine soil. During that lapse of time Mo
hammedan culture began and developed marvelously. Religious
enterprises always take the honor of being the responsible
agent to unify, civilize, and organize groups of people. This
is true with the people of Moroland.
These findings desire to help the reader ·to appreciate
the accumulations of the past, especially of the influence of
Islam, to the Filipinos of Sulu, the surrounding islands, and
ii
Mindanao as a whole. To understand the Mohammedan Filipino is
to understand his domestic life, his aspirations and his ideals,
his habits of thinking, his background and, most or all, his
religious affiliation. The Christian Filipino should not nurse
the idea that the Moro worships another God. The God of the
Mohammedan Filipino and the Christian Filipino is the same, but
He is adored 1n different ways, and worshiped in another fashion,
but still that God, Allah, has helped the Moros to preserve
their culture, which is to be discovered in this research. ·
The writer of this thesis is of the Ilocano tribe of the
Philippines. He was born in Batac, !locos Norte, Philippine
Islands, in the month of December, the thirty-first day, in the
year 1898.
He was trained in the elementary school of his town. For
three years after finishing the seventh grade, he taught
school in a country school in a barrio named Nagtriguan (mean
ing full of wheat). This happened in the years 1916 to 1918
inclusive.
At the close of the year 1918 he was asked to resign from
the school for the reason that he taught the Bible in the
school, and because he did not like to attend a compulsory
teachers' meeting on Sundays, which he thought was an inter
ference with his religious views.
A missionary by the name of Frank V. Stipp approached
him and asked him if it would not be fine to have his life in
vested in Christian Service. In spite of the opposition of
his parents to his becoming a Christian, and of the prejudices
111
or his present friends, he decided to attend what was known
as the Vigan Bible College. For a period of short preparation,
he was able to feel the need of giving one's life into the
ministry, and so at the. close or the school year he was asked
to serve as pastor in a church in a small town called Vintar.
His experience with Roman Catholic priests and in the work
strengthened him to be steadfast in the work of the Kingdom
of God.
He served as pastor while he went to the Normal School
in Laoag (meaning light), Dingras, Paoay, Claveria, and for
a time was a sort of field secretary in the work.
He organized the first provincial Christian Endeavor
Union in his province and served as president for several
years.
He was also graduated from the Laoag Christian Training
School for workers in the year 1923. For a short time he
was a student in the Union Theological Seminary in Manila,
in the Philippines.
In 1928 he represented the Disciples of Christ in the
Philippines at the World's Sunday School Convention that was
held in Los Angeles. He had no thought of staying in the
United States, but the Lord opened a way to provide his needs,
and the work among the Filipino people residing in the city
became a field to have part of his time given in the gather
ing of the former members of the church in the Islands and
others, and now organized them into what is known as the
iv
Filipino Christian Fellowship. He is now serving as the pastor
of the group, which is affiliated with the First Christian
Church and with the Christian Missionary Society or Southern
California.
Because or the need of the work, the Filipino-American
Christian Fellowship, under the leadership or Mrs. Eva N. Dye,
a former missionary to Africa, interested others to support
and rally around the work.
In 1929, the writer was asked to represent the Philippines
in an International Convention of the Disciples or Christ held
in Seattle, Washington. And again, in 1930, he was asked to
represent the Philippines to the First World Convention or the
Disciples of Christ held at Washington, D.c.
In 1931, h~ was graduated from California Christian
College in Los Angeles, and in 1932 he has pursued a course
of graduate studies in the School of Religion at the University
of Southern California, and at the present time he has joined
the School of Social Welfare of the same university.
He expects to return to the Philippines as a servant of
the Lord Jesus Christ and to invest his life in the upbuilding
of the Kingdom of God.
The writer wishes to express a sincere appreciation of
the kind advice of his professors, and particularly of the
courtesy and kindness of Dr. Clarence M. Case, his major pro
fessor in this line of study.
INTRODUCTION: DEFINITION OF TERMS
A study of culture, its contents, scope and types or
values it produced, will introduce one to the appreciation or
the particular contribution of Mohammedanism to Philippine
culture. There is no attempt in this introductory chapter to
elaborately analyze the meaning of culture, because that is
not the main objective. This will simply give one a glimpse
of what has been the definite share of the Moro people in the
present complex culture of the Philippine Islands. Generally
speaking, the Philippines have had Asiatic, European, and at
the present time an American culture. These, however, have
diffused with one another and that is the reason why one can
not hand-pick which is which because of the complexity of
culture traits and culture patterns. One may, however, ask,
"What is culture?" The views of the following sociologists
shall answer this inquiry.
CULTURE DEFINED
In attempting to define culture, the reader will be asked
to keep a one-track mind for the present, because human culture
will be the main center of the study. The forces of nature
vi
help build culture, but the achievement of mankind will be
the goal of the research. Contemporary sociologists and
other students of the social sciences will be the authorities
in the quest of a complete, concise, and satisfying definition.
Dr. Clarence Marsh Case, in his lectures on Contemporary
Sociological Thought, defines culture as follows:
Culture is whatsoever man (or any other creature) has
learned as a member or society, has stored externally and
transmitted socially, by means of tools and symbols, in the
form or social values
1
together with their corresponding ·
attitudes in persons.
This definition of Dr. Case will be adopted by the
writer as a tool to open the earth of ignorance, doubt and
indifference, that covered the Moro culture in the Philip
pines.
Dr. Emory S. Bogardus, in his book Qontemporary Sociology,
defines culture thus:
Culture is the sum total of the ways of thinking and
doing, past and present, of a social group. It is an inte
gration of the traditions, or handed-down beliefs, and cus
t~ms, or handed-down procedures.2
One will find in the following chapters of this study
that the above definitions will confirm the justification of
1
Dr. Clarence Marsh Case, Lectures on Contemporary So
ciological Thought, at the University of Southern California,
Los Angeles.
2
Dr. Emory S. Bogardus, Contemporary_ Sociology;, p. 68.
the articles mentioned.
Lars Ringbom, a Swedish writer, defines culture as
••• an inward environment of all the traditions, ways of
thought, a?ld political, social, scientific, artistic, and
religious tendencies that belong to the times.1
G. C. Wheeler translated the definition from Swedish
vii
into English. Such a definition does bring light and knowledge
of what civilization has stored for mankind.
We shall notice the content of culture, the achievement
of mankind, then the time clement as embodied according to
the foregoing definitions; then, too, the persons or groups
of persons who produced the material or objects of their
thoughts, which is the very core of the civilization. Man
is the instrument of that thought life which motivates action.
I f it is appropriate, we shall call it a Divine social mind.
This active, motivating Something has permeated Mother Nature
to readjust itself, or permitted itself to be modified for
the good of man and thus provided the culture which is now
the goal of this study.
In the study of cultural anthropology, Dr. Kroeber has
in a gener p,·l way stated that culture is the accumulation of
the institutionalized thoughts of man, developing and unfold
ing itself in ages past to the present, and still increases
as man tries to manipulate his environment. Archeology has
1
Lars Ringbon, Renewal of Culture, p. 115.
viii
proven this statement.
An analysis of all the forces in the universe, with their
relation toward one another, will bring forth a satisfactory
definition, for just now different sociologists define culture
in different terminology. In speaking of all the forces of
the universe, natural phenomena and man as part of it shall
be included. Different writers come to an agreement that cul
ture is the product of mental activities, and that these act
ivities have become materialized and transferred from gener
ation to generation. These material objects of the mind re
present the age, the time, and the particular traits that
were diffused together and thus resulted in a complexity of
culture. In a volume, Recent Developments in the Social Sci
ences, written by different authors, there is the following
statement:
Culture consists of ideas, of mental patterns, which
are passed along from individual to individual, and which
collectively form the tradition and custom of the group. 1
With the clarification of the concept of culture it can
be discovered that the Moro culture has been inherited, modi
fied, and utilized from century to century, and as the years
went along the culture has developed parallel with other
tribal cultures. Of course the geographical situation has
great influence.
1
H. E. Barnes, editor, Recent Development in the Social
Sciences, p. 15.
ix
Eubank speaks of culture as the collective product of
human society, the distinctive manipulation or man established
in his environment; and this product or man's mind has come
because he has unified his efforts in the utilization of the
1
forces around him.
As a preliminary illustration, the fighting spirit of
the Moros will be analyzed in brief. When the Moros go to
fight for Allah, they need some kind of defensive instruments
such as spears, long bolos, shields, perhaps bows and arro s.
The art or blacksmithing has been developed amont the Moros
of the Philippines because they surely needed spears, bolos
and other objects of metal for their wars. In connection with
this art of metal work, the Moros are fond of rings, ear-rings,
silver beads, and things of like appearance, and so metal work
has been encouraged.
The Moros are fond of living on the water or near the
water. They traveled a great deal from island to island. Com
merce and ba tering was developed. They needed boats and
canoes, so the art of boat-making has been developed. Besides
using the boats for inter-island intercourse, they used them
for their navy supply. Their navy and army were accommodated
in the boats made of lumber. It is said that the fastest
sail-boats were manufactured by the Moros of the Philippines.
Space does not permit the discussion of the complex Moro cul-
1
E. E. Eubank, The Concepts of Sociology, p. 337; New
York, 1932.
X
ture.
TYPES OF CULTURE
Etlmology, the science that deals with the study or
peoples, reveals culture traits, culture patterns, and cul
ture complexes which make up the civilization or a group or
people dwelling in a given culture area. In view of the fact
that the peoples of the Philippines are of many tribes, eth
nologists have brought to the surface the types of culture
that the various tribes of the Archipelago have developed
under the existing social forces.
Taking the Philippines, then, as the center of this
sectional study, one will find that early family units became
what is known as the family-clan-village group. In connection
with this social ·unit, the idea of washing the hands before
eating, putting the rice to be eaten in a big wooden bowl,
each member of the family having a coconut shell for a plate,
all members surrounding the bowl of rice, and sitting to
gether while they eat with the fingers, _ presents a type of
.
culture which is semi-primitive.
When t~e family-clan-village culture developed into a
more complex group known as the tribe, the acculturation of
all the different families produced another type of culture.
Of course, it must be understood that with this type of cul
ture there is a trait or a group of traits that, blended to
gether, result in the type of culture that is to be described.
xi
The spirit of mutual helpfulness is shown in the following
cooperative situation that is found in the tribe even to the
present time. When one builds a house, the other members of
the tribe come to assist. One or two b~ing bundles of cogon
grass for roofing, others bring bamboos for walls and for
flooring, some bring food for the workers, still others bring
lumber for posts, and the rank tmd file of the members of the
tribe bring any material than can be used to finish the house.
This is typical all over the tribes of the land. This type
of culture might · be called primitive, depending on the way
one looks at it, or it may be called a tribal type of culture.
Among the Ilcos or Ilocanos, women are as industrious
and as laborious as men. Women farmers, carpenters, weavers,
fisherwomen {and other kinds of domestic work) are found.
It is found that in some tribes or groups of people women are
not as industrious and as laborious as the women of the !locos
country.
The bamboo house roofed with cogon grass is found gener
aily where bamboo and cogon are most available, the nipa
house where bamboo and nipa are the best materials, the wooden
house where the necessary materials are mostly found. These
different types of housing are found in different cegions of
the country. They represent, however, a certain class. of
people, a certain age, and a certain cultural development.
The brick house is a Mexican or a Spanish type of house.
The architecture is Spanish. This is typical of la casa
xii
espanola.
The bamboo and the nipa house are typical of the .Malay
country. The Sumatran and the Javanese architecture have
been modified, but still one can find that the plan and hous
ing equipment are of East Indian influence.
The modern Filipino is rapidly adopting the American plan
of living. The bungalow that is typical of the American way
of housing is now found in summer resorts particularly of the
city or Baguio, which is the summer capital of the Philippines.
It is also found in many of the cities.
As a result, then, of the study of the types of culture,
one can see that at a certain period of civilization a par
ticular group of people at that period has produced a type of
culture that the given area has been able to provide by means
of the needed materials.
The complexity of the types of culture in the Islands
indicates the places of origin, namely: Asiatic, European,
American and native. The diffusion of culture presents differ
ent types which could be traced from one or the other.
Finally, it can be said that a type or types or culture
could be identified by knowing the given age, the given· group
of people, and the given culture area where it is found.
CULTURAL CONCEPTS
The cultural concepts enumerated in Dr. Bogardus' Con
temporary Sociology will be followed here. The writers of
xiii
the different articles in the chapter on "Cultural Concepts"
shall be our authority for the explanation of these cultural
l
concepts. The following concepts may shed light on determin-
ing the development of the Mohammedan culture in the Philippines.
The first concept mentioned 1s culture, and has already
been defined. As Lester F. Ward puts it, "Civilization is the
sum total of achievement".
Qµltural pattern. "A culture pattern is any objective
expression of a common type or behavior. It is a uniform
way of behaving by a number of people. It is a social value."
Culture area. "A culture area is the population district
of a specific culture pattern". The Sulu Archipelago, which
is the center of Moro piracy, is a culture area.
Culture diffusion. "Culture diffusion is the spreading
of culture patterns and complexes". The diffusion of Hindu
and Buddhist and Mohammedan religion in Moroland is an illus
tration of this.
Culture lag. "Culture lag means that some culture pat
terns are not modified as rapidly as others in the same· cul-
ture complex". The wearing of the turban among the Moros
is an example of this.
1
Emory S. Bogardus, Contemporary: Sociology. Chapter III.
xiv
Culture inheritance. "A culture inheritance is all or
the culture complexes that are handed down from one generation
to another". The marriage custom of the Moros illustrates
this concept.
Mores. "The mores are those portions or a people's
culture which are adjudged to be necessary for their social
well being". The polishing and filing by the Moro girl or
her teeth in order to look attractive is an example of this.
The process or painting the teeth black is another illustration
of the mores of the Moro women, these things being regarded
as necessary and binding on decent women.
The writer e~presses his inadequacy to formulate other
definitions and explanations for these cultural concepts.
Therefore he expresses his indebtedness to the author of the
book referred to and to the individual authors of the articles
incorporated in the particular chapter from which these state-
1
ments are cited.
1
Emory S. Bogardus, op. ci~.
CONTENTS
Cha .. ter
FOREWARD.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Page
i
I.
INTRODOCTION: DEFINITION OF TE RMS.
• • • • • • • • •
Culture defined.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Types of culture.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
V
V
X
Cultural concepts ••
MO HAMMEDANIS IN BRIEF ••
• • • • • • • • • • •
• • • xii
• • • • • • • • •
Life history of Mohammed
• • • • • • • •
• • • • •
• • • • •
1
2
Development and m i ssionary zeal •••••••••• 4
Teachings ••••.•••••••••••••••• 7
II. H O W OHAMMEDANISM CAME TO THE PHILIPPINES •••••• 11
Influence of Java and the East Indies ••
• • • • •
• 12
Mohammedanism Conquers the Sulu Archipelago •••• 15
III. WHAT IS M O R OLAN D? •••••..••..••••.•• 18
IV.
The Sulu Archipelago.
• • • • •
M indanao ••••••••
• • • •
Other neighboring islands ••••
THE MOROS, THE M OHAMMEDAN FILIPIN OS
Characteristics •••••••••
• • • • • • • •
• 19
• • • • • • • •
• 20
• • • • • • • •
• 21
• • • • • • • •
• 24
• • • • •
• • • • 25
Chapter
v.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
xvi
Style of dress
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Page
. 27
Habits ••
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
. • 30
Customs
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
32
37 MOHAMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Tribal government ••
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• . 37
Slavery and degradation of womanhood.
• • • • •
• 40
Mohammedan schools ••
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
42
The religious faith.
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
OTHER SOCIAL FACTORS IN MOROLAND ••
• • • • • • •
The sultanate.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The dato
•
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The pandita.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Codes and laws
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
DOMESTIC LIFE IN M OROLAND.
• • • • • • • • • • •
Agriculture.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Commerce.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Fishing •••
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Blacksmithing ••
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 48
• • 49
• •
•
•
• •
• •
• •
• •
49
51
52
53
55
55
• • 56
• • 56
• •
57
Building of boats ••••
• • • • • • • • •
. .•• 57
Pottery.
Weav-ing.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE MOROS.
• • • • • •
Economic resources.
• • • • • • • • • • •
Politics
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
Education.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• 57
• • 58
• • 59
•• 61
•• 63
•• 63
Chapter
IX.
x.
xvii
Page
Religion.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
••• 67
THE FILIPINO M OHAMMEDAN AND THE FUTURE.
• • • •
•• 69
• 70 The leaders of tomorrow
• • • • • • •
The Mohammedan Filipino and the
Christian Filipino ••••••••
• •
• • • • •
• • • • •
• 72
Moro psychology •••
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• 74
CONCLU SION: MORO SOCIAL ORGANIZATION ••
• • •
Ethnological background •••••••
• • •
The ecclesiastical and political situation.
The caste system ••
Communal life •••
M oro social thought
• •
• •
• •
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
••• 78
•• •. 78
• •
• 80
• •
• 81
.•• 82
••• 82
• •
• 84
CHAPTER I
MOHAMMEDANISM IN BRIEF
The first organized and systematized religion arrived
in the Philippines in the name of Mohammed the Prophet of
Allah, the Supreme God. With it institutions of culture were
brought about, as the Islamic faith began to grow in Philip
pine soil.
In order that a greater appreciation of the influence
of Mohammedanism may be attained, one should know the history
of this faith in Allah, the All-Powerful God.
The Mohammedan Filipinos should not be looked upon as
ungodly, irreligious, and heretics simply because they are
worshipers of Allah, for they claim that they, too, are child
ren of the Almighty. By a sympathetic attitude, one can
search out the best in Mohammedanism. By knowing the history
and teachings of this system of religion one may be able to
discover the social and cultural contribution that has de
veloped in the Islands, particularly that of the southern
part of the country.
This chapter aims, in brief, to trace the history of
Islam, beginning with the land of her birth, her growth
through the centuries, and finally her remarkable attempts
to make the Philippine Islands one of her mission fields.
LIFE HISTORY OF MOHAMMED
2
Mohammed, having been called the Prophet of Allah, had
an idea, a principle, that complete submission to God was
necessary in the pursuit of happiness. One should carefully
note that such a principle of submitting one's self to Allah
became a social thought which dominated the disciples, thus
making a greater social influence through which the Fili
pinos had become believers of the faith, because of fear to
wards the -conquering missionaries of Mohammed. The Filipinos,
in the time when Mohammedanism came to be introduced, were
known to be peaceful and willing to submit themselves to
,
things that brought joy and blessings to them.
Mohammed was born in the city of Mecca, Arabia, in the
year 57 A.D. He belonged to a tribal society called Korvish.
Like many others in this group, he was a shepherd and a trader.
There is no doubt that in his experience as shepherd and
trader he had developed social ideas that could make better
relations among men.
At the age of thirty-five he had a call to be a leader
among his people. The occasion of the call began in his inter
vention in a quarrel among three temple leaders in Mecca. The
1
enlightenment that he received from Judaism and Christianity
1
R. E. Hume, The World's Living Religions, p. 214.
3
caused him to see the existing moral and social conditions.
1
Mohammed felt called to go out and preach the gospel or
2
an Absolute Creator, Potentate and Judge of the world. This
happened when he was at the age of forty. His vision and
appointment to be a Prophet of Allah caused him to flee from
Mecca, and so at the age of fifty-two he experienced perse
cution.
His flight from Mecca marked the beginning of the Mo
hammedan calendar. It was called the Hegira. This was in
the year 622 A.D.
Mohammed set up a theocracy in Medina, a city in north
ern Arabia. This was a sign of a new social order in Mohammed
anism in her early days. He made himself a dictator, basing
3
his rule upon the following social creed:
We will ~ot worship any but the one God.
We will not steal.
Neither will we commit adultery.
Nor kill our children.
We will not slander in any way.
Nor will we disobey the Prophet in anything that is
right.
The above pledge of the ea~ly Mohammedans shows the
early social thought embodied in the faith. These statements
1
R. E. Hume, op. cit., p. 214.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid., p. 215.
4
show an ethical relationship among men and their ruler. In
addition to these words of loyalty and devotion, a mosque
was built for gathering the disciples for prayers, religious
education, and missionary enterprises. The institution of
Friday as a day of rest and worship began.
Mohammed felt that it was his duty to win others to the
Moslem faith. This ideal made him conquer and compel! the
people to submit to the absolute God. He went so far as to
persecute and kill those who did not embrace the faith. This
social crime was thought of as good, and in the favor of the
Moslem god.
Mohammed, too, had eleven wives after the death of his
first wife. Adultery was instituted in the teachings of Islam.
Such a condition is -thought of as an unwholesome social con
dition in our age.
In spite of Mohammed's human wealmesses, he was deeply .
religious in his experience. He had a personal conviction in
his attempts to present his conception of Allah, the one true
God. He was utterly devoted to his religious ideals. He was
. 1
an attractive leader and efficient organizer.
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSIONARY ZEAL
Wherever the Moslem missionaries went, they carried with
them the culture from which they came, to the places where
they brought the message.
The thought of the founder of Mohammedanism, such as
1
R. E. Hume, op. cit., p. 217.
5
the idea of a society under the control of Allah, has been
clear in the minds of those who were to spread the news, that
Allah is ruler over all and whoever disobeys his power shall
submit or be killed. "From Mecca unto all parts of the world"
was the slogan of the Moslem missionaries. The warlike spirit,
the fl.ght for Allah, and obedience to ijohammed were the cries
that motivated those who became disciples of the religion of
Islam. The religious ideals became the means of social con
trol for everyone that professed the faith.
Mohammed died in the year 632 A.D. After his death his
comrades carried on his work in other countries. Hume gives
a picture of the early development or missionary work in Is
lam. He says, in part:
••• Mohammed died without leaving a son or any appointed
"successor". Then for twenty-eight years the leadership
was maintained in turn by four valiant personal comrades of
the Prophet: Abu Bakr, who ordered the collection of Mo
hammed's sayings; Omar, who conquered Syr.a and Persia; Otho
man, who ordered a revision of the Koran and the insertion
of the vowel points into the consonantal text; and Ali, Mo
hammed's son-in-law, with whose assassination Islam became
permanently divided into sects.I
Islam, besides being social and religious, was also po
litical in phase. Caliphates were founded after Islam was
divided into sects. These Caliphs who ruled were responsible
for the spread of the Moslem teachings as far as Africa,
Asia, and Europe.
1
R. E. Hume, op. cit., p. 229.
6
In the year 660-750 A.D., the Omayyad Caliphate centered
at Damascus. This caliphate extended with force and power
the teachings or Mohammed all over north Africa and Spain.
The westward movement into Europe was checked by Charles Mar
tel at the battle or Tours.
At Bagdad the Abbaside Caliphate was established in the
year 750, and lasted to 1258. This caliphate really began
with the uncle of Mohammed. His name was Abul Abbas. In
north Africa and Egypt the Fatimite Caliphate ruled in the
year 910, and extended to 1171 A.D. The power of the Spanish
Caliphate at Cordova existed during the years between 755 and
1236 A.D. The Moorish Caliphate at Granada flourished during
the years 1238 and 1492 A.D. The Ottoman Turks had their
Caliphate in 1299, and it captured Constantinople in the year
1453 A.D., and Egypt in 1517 A.D. This continued as the
chief Moslem power for a period of six hundred years, when
the Turkish National Assembly at Angora deposed the Sultan
1
at Constantinople in 1922.
Christianity came to the Philippines by way of the
Mediterranean Sea to Rome, from there to Spain, then westward
across the Atlantic Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, then
across the Pacific Ocean. Dr. Frank C. Laubach describes the
coming of Islam to the Islands as follows:
1
R. E. Hume, op. cit., p. 230.
Islam spread from Mecca across northern Africa in one
direction, and across southern Asia in the other ••••
7
Islam won the race by a hundred years. Her path across
Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and India dripped with blood. By
the year 1200 the Moslem hold in India was secure. From
India eastward, force was seldom necessary. Mohammedan trad
ers picked up the language of the Malays, purchased slaves,
married native women, and soon became the foremost chiefs of
the state.
Makdum, an Arabian scholar, reached Malacca on the Malay
Peninsula about the middle of the fourteenth century. By his
practice of magic and medicine he exerted a powerful influ
ence over the people, converted the ruler to Islam, and es
tablished the faith of Mohammed - throughout the state of Juhur.
Makdum made his way northward to Mindanao and Sulu, making
some converts in these islands, about 1380. It is reported
that the town of Bwansa, formerly the capital of Sulu, built
a mosque for him and that some of the chiefs accepted his
faith. The island of Sibutu claims his grave.
Some ten years after Makdum's death, there came into
Sulu a Raja (or prince) named Baginda. He hailed from
Manenghabaw in central Sumatra, the home of many Malayan
dynasties. Baginda brought with hi! an army of invasion,
which soon overcame all resistance.
Looking at this missionary movement of Islam into the
Philippine Islands, from the point of view of sociology, it
is evident that the faith came in the form of an invasion of
culture. There is no doubt that the culture patterns of Java,
Sumatra, and the r est of the East Indies were carried to the
people of the archipelago, particularly to those of the Mo
hammedan culture area of the country.
TEACHINGS
Before scientific research discovered the good teachings
1
F. C. Laubach, The People of the Philippines, p. 51-52.
8
and fine social values in other religious systems, Christian
ity claimed in a prejudicial way that other religious insti
tutions were absolutely invalid. In the past centuries, and
even to the present time, a good many of the Christian Filipinos
thought that Mohammedanism was nothing but a pagan and heathen
religion, which did not teach good social ethics and customs.
The Koran, the Mohammedan Bible, is the source of our
information regarding the teachings or Islam.
Concerning Allah, the Moslem God. To the Mohammedan the
name of the Supreme Ruler is Allah, to the Filipino He is
known by the Spanish name, Dios, to the American by the name
God, and to the Jew by the name of Jehovah.
There is no God but Allah:
All-seeing,
All-hearing,
All-speaking,
All-} ~~owing,
All-willing,
All-powerful, 1
Absolutely unitary.
It would be interesting to note the names of Allah as
found in the Koran. Some or these names shall be mentioned
here, to show the social value that they indicate. Allah is
known to the Mohammedan as: Lord, the One, the Mighty, the
Powerful, the King, the Overcomer, the Avenger, the Dominator,
1
Reuben Levy, The Sociology of Islam, p. 1.
the Slayer, the Provider, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
1
9
the Forgiving, the Loving. And those whom Allah loves are:
Those who do good,
Those who follow Mohammed,
Not the proud or boastful,
Those who believe and act aright,
Those who fight in his cause. 2
These, in brief, make up the Mohammedan's conception of
his God. These, too, have had a great deal to do with the
present cultural life of the Mohammedan Filipino.
Social relations. Alms-giving is one of the most im-
portant duties of the Moslem disciple. It is very interestiig
to note that regard for the needy has been one of the funda-
3
mental expressions of religious ideals.
It should also be noted that slavery was an important
element in Mohammedan society; that womanhood was given high
4
regard, but that polygamy was practiced.
The family organization is paternal. One traces his
5
family tree from the father. Childhood in Islam is very
wel~ regarded, and there is much to be said about the care
6
of the child.
1
R. E. Hume, op. cit., p. 224.
2
Ibid., p. 224.
3
Ibid., p. 228.
Levy, op. cit., Chapter I.
5
Ibid., Chapter II.
6
Ibid., Chapter III.
10
The plan or salvation. In Mohammedanism, salvation is
found in the practice of the ceremonial duties such as ·repe
tition of the creed, daily prayer, alms-giving, fasting during
the days or the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.
Besides these the Mohammedan believes in judgment, paradise,
and hell. Paradise to the Mohammedan is sensuous pleasure,
a real happiness similar to what is known as eart hly pleasures.
Hell is for the wicked.
Again we find that in Islam one must have belief in the
one God Allah, angels, the Koran, the Prophets of Allah, in
1
the Divine Decrees.
These statements from a brief survey of the history of
Mohammedanism will help one to appreciate the contribution
of the Moslem faith -in the culture and civilization of the
Filipino Mohammedans.
1
Hume, op. cit., p. 225-227.
CHAPTER II
HOW MOHAMMEDANISM CAME TO THE PHILIPPINES
In the first chapter, particularly in the section deal
ing with development and missionary zeal, the early arrival
of Mohammedanism to the Islands of the Orient is mentioned.
The stream of thought that should be noted in this connection
is the distinct missionary stream that flowed from Mecca to
India, then eastward to southern Asia, then to the East Indies,
and finally to southern islands of the Philippine Archipelago.
Makdum, the first Arabian scholar, who has been men
tioned in the first chapter as a great Mohammedan leader,
was, it might be said, responsible for planting in the Moro
land of the Philippines the first seeds of Arabian civilization.
Then, Baginda, the first Moslem prince from central Su
matra, has been the very instrument that injected the Sumatran
cultural influence into the native culture of the Sulu Archi
pelago.
Java had as much influence as any other island of the
East Indies with regard to the spread of Mohammedan culture.
It must be born in mind that, as the years went by, a
diffusion of culture has been going on, and as long as there
12
is faith in Islam, the Mohammedan culture survives in oroland.
The claim or scientists is that in times past the .East
Indies and all the surrounding islands were connected with
the mainland or Asia. If this is true, and probably it 1s a
fact, then one may be permitted to say that the peoples of
all the neighboring islands just south of China have had
Asiatic culture, which was modified as different classes or
people passed along the trail of human history. Java becomes
one of the key islands to bear witness to the transfer or cul
ture to the country where east and west have met face to face.
JAVA AND EAST INDIAN INFLUENCE
It should be clearly understood that Mohammedanism was
not the only culture that existed in the East Indies. Buddhism
came to the Malay country several decades before Islam ever
thought of propagating the Moslem faith into these island
countries. In the words of Dr. Emory S. Bogardus, there was
1
a diffused culture inheritance in the East Indies.
A picture of the Javanese social life and culture diffusion
is found in Samuel S. Zwemer's book. He says:
In Java we may study comparative religion on a l~rge
scale and may trace the layers of the different religious
conquests in the language, the art, the civilization, and
the public religious life of the people. The soil was ani
mistic. Very early, the first century of the Christian era,
however, Hindu and Buddhist influences were established. All
1
Emory S. Bogardus, Contemporary Sociology, p. 99.
13
the remains or Javanese architecture, their national theater
and their wierd music, can be traced to Hindu and Buddhist
influence.
The political power of Hinduism held till the middle
of the fifteenth century. The island of Bali, still wholly
Buddhist, is a great unoccupied mission field. Nineteen
twentieths of the population of the East Indian islands is
Mohammedan, and although Islam here may seem superficial when
compared with North Africa, it is thoroughly established and
has all the vital element3 of the older Islam. Yet the
Javanese are very proud of the period of Hindu-Buddhist cul
ture, which is considered the golden age of their civilization,
when Europe was still in mediaeval darkness.
Islam began its conquest under Sheika Abdullah Arif and
Jehan Shah; it did not continue to develop culture, but
deadened its vitality. Art and architecture delined, as did
manners and morals. In 1507 the King or Atjeh, in northern
Sumatra, embraced the Moslem faith, while I ben Batuta makes
mention of a Moslem ruler in Sumatra as early as 1345 . A
certain Arab named Rahmat, who styled himself an apostle, be
gan to preach and win converts, and built the first mosque
in Java. After the conversion of the chief, Raden Ratah,
proselytes became more numerous, force was used to extend the
Moslem state, the capital fell into their hands and Islam was
practically triumphant in 1478 A.D. Nine apostles or mission
aries were sent out to convert the remainder of the people.
Before the end of that century the King of Ternate, in
Mulluccas, was converted, and Islam was spread in the Spice
Islands by Javanese traders who came there for tie double
purpose of procuring cloves and imparting Islam.
The year 1345, which marks the reign of a Moslem ruler
in Sumatra, and 1507, which dates the conversion into the
oslem faith .of the King Atjeh of Northern Sumatra, have a
definite bearing upon the year 1380, when Makdum, the great
Arabian scholar, arrived in Mindanao and Sulu, to preach the
gospel of Islam. The closeness of these dates ind~cates an
1
Samuels. Zwemer, Across the World of Islam, p. 259-260.
undoubted possibility that the East Indian inf uence upon
the culture of the native Filipinos had begun to grow. ·
14
Again the year 1478 shows that Java became practically
a Mohammedan country. Then, about the close of the fifteenth
century (about 1500 in round numbers), the King of Ternated
in Mulloccus was converted to Islam. The Mulloccas country
is near the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo and the Celebes islands
are close to the southern islands of the Philippines; there
fore it is evident that there must have been a mingling in
barter trading among these groups of islands and thus, with
the trade and commerce, the religion and Mohammedan culture
must have had her first initiation to the native and primitive
Philippine culture.
The mode of dress, the domestic family relations, . the
mosques, and the form of Mohammedan government in Moroland
in the Islands, are some of the culture patterns that were
brought from Java and the other islands of the East Indies.
It is the purpose of this chapter to m ention the differ
ent cultural influences of the East Indies. Other Mohammedan
scholars and traders came to the Philippines besides Makdum.
These, too should be given credit in their efforts to open
the trade and religious ideals of the East. Their names are
not found in books of history, but their life-blook soaked
the soil that was prepared and made ready for the bearers of
the crescent.
Besides Baginda, the first Moslem prince to come to the
15
Philippines, Abu Bakr holds an important place in the history
of Mohammedanism in the Philippines.
MOHAMMEDANISM CONQUERS THE SOLO
ARCHIPELAGO
Jolo is the capital of the Sulu Archipelago. Sulu is
the center of the power of Mohammedanism in the entire Phil
ippine Islands. The Sultan of Jolo is the supreme head in
the propagation of Islam in the land. A man of great import
ance in the history and development of Mohammedanism in the
Philippines, particularly of the Sulu Archipelago, is this
Moslem, Abu Bakr.
In passing, it is well to remember the growing in parallel
form of cultures such as the Hindu, the Chinese, and the Mo
hammedan, in the Philippines. Also, it is interesting to
note that while these cultures crune to the Islands there was
the aboriginal and primitive tribal social life that was ab
sorbed into the foreign cultures of the East.
Returning to the conquest of the Sulu country, it will
be more clear if the narration of Dr. Frank C. Laubach is
quoted.
The greatest man in Sulu history, a man who bore the
stamp of exceptional talents, was Abu Bakr. His origin is
uncertain. One tradition says that he himself came from
Mecca; another that his father, Baynul Abidin, came from
Hadranut, Arabia, settled in Malacca, married the daughter of
the Sultan of Juhur, and became the father of three great
sons of whom Abu Bakr was the second. The oldest of the
three, says this story, founded the Sultanate in Bruni,
in Borneo, while the youngest, Kabungsuwan, became the
1
illustrious conqueror of Mindanao.
16
Whether the relationship of these brothers is true or
not, there is but one thing that should be kept in mind, and
that is the existence of the Mohammedan sultanate form of
government, which is a definite contribution of Islam in the
early form of an organized social group in the Philippines.
Laubach continues:
••• As for Abu Bakr, the Moros say that he was a very fa
mous authority in law and religion in the city of Malacca.
He traveled eastward and finally settled in the island of
Basilan. At the invitation of' the people of Sulu he took up
his residence in Bwansa, Sulu, about the year 1450, and
married Princess Paramisuli, the daughter of Raja Raginda.
He persuaded both people and chiefs to become real Mohammed
ans and to abandon their former gods. Upon Baginda's death,
Bakr inherited all of his father-in-law's power over Bwansa
and the island of Sulu and a great deal more, for he claimed
direct descent from Mohammed and declared himself Sultan.2
Today the Sulus reverently refer to him as Sultan-ash
sharif-al-Hashim. Bakr remodeled the government after the
pattern of an Arabian sultanate, giving himself all the
powers of a caliph. He even induced the natives to give him
all the authority within the sonnd of the royal gown, and
all the shores of the island as his personal property. He
had a code of laws made, reconciled the local customs with
Mohammedan laws and the precepts of the Koran. He reigned
for ·thirty years until his death about 1480.
With the above record, one may find definite Mohammedan
cultural patterns that helped to begin the organized social
life in that part of the Philippines. There is the sultanate,
1
F. C. Laubach, The People of the Philippines, p. 52.
2
Ibid., p. 53.
17
the caliphate, the codifying of laws, which became a power
for social control, the institution of Moslem worship and the
unification of all the tribes, thus making all the chiefs sub
mit themselves to one great authority which links itself to
Mohammed and from Mohammed to Allah. Tracing one's power and
authority from a god claims an eternal divine right sovereignty.
Surely the religion of Mohammed diffused itself into the ex
isting social life of the people who lived in that time. If
Christian culture had not come, surely, the Filipinos would
have been all Mohammedans to the finish.
A culture tracing its complex character from Arabia,
modifying itself through India, Sumatra, Java, the Muloccas
country and finally to the Sulu land, has at last settled in
the Philippines through the ideals of Mohammedanism.
CHAPTER III
WHAT IS MOROLAND?
The term Moro was applied by the Spanish government,for
administrative purposes, to those who embraced the Moslem re
ligion. The classification of the people of the Philippines,
such as Christians, non-Christian tribes, and Moros, also
would indicate a social distinction from one another.
Geographically speaking, the Mohammedan territory is
generally located in the Sulu Archipelago, the Island of
Mindanao, and the smaller outlying islands around Mindanao,
and the long island called the Palawan.
Mohammedan culture is found in three great natural areas:
1
namely, M indanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and Palawan. The Is-
lam1c culture ares is composed of seven tribes, which are:
the Sulus, the Magindanaos, the Samals, Lanae, Yakan, Sanggil,
2
and Palawan. According to the estimate of Beyer, who for
some time studied the ethnology of the people of the Philippines,
1
Emory S. Bogardus, Contemporary Sociology, p. 57.
2
Ibid., p. 78.
there are 315,380 Mohammedans; and according to the 1918
1
census there are 443,937 Moslem disciples.
THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO
19
Dr. A. L. Kroeber is authority for the statement made
about the Sulu Archipelago. These islands are not very large
but they have become the birthplace of Mohammedanism in the
Philippines. The largest islands in this group are: Basilan,
Sulu or Jolo, and the Tawi Tawi . These islands lies uth-·
westward toward the neighborhood of the northeastern point
2
of the island of Borneo.
The Sulu Archipelago is inhabited by two distinct groups
of Malays . They are the Sulu and the Samal. The Samal group
was widely known in the days gone by as the pirates . They
are a fierce and warlike people; the robbers of the land.
There is great probability that since they are Mohammedans
they are more or less influenced by the religious zeal that
possessed them. These Sea Gypsies, as others call them, have
spent most of their lives just by living on boats on the seas.
According to ethnographic studies it is found that the
Sulu country .has 78,700 Samals and 87,400 Sulu.
Space does not permit enlargement, but it is interesting
1
F. c. Laubach, The People of the Philipyines, p. 487.
2
A. L. K~oeber , The Peo~le of the Philippines, p. 22 .
3
D. P. Barrows, History of the Philippines, p. 212.
3
20
to know that the Sulu group manifests a similarity in plant
and animal life to that of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and with
out doubt to that of continental Asia. The domestic life of
the inhabitants is more or less like that of the East Indian
Malay .
MINDANAO
Mindanao is the second largest island in the whole group
of the Philippines. In square miles , indanao is 36,906.
It has many non-Christian tribes, but not all of them are Mo
hammedans. The south estern part of Mindanao and around the
Gulf of Davao is the natural area that possesses the Mohammedan
culture traits. The two distinct Mohammedan groups are the
Lao v.hich numbers 58,350, and the Magindanao tribe which has
79,850 people. Besides the Lanao and agindanao groups there
are others of less importance. The region around the mouth
of the Magindanao river in southwe stern M indanao is another
stronghold of Mohammedanism. Lanao is also of equal import-
ance.
Kroeber speaks regarding the ohammedan foothold in
M indanao. He says:
In the extreme south of the archipelago, in and about
the great island of Mindanao , followers of Mohammed had be
gun to establish themselves about 1380, less than two cen
t uries before the coming of the Spaniards. Still later,
they had obtained a foothold farther north in the islands,
as on Mindoro , and on Manila Bay, where rulel and court
were Mohammedan when the Spaniards arrived.
1
A. L. Kroeber, op. cit., p. 13.
21
Mindanao itself, like other islands of the Philippines,
has lakes and lowlands of value for livelihood. The moun
tains of Mindanao are populated with tribes of different kinds.
These tribes have never been as·similated and tribal amalga
mation has not been so fast. Mount Apo in Mindanao is one of
the most well known peaks in the land, and rises to an alti- ·
tude of about 10,000 feet above sea level.
Mindanao is the future gra~ary of the Islands. Besides
being rich in religious experience, culture, and the like in
fluences, she has products that make her an important island.
Rice, rubber, abaca, mines, fish, pearl and other material
riches are found in Mindanao.
~indanao, too, has Christians the same as in Sulu. Since
religion is · counted 'as important part of culture and civil
ization, there is even to the present time a growing culture
in process. Of course, since the coming of Spain to the
lands for the first time, in 1521, it can be said that Indian,
East Indian, and European cultures have had to either diffuse
or stand distinct from one another.
OTHER NEIGHBORING ISLANDS
Smaller islands of little i m portance can not be studied
here separately. These islands may be counted by the hundreds.
They are either inhabited or visited by Mohammedan traders
for sea animals and other sea products. Mindoro, a large
island near the north tip of Palawan, will be given special
22
attention because Mohammedanism has left some footprints. But
Palawan, the long island that stretches obliquely from the
northwestern tip of Borneo as far as the important Culion
islands, has an important place in Mohammedan history.
Other tribes live in Palawan, but the tribe of Palawan,
which is Mohammedan, has a population of about 1,940.
Mindoro has an important place in Philippine history be
cause she has been a trading center for Chinese and other
peoples since before the Spanish regime. The island is not
very much populated except on the sea coast towns, which are
occupied by Christian Filipinos, and in the interior region,
held by non-Christian tribed.
Palawan has an area of about four thousand five hundred
square miles. The fact that Palawan is very close to Borneo
and other big islands of the East Indies accounts for the
fact that there was an intercourse of culture.
Kroeber describes Palawan as follows:
Palawan or Paragua, although very narrow, extends some
two hundred and fifty miles, and is the third longest island
in the Philippines. The history of its human occupation is
similar to that of Mindoro. Palawan is separated from
Borneo by only slight depth of sea and geographically forms
nothing but an outlying extension of this islayd, with which
its flora and fauna are definitely connected.
The Sulu Archipelago, which is the center of Mohammedan
power in the Philippines, is famous for the fact that Mohammed,
1
A. L. Kroeber, op. cit., p. 23.
23
through the missionaries, has become supreme. Invasion and
conquest characterize its growth and development. Mindanao,
whose Mohammedan culture centers in Magindanao region and in
Lanao districe, the sea-coast villages of Cottabato, and in
remote Davao Gulf, represents the bulk of the Mohammedan cul
t ure area. Palawan and the surrounding islands of lesser im
portance have become a post in the far southwest Philippines.
These three great regions comprise the natural area of Islamic
civilization.
The succeeding chapters will mention the definite culture
traits and complexes that have more or less become indirect
Filipino culture in the Mohammedan aspect of it. It is there
fore natural o look across Asia to the culture center where
the Moslem religion began.
CHAPTER IV
THE MOROS, THE M O HAMMEDAN . FILIPINOS
When the M ohammedans got a foothold in Spain, particu
larly in Cordova and Granada, the term M oors was given as a
means of distinction from the Christians; and when Spain con
quered the Philip ine Islands the name M oros was also applied
to the people who submitted themselves to Islam.
One interesting_ thing that has lagged in every town as
the years went by, is a public function tha.t comes once a
year. Every municipality has a town fiesta, and no fiesta
is successful if a theatrical comedia is not staged for the
sake of the public. These comedias are stories of conquests
and fights between the Christians and Mohammedans, sometimes
depicting the defeat of the Moros and their conversion to
the Christian religion, and sometimes showing how the Christ
ians submitted themselves to Mohammedan rule. In these
comedias one can find what characteristics Mohammedans have
in their ways of living for their god, Allah.
To lmow the M oros, their cha,racteristics as a social
group should be studied. There existed a time w hen the Christ-
25
ian ·Filipinos and the Mohammedan Filipinos disliked each
other because they did not try to understand and love one an
other in spite of religious affiliations.
CHARACTERISTICS
The Moros of the Philippines are warlike and aggressive.
This trait among the Moslem believers is due to the teach
ings of Mohammed that they will fight for All ah. There is no
doubt that this has been motivated by the social thought of
Mohammed that the ideal world has to be ruled by a Potentate,
an Absolute Supreme Being, and that whoever disobeys the
l
Prophet shall be done away ~~th. That began away back about
the early part of the seventh century.
The Moros were at the height of their ambition to con
quer the other tribes of the Philippines when Christ's Cross
gleamed on the Pacific shores of the Archipelago. The Moro
pirates rowed their boats by night towards the neighboring
islands, and suddenly captured a village and held personal
property for ransom, and even went so far as to capture wo
men and children.
These F~lipino Mohammedans were zealous for Allah • . The
island of Mactan presented a tribal loyalty and a Mohammedan
patriotism when Magellan tried to force them to give up
Islam. It was here that two religious cultures fought one
1
Emory S. Bogardus, A History: of Social Thought,
Chapter I.
26
another, and it was really the first religious war of oppos
ing forces trying to extend what they each believed was true
and right. Of course the time was yet blind.
These people showed their inability to form a real po
litical unit in order to be able to control large masses of
people. As a religious group the Moros could in some degree
get along together, but in consequence of the fact that there
were so many chiefs, datos, or clan leaders, they could not
stabilize themselves. Likewise, the Filipinos in Los Angeles,
California, today have many little organizations represent
ing each town, each province, and also each tribe, such as
Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Visayans, and Mountaineers. But the
Moslem Filipinos are submissive and obedient as a group.
-
This is due to the first ideas of their religion, that one
should obey the Prophet and live for Allah.
The development of domestic life has revealed the fact
that the Moros are industrious. Their fishing for pearls,
cultivation of the soil, and production of things for local
needs have enabled the Moros to make the day busy.
Racially, the Moros in their physical characteristics
are Malayan. Dr. Charles B. Elliott, who was a former member
of the Philippine Commission, speaks of the M oros of pure
blood as having the usual characteristics of the Malay race.
The complexion is olive brown, the hair straight and
black. They are som ewhat taller than the average Filipinos,
straight and well formed, and often strong and stockily built.
27
The feet are particularly broad at the toes, which are gener
ally separated, due to the habit of going barefooted. ·In many
of their daily occ~pations they use their toes as other people
use their fingers.
This testimony manifests a biological stream that had
dominated the racial life of certain groups of people.
The Moros for several years were a problem to civil
authorities, not because they could not be handled well, but
simply because some were not able to know them as they should.
Such characteristics are purely of Malay origin. Therefore,
whatever the Mohammedan Filipinos do, they should be viewed
from the point of view of the Malay. Then, too, whatever is
produced through their way of thinking must be studied in
the light of their Malay life. The culture traits and com
plexes in Moreland came out because their mode of living and
of thinking had something to do with them.
STYLE OF D RESS
In the Malay country, that is in the East Indies, each
tribal community has a certain difference in dress from the
others. When these Malays migrated to the Philippines, they
came in their tribal social groups, and in so doing each
tribe had to take with it the style or mode of dress of the
tribe.
Now, in the Philippines nearly all the tribes from
1
C. B. Elliott, The Philippines (To the End of the
M ilitary Regime), p. 121.
28
Mindanao and Sulu as far north as to the most northern part
of Luzon, each tribe has its own mode and style of dress.
1
This indicates a culture lag all the way through.
So it is in Moroland: the tribes of oros such as the
Yakan, the Samal, the Lanao, the Magindanao, the Palawan,
and the others, do make themselves distinct because of the
dress they wear.
Elliott's description of their mode of dress shows that
it is similar to those in Java, Sumatra, Mullaccas , Borneo
and other islands in the East Indies. The family and tribal
mores from the M alay country were transfered to the Moslem
regions of the Philippines, and for one to be able to see
that there has not been so much change, Elliott's statements
,
will be made the authority about the matter. This is what
he says:
The different tribes are easily distinguished by their
dress. Generally that of both the men and women is quite
simple. For the former it often consists of nothing except
a sarong, a long piece of cloth joined at the ends and folded
around the waist. A breech-clout is sometimes worn, and
upon special occasions a costume consisting of a tight jacket
and close-fitting trousers, buttoned to the ankle and full
in the seat. These garments are often made in brillia1t
colors and ornamented with bright buttons. In the folds · of
the sarong the wearer usually carries a short dagger, or if
a man of high rank, a kris.
Woman's ordinary clothing is limited to the sarong, a
strip of brightly-colored cotton cloth about four feet wide
and ten feet long, while her more elaborate dress is usually
1
Emory s. Bogardus, Contemporary Sociology, p. 89.
29
a close-fitting jacket and loose trousers. Shoes or sandals
are unknown to the common people of either sex. The favorite
head-dress is a brightly-colored scarf, which the men twist
into a turban. Occasionally straw or wooden hats of domestic
manufacute and enormous size, adorned with tin or silver
1
spikes, are worn by the men. But the turban is more popular.
It is safe to remark that the loose pieces of cloth worn
by the women must have been borrowed from the Hindu mode of
wearing dresses, and the turban for the men is an evidence of
an Arabian origin.
Observation has shown that the Apayao, the Kalinga, the
Igorotes and other tribes are fond of carrying with them
small knives, or small bolos, in their daily life. This is
needed, perhaps, in their work every day. The fact that these
other tribes are fond of ornamAnts, such shells, metals of
different kinds, and of wearing clothes of bright colors all
indicate a Malayan culture. The children hardly wear any
clothing at all and if they do they usually are dressed up in
a sarong. It is interesting to note that beautiful ornaments
are worn by children and women, especially in times of feasts
and social functions.
However, a change has been made as education and modern
influences have reached Moroland. This is true also in
ot~er non-Christian tribes, which practically follow the same
domestic life of the Malay race.
1
C. B. Elliott, The Philippines, p. 120-121.
30
HABITS
Habits, too, may be modified or changed. But in Moro
land habits in daily life are similar to those of a good many
of the tribes of the Archipelago. These habits are even true
to the civilized and educated Filipinos. Every here in the
Philippines such habits as shall be mentioned are prevalent.
It is also true in modern countries, so-called.
The diffusion of the tobacco smoking habit in the Philip
pines and elsewhere, is further testified to by the statements
of Kroeber. He says:
The art or habit of smoking originated in tropical
America, where the tobacco plant is indigenous. From this
middle region the custom spread, like agriculture , pottery,
and weaving , in both directions over most of north and south
America. Originally, it would seem, a tobacco leaf was
either rolled on its~lf to form a rude cigar, or was stuffed,
cigarette fashion, into a reed or piece of cane. Columbus
found the West Indians puffing at cigars. In the southwest
ern United States, the natives smoked from hollow reeds.
Further into the United States, both east and west , the reed
had become a manufactured tube of wood or stone or pottery.
This tubular pipe, something like a magnified cigarette
holder, has the bowl enlarged at one end to receive the to
bacco. It ~~s to be held more or less vertically. This
form has survived to the present day among the California
Indians. 1
The different instruments used in the old days, w hen
tobacco was first used, are also found today in the Islands,
and particularly in Moreland.
The Moros take a bath every day. They spend much time
1
A. L. Kroeber, Anthropology, p. 211 .
31
in the water. This is partly due to the climatic conditions
of the land. Perhaps it should be mentioned that every good
religion teaches that cleanliness is next to godliness. Even
if sanitary conditions are not as they should be, it is still
good to think that cleanliness is part of religious culture.
Chewing and smo~ing tobacco is a habit hich is found
in primitive countries and also in the so-called modern
countries. It is not, then, surprising to find that even
the Moros, centuries ago, had to use tobacco for some purposes.
People who have been addicted to the tobacco habit have some
excuses to make for using it. Nothing is found as a particu
lar reason why the Moros smoke and chew tobacco. They got it
by culture diffusion from the West, as shown in the passage
quoted above from Professor Kroeber.
Chewing boyo is another habit of the Moros. This too is
true in many of the tribes and even among the Christian Fil
ipinos. This boyo is a combination of betel nut, a certain
leaf called gawed in Ilocano, a piece of tobacco, and a small
portion of lime. This habit makes the mouth terribly dirty
and colors the teeth. It causes m any tooth troubles, and at
the same time makes one look like an animal chewing his food.
The practice of daily Mohammedan rites and rituals in
the family is important. But it is unfortunate to say that
the Mohammedan practice of religion is not as highly developed
as in the country of her birth.
32
CUSTOMS
The established mode, manner, and ways of building the
domestic life of the Mohammedan Filipinos is different from
the customs of the Mohammedans in Arabia and, probably, in
the East Indies. This is due to the existing environmental
conditions of the time, especially of the present needs of
1
the people.
The Moro houses are built just like those of the other
tribes of the Philippines. But an awkward situation is that
of the Moro house being built near the water and oftentimes
over the water. The house is held above the water and over
the ground by posts either of bamboo or wood. If there is
any special reason for so doing nobody knows, but it may be
because of the idea of ease in taking a bath or otherwise ;
and the house,being built high above the ground,has protection
from snakes and wild animal s4
The house is roofed with nipa leaves or cogon, and walls
are either made of leaves or bamboo. The floor is made of
piepes of bamboo. In most common Moro houses t he house is of
only one room, and almost without any furniture.
The villages of the Moros are not usually close or
clustered together.
The Moros of higher rank build better homes and their
furnishings are usually of better kind. Beds, curtained with
1
C. B. Elliott, op. cit., p. 112.
33
colored cloths, provided with pillows and mattresses, compose
the comforts or the home life. Lances, krises, gongs and
other metallic instruments are valued by the families and
they usually are used to decorate the walls. The usual prac
tice of using cocoanut oil with a wick placed in earthen cups
provides the necessary light in the home. Among the Ilocanos
and other tribes the method of producing light is similar. To
the Ilocanos especially a certain oil produced from a certain
nut called bitta-og is used. The earthen cup is called
mel-let. This is one of the phases of the social inheritance
of the people of the Philippines from generation to generation.
The Moros are accustom d to fighting and murdering in
spite or the fact that they were disciples of the One Supreme
God who loves everyone. As has been mentioned in the preced
ing paragraphs, the Moros have inherited such customs of con
quering others for Islam. They felt it was their duty to
win others in an aggressive way.
Superstitious customs with regard to spirits and gods
have existed even to the present time. T}rl.s seems contrary
to the early belief in Mohammedanism; however, Islam teaches
beliefs in angels and evil spirits.
The idea of rejecting pork exists among the Moros. This
could be described in detail, but it is explained by the
fact that there is a story that tells of a conversation of
Jesus and Mohammed. In connection with this, Mohammed asked
Jesus to see one room where two of his grandchildren were.
Jesus looked into the room, then he came back to Mohammed
34
and told him that there were no people in the room. But Mo
hammed insisted that there were some people in the room. But
soon the doors opened and out rushed two hogs. Jesus changed
the children of Mohammed to hogs. From that time on, the
1
Moros believed, hogs were originally man.
Jose de Olivares, a noted author and world correspondent,
and Major-General Joseph Wheeler, in the United States army,
speak of Roeman as having described the burial customs of the
Moros. The funeral rites are thus known:
If a data or chief dies, they intone a dolorous chant;
the family burst into lamentations, which are finally drowned
in the din of the clashing of cymbals and beating of gongs
whilst sometimes a gun is fired. In rush the neighbors,
join in shouting, until all settle down quietly.·to a feast.
The body is then sprinkled with salt and camphor, and
dressed in white, with a kris attached to the waist. There
is little ceremony about placing the body in the coffin and
burying it. The mortuary is marked by a wooden tablet,
sometimes by stone, on which is placed an inscription in
Arabic. A slip of board, or bamboo, is placed around the
spot, and a piece of wood, carved like the bows of a canoe,
is stuck in the eartfi; in front of this is placed a cocoanut
shell full of water.
This cu~tom of burial among the Moros is practically
the same as in other primitive tribes. It is also done in
some semi-civilized regions of the country. It is possible
1
Joseph Wheeler and Jose Olivares, Our Islands and Their
People, p. 709.
2
Ibid., p. 735.
to say that such customs probably prevailed in the Malay
states.
35
Marriage custom is found practically similar to the old
Mohammedan tradition that the Koran provides four legal
wives. If a man can have more, that is possible. This kind
of marriage is not sanctioned by modern society.·
Wheeler and Olivares state that,
••• A Moro wedding is an important affair. When a girl
reaches a marriageable age, which is usually about twelve
years, she advertises the fact ith as much eclat as the
average American society belle. She bangs her hair, shaves
her eyebrows, and grinds and blackens her teeth, hich are
polished into the most approved shape of Moro beaut~, by
grinding them off square at the bottom and cutting them into
the form of a hollow groove in front, so that they protrude
like fangs or the edge of a scoop-shovel . In addition to
the bettle-nut stain, they use a tooth-blacking made by
boiling the milk of the cocoanut and dropping a piece of
red hot iron into it. The iron and the milk form an oxide
that has the appearance of black carriage varnish, and
plaster of this compound applied to the teeth will last
for several weeks. When it begins to fade, a new coat of
paint is put on.
The maiden is now ready for business, and both young
and old begin to cast sheep's eyes at her -- for a M oro
never gets too old to marry. A prospective husband is soon
discovered, when the parents on both sides are notified,
and the negotiat ions begin. M arriage is always a question
of price, the girl being valued in proportion to her charms
and accomplishment s . If she· is pretty and can read the
Koran, she _ is regarded as a special catch, and her price is
fixed accordingly. The usual price, however, is about ten
dollars in silver. If ready cash is scarce they resort to
barter, · in which event a buffalo worth perhaps fifteen dollars,
or several hundred rice cakes valued at one cent each, are
given in lieu of money. A small portion of the purchase
price goes to the girl, and the remainder is used in spread
ing forth the marriage feast; so that the expenses of the
occasion are paid by the bridegroom , and t his explains the
custom.I
1
Wheeler and Olivares, op. cit., p. 735-736.
36
Divorce is easy in Mohammedan homes. It is only by
mutual agreement on the part of both parties. The woman
returns to her family and all presents received by her dur
ing marriage life shall be taken by her. Poor men may re
turn some of the om en they got as wives if they have no way
of supporting them.
The diffusion of this marriage culture in all the Philip
pines has been modified and changed to a certain extent, but
culture-lags of this custom are still found everywhere. These
above customs are a part of the great social inheritance in
Moroland and also over the whole Philippine Islands. The
future will yet tell what ill happen with all the customs
all over.
CHAPTER V
MOHAMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS
ohammedanism becomes a means of social control over the
early Filipino Moslems. Islam, therefore, as a culture had
begun slowly and built up until her power, through central
ization from the Sulu Archipela go to other neighboring places ,
grew stronger and stronger . All over the Moro culture area,
there is much to be found of the marks of culture which are
monuments of the past centuries since Islam came to be known
as the very first organized and systematized religious cul
ture in the Philippines.
It is the scope of this chapter to deal mostly with the
most important institutions of Mohammedan social life , as
t~ey portray a definite contribution to the present complex
civilization of the land. These institutions compose to a
great extent social complexes that are more or less instru
mental in the strengthening of the social values that they
produce for the common welfare of the Filipino people, par
ticularly of the Moro country.
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT
Before the introduction of the sul t anate and caliphate
38
systems of government, it would be well to remember that they
were, and still are, semi-religious and political instruments
of Islam to conquer the world for Allah. When they were
brought to the Islands, they were assimilated into the then
existing form of social control and unit of the early Fili-
pinos.
Dr. David P. Barrows, who served for a time as Director
of the Bureau of Education in ~he Philippines, has this to
say regarding the early tribal government in the country,
especially in the Moro region:
The weakest side of the culture of the early Filipinos
was their political and social organization, and they were
weak here in precisely the same way that the now uncivilized
peoples of northern Luzon are still weak . Their state did
not embrace the whole tribe or nation: it included simply
the community. Outside of the settlers in one immediate vi
cinity, all others were enemies or at most foreigners. There
were in the Philippines no large states, nor even great rajas
and sultans such as were found in the Malay Archipelago, but
instead on evecy island were a multitude of small communities,
each independent of the other and frequently waging war.
The unit of their political order was a little cluster
of houses of from thirty to one hundred families, called a
brangay, hich still exist in the Philippines as the barrio.
At the head of each barangay was a chief }mown as the dato,
a word no longer used in the northern Philippines, though
it persists among the Moros of Mindanao . The powers of these
datos within their small areas appear to have been great,
and they were treated with utmost respect by the people.
The barangays were grouped together in tiny federations
including about as much territory as the present towns, whose
affairs were conducted by the chiefs or datos, although some
times they seem to have all been in obedience to a single
chief, known in some places as the hari, at other times by
the Hindu ord raja, or the Mohammedan term sultan. Sometimes
the power of one of these rajas seems to have extended over
the hole of a small island but usually their kingdoms embraced
l
only a few miles.
39
The foregoing description of Barrows indicates three
things that happened in the social life of the early Philip
pine community. First, the word barangay, which means at the
present .time among the Ilocanos, a boat, or in its true Ilo
cano name, bilog. The barangay was primarily the patriarchal
group of people. They had close blood relationship. But
when they anted to move to another island, they used a boat,
or bilog in Ilocano. This barangay, however, was a strong
group of blood related people who in times of tribal wars
fought for their tribes. These, too, indicate a social change
in the use of the words. In the second place, one should
note the use of the Hindu ord raja, meaning prince or chief.
This word is equivalent to the word dato used by the Moros .
The Filipino word dato is also a term which signifies sultan
in Mohammedan. As the years went by, with the changes in
the use of the words mentioned above, one can see the succession
of cultures that happened in Moreland.
Oftentimes, in the early tribal wars, slaves were cap
tured to serve in the tribes that conquered. Slavery has
been a form of subjugating other weaker people to the stronger
ones. Within the tribe, therefore, slaves are found.
1
David P. Barrows, History of the Philippines, p. 78-79.
SLAVERY AND DEGRADATION OF
tOMANHOOD
40
In Moroland women slaves are found. The fact that Mo
hammedanism legalizes four wives, and others if requested,
surely has built into Moro culture the practice of polygamy.
The servants and the other slaves all live together in one
big house with their master. In many cases the female slaves
occupy an important position in the tribe or in the family
where they belong.
Slaves in the Moro country serve as bonds and securities
in debts, or serve as indemnity for what has been done as
crime in other tribes. Slaves could be bought if it happened
that the poorer people needed some money from the richer ones,
and sold their freedom.
Absolutism and aristocracy in M ohammedan lands has crept
into the civilization of the Islands and has lasted longer 1n
the Moro country. Barrows has quoted Chirino and Morga, two
Spanish historians of Philippine life and custom. This quot
ation states in a definite way the classes of Filipinos that
existed under the data. It is as follows:
Beneath the datos, according to Chirino and Morga, there
were three classes of Filipinos. First were the free
maharlika, who paid no tribute to the data, but who accompanied
him to war, rowed his boat when he went on a journey, and at
tended him in his house. This class is called, by Morga,
timauas.
Then there w as a very large class, ho appear to have
been free men or liberated slaves, who acquired their own
homes and lived with thei families, but who owed to dato or
maharlika heavy debts of ervices: to sow and harvest in
41
his rice fields, to attend him when he had guests, and to
perform any other duties that the chief might command· . These
semi-free men were called aliping namamahay, and their con
dition of bondage descended to their children.
Beneath these existed the class of slaves. These were
called siguiguiliris, and they were numerous. Their slavery
arose in several ways. Some were those who as children had
been captured in war and their lives spared. Some became
slaves by selling their freedom in times of hunger. But most
of them became slaves through debt, which descended from
father to son. A debt of five or six pesos was enough in
some cases to deprive a man of his freedom.
These slaves were absolut~ly owned by their lord, who
could theoretically sell them like cattle; but in spite of
its bad possibilities, this Filipino slavery was apparently
not of a cruel or distressing nature. The slaves ftequently
associated on kindly relations with their masters and were
not overworked. This form of slavery still persists in the
Philippines among the Moros of Mindanao and Jolo.1
This institution of slavery among the Moslems and other
tribes of the Philippines is similar to that form of slavery
that exists in greater Mohammedan countries. So it is
possible to say that slavery is common to all cultures of the
world. It may exist in modified form but it is wrong, as mo
dern social life does not sanction it.
~oman's position in Moslem countries is not as it ought
to be according to the Christian standard of wholesome do
mestic livi~g. Since the coming of Islam in the Philippines,
womanhood w snot exalted. So one can see that the same atti
tude to women has not changed very much. Moro women are
treated as slaves, playthings of man, and could be disposed
of if the man so desires. Woman could be bought and sold,
if need be, serves as waitress for her master, and awaits the
mercy of her lord at his pleasure. She has not very. much
1
David P. Barrows, op. cit., p. 79-80.
42
right except a few, that is about her home duties. The pa
triarchal system in the Moslem regions of the Philippines
gained too much power, thus crushing the opportunity of wo
men to participate freely both in private and public life.
In spite of this treatment given to the Moro women, time has
brought new changes, and so the Moro women await a happy fu
ture.
MOHAMMEDAN SCHOOLS
Religious institutions opened the eyes of the public to
the needs of training the youth of the land. Public educa
±ion in the Philippines owes her beginnings to the church,
however meager the beginnings were. This is true not only in
the Philippines but also in other countries.
The panditas in Moroland are the teachers for the train
ing of the Moslem children. The Koran is the source of all
the knowledge imparted to them. Mohammedan traditions, simple
systems of writing and reading, comprise the early curriculum
of the Moro schools. The children usually gather around the
home with their teacher behind them, for the children turn
their back~ towards their teacher, the same as they do in
Arabian schools. This old system of teaching must have had
a great place in these times, but with the modern point of
view some change is needed to produce more effective training
for the children.
The Koran is the most important book in Arabic literature,
43
and therefore in this connection it is worth while to know
something about the Sacred Scriptures of Islam. Since the
Koran is the main textbook in Moslem countries, it is safe to
speak a word in favor of the Koran as the first textbook ever
used in the first schools of the Philippines under the auspices
of Mohammedanism.
The uniqueness of Islam is revealed in the Koran, as the
founder has claimed to have received the teachings direct
from Allah, who gets the name God from the Christians. Mo
hammed is the Prophet of the Almighty. Mohammed did not write
his sayings of the Koran as they are now found. Abu Bakr,
one of his leaders, collected all Mohammed's sayings and com
piled them into what we now call the Koran.
Something happened with the first edition of the Koran.
Othman, the third caliph, ordered a revision of the first
edition, but before so doing he planned to have all first
copies destroyed. But there is not very much change. So the
present Koran that is now used has become the final compil
ation. This present composition of the Koran has been used
in the early Mohammedan schools of the Philippines.
The Koran contains the conversation of Allah with Mo
hammed, some Arabic folklore, ideas about the devil and the
angels, and the resurrection and the Judgment Day, which were
l
originally Zoroastrian. The influence of the Talmudic Scrip-
tures of the Jewish people are found in the Koran. The Ioran
1
R. E. Hume, The World's Living Religions, p. 220-221.
44
as a book of mixed sacred literature reveals some New Testa
ment allusions. There seems to be a close connection between
the Messianic ideas in both the Koran and the New Testament
teachings.
The Koran has 114 chapters, or suras. As one reads the
Koran, it will be noticed that many of the chapters begin with
the phrase "In the name of Allah". This indicates a direct
revelation of Allah to Mohammed. One word in the Ilocano di
alect seems to show that it is of Arabic origin. The word
surat in the Ilocano dialect means letter, or, in simple ide~,
it means writing. The word sura in Arabic means chapter, or
a set of writing. As the years went on the usage of the word
sura was made so that it became surat. The letter! was added
and to this day the Ilocanos use the word. It is safe to
say that according to indications the w ord surat is thus of
Arabic origin. In the Tagalog language, which is the most
prominent language in the early days of the Philippines, they
speak the word in a different way. The letter r in the w ord
surat is changed to 1 and thus it is read sulat, meaning l etter
or writing.
The Koran contains the word sura and therefore, without
doubt, when it was used as a textbook of the early Mohammedan
schools the words became a part of the then existing culture
and thus became a part of the dialects of the land.
The Koran has an important place in the life of the Mo
hammedan Filipino. Someone has said that the "Bible may be
45
the book nobody known in America, but the Koran is the book
everybody reads in Islam". Some of the teachings or writings
of the Koran are here mentioned Just to give a glimpse of
what the Mohammedan children of the Philippines have had in
the schools since the fourteenth century to the present time.
The Reverend J.M. Rodwell, in his translation of the Koran
from Arabic is referred to at this time. The following
quotation is from Sura XL, entitled "The Believer".
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha.
Mim . The revelation (sending down) of the Book is from God
the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Forgiver of Sin,and Receiver of Penitence, -- vehement
in chastisement,
Long-sufferingl The. e is no God but He; to Him shall
be the final gathering.
None but infidels gainsay the signs of God; but let
not their prosperity in the land deceive thee.
The people of Noah and the confederates after them,
have brought the charge of imposture before these Meccans ;
each nation schemed a gainst their apostle to lay violent
hold on him, and disputed with vain words to refute the
truth. Therefore did I lay violent hold on them; and how
great was my chastisement!
Thus is it that thy Lord's sentence, that inmates shall
they be of the fire, was accomplished upon the infidels.
They who bear the throne and they who encircle, celebrate
the praise of their Lord and believe in Him, and implore
forgiveness for the believers; -- "Oh our Lordt Thou em
braces all things in mercy and kno ledge; forgive, there
fore, those who turn to thee and follow thy path; therefore
keen them from the pains of hell;
Oh our Lordl and bring them into the Gardens of Eden
which thou has promised to them, and to the righteous ones
of their fathers and their wives and their children; for
thou are the All-mighty, the All-wisel
And keep them from evil: for on him has thou mercy
whom on that day thou shalt keep from evil: and this -will
be the great felicity.
46
The above verses from the Koran manifest similar teach
ings from the Psalms of the Old Testament, and one can imagine
the early school discipline and ethics the Moro children had.
The dialects of the Philippines have some elements of
Sanskrit, as revealed in many of the similar words which
probably came first from India and the Mohammedan lands. The
diffusion of Hindu and Arabian culture in Java evidently pro
duc~d a system of writing which had Arabic origin, and finally,
established a basis- for the early Filipino writings that the
first Spaniards was when they came to the .Philippines. The
Sanskrit elements in the early writings surely were used in
the early Mohammed~1 schools in the land of the Moro culture.
The segregation of Moro culture and the centralization that
happened with it in the southern Philippines checked the
growth all over the country. Nevertheless, the traders from
the south have carried with them the systems they have learned
.
from the Moslem panditas.
Padre Chirino, a Spanish priest , in his account of .the
early writings, said:
So given are these islanders in reading and writing,
that there is hardly a man, and much less a woman, that does
not read and write in letters peculiar to the inlands of
Manila , very different from those of China, Japan and of
India, as will be seen from the following alphabet. 1
1
David P. Barrows, op. cit., p. 69.
The vowels
Syllables
C)
Ba
V
Ma
,
0
Bi
Be
J
V
i
Me
Q
Bo
Bu
· v
Mo
Mu
are :
✓
a
used:
::r
Ca
ti)
Na
.,
I
Q i
e
,
fT)
Ni
Ne
I
..)
Co
Cu
IT)
.J
No
Nu
~
if
Da
c/
Pa
)
V
Di
De
V
Pi
Pe
V
Do
Du
-v
,J
Po
Pu
-
ei
C'
Ga
~
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&----1
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20,
Yi
Ye
47
r
Lu
7a
Yo
Yu .
1
The alphabet is simply signs that denote certain ideas.
1
David P. Barrows, op. cit., p. 70.
48
THE RELIGIOUS FAITH
The institution of Mohammedanism in the Philippines has
been discussed in the preceding chapters, not as a faith, but
the cultural influences are the only ones there mentioned . It
is the purpose of this present section to discover the unique
contribution of Islam in a religious sense. Mohammedanism
has made the Moros what they were and what they are today.
There is no group in the Islands that are so devoted, so loyal,
and so dedicated to their religion as the Moros. To the Moros
Mohammedanism is both government and religion.
The establishment of mosques of Arabian architecture or
Javanese plan brings forcibly to one the reverence toward the
All-Wise , All-Mighty, All-Knowing Allah. Pilgrimage to Mecca
is made by devout Moslems in the M oro country. This part of
their religious vows ties the Moslems of the Archipelago to
Arabian culture and thus brings out anew the blessed ties to
the religion of the Prophet Mohammed.
Mohammedanism is so integrated in the life of the M oro
that even to the present time one can find that the Moros do
not welcome Christian teachers sent to them to teach in
their own Moro schools, which are under the auspices of the
g~vernment. Allah is the Supreme Ruler, M ohammed is the
Prophet, the Sultan, the local head, the panditas, the priests
and teachers of the faith. The Filipino M oslems ar e out and
out Mohammedans.
49
CHAPTER VI
OTHER SOCIAL FACTORS IN MOROLAND
Besides the institutions of Mohammedanism mentioned -in
Chapter V, there are others which shall be discussed in this
section of the study. The institution of the sultanate is
an Arabian system of semi-religious politico-social nature .
A glimpse of the sultanate is to be presented here , and by
so doing it will be found that it has an important place in
the culture development of the Moslem social life in the Phil
ippine Islands.
THE SULTANATE
The sultan in Moroland is known to be the most powerful
ruler, and whatever he would have his subjects to do it shall
be done. The fierceness and boldness of the Moros to murder
those who do not believe like they do, is manifest because
of their obedience to the command and biddings of the sultan.
Wheeler and Olivares describe the sultanate thus:
The sultanate is an hereditary monarchy under the Salik
law, which excludes women from the throne. His highness is
a Mussulman by faith, acknowledging the supreme ecclesiastical
authority of the Sultan of Turkey, and being under the re
ligious obligation of all Mussulmans , or having to make a
50
pilgrimage to Mecca . In order that he may do so , one of his
ministers , of whom there are three , is named as regent to
act as ruler in the event of his absence. The other members
of the Sultan's caninet are the minister of war, and the
minister of justice and master of ceremonies. The sultan is
supreme in his authority over the lives and property of his
subjects, but is advised in matters of state by a council of
elders. Under him, but not fully acknowledging his author
ity, are a number of petty chiefs, called datos , who coll ect
tributein his name, and pay over to the royal treasury such
portion of revenue as remains after satisfying their own
wants.I
The political power of the sultanate in the Philippines
was the very first form of organized autocracy and absolut
ism which became one of the social factors in controlling the
Moro country. The fact that the sultan has the power ove~
the lives and property of the people has been a social prob
lem not only in Mohammedan countries but also in Christian
nations. Land ownership and rights for the protection of
life of all the subjects is another social problem that has
confronted the students of sociology. The system of the
sultanate, particularly the power over the life and - property
of his subjects, is another form of slavery, and such a sys
tem presents a light as to the origin and rise of the hacien
deros and the casigues who became powerful in their riches
and did whatever they pleased among their tenants and l abor
ing men in their community. The l ealthy class in the Philip pines, who established haciendas all over the Islands, in herited such methods of getting riches from the old system
1
J. Wheeler and J. Oliveres, Our Islru~ds and Their
People, p. 708.
51
of the sultanate which inherited such a system from Arabia
and the East Indies.
Since the Mohammedan faith controls and regulates the
life, property, government and belief of the disciples, then
one can readily see what kind of social life the Moros had
from the latter part of the fourteenth century to the present
regime. As an illustration of this fact, it is known that
the Sultan of Jolo, which is the capital of the Sulu Archi
pelago, has always been esteemed and respected as the head
of the Moslem religion in the Archipelago. As it has been
mentioned in the preceding chapters, the city of Jolo is the
political, religious, and commercial center of the Filipino
Mohammedans. The Arab traders and missionaries have become
so amalgamated and ·assimilated with the people of Jolo that
a marked resem blance still appears even to the pre =ent time.
The Sult an is the pope of the Moslem faith in the Islands.
He understands that he is chosen of God to head the church,
and so in his civil powers he exercises all authority of
p~opagating the Islamic religion. Therefore it is note orthy
to remember that he has an important place in the upbuilding
of the Moro· culture in the Philippines.
THE DATU
1
The datu is under the sultan. Real authority is vested
1
C. B. Elliott, The Philippines, II, 131.
52
in him. He rules in the interest of his people. He declares
war and makes negotiations for peace and goodwill. If the
datu is unable to lead in war, one is selected to be a war
chief. The datu also administers courts of justice, and if
he is unable to determine which is right or wrong in cases,
then he confers with the panditas. The title of the land
occupied by the tribe is vested in the datu. In case of new
occupants and applicants for land in the community , the datu
gives the permission. The datu also collects revenues for
the sultan, and as a rple he is the main figure in the tribe.
In this connection, the datu has exercised the duty of
a judge. It is well to say that the datu, or chief, was the
first justice of the peace in the early systems of government
in the Philippines; It is also fitting to mention that war
has been a social evil in the early times of the Filipino
people, and it is distinct evil among the warring tribes of
the Archipelago. War is partly considered as one of the
schemes of the M oros to convert the other tribes to the re
lLgion of Allah.
THE PANDITA
1
The title Qandita means priest or religious leader.
He is the head of the people in social and r eligious matters.
He performs all the religious duties in the community. He
1
W heeler and Olivares, op. cit., II, 709.
53
is also looked upon as the educator of the district, and con
ducts all things that pertain to the teachings of the Koran
and the laws. He is also a sort of lawyer. The nandita also
takes the place of the surgeon and physician. But it is
possible to -imagine that he is the medicine-man, and it may
be· said that such existence of medicine men in the land has
probably emerged from the Mohammedan idea. He is the most
learned man in the community, thus making himself authority
in matters of wisdom for the followers. He is the prophet of
the time. The pandita is to the Koran as the Christian min
ister is to the Bible.
The education of the M oro youth rested upon the panditas.
As a rule the panditas are well trained in the schools of
Islam. The first recognized teacher or pedagogue in the early
days of the Moros is the pandita. The socializing influence
of the pandita was great, and to this day he is the center
of the educational task of Islam.
In the exercise of the law he is the sole interpreter
of. the Koran, and it is of value to keep in memory that law
has been one of the instruments in the socialization of the
Moros.
Law and order were the marks of good Moro society. A
good Moro must obey the laws, traditions, and customs of the
community.
CODES AND LAWS
The Koran is the first source of Moro life and discipline.
54
A true follower of the Mohammedan religion must have high re
gard for the Koran. Without any discredit to other laws of
the Philippines other than the Koran, it must be said that
the Koran was the first written code of laws used in the Phil
ippine Islands.
A long time ago, there was collected among the Magindanaos
and the Sulus a code of laws. This code was known to be in
tradition for many years among the Moros. This set of laws
is called, in M oroland, the Luwaran. It was written in Arabic.
As !lliott puts it, one can realize t he place of the law in
the social life of the Filipino oslems. He says:
The authority of this code is univer ,sally accepted by
the people of this tribe, although the datus use considerable
discretion in applying its provisions. As customary law
prevails very generally, there is much variety throughout
the M oro country in the methods of administrating native
justice and in the laws applied.l
This code of native M oro laws seem s to show that it has
had a place in the order and peace of M oro life. Perhaps it
is the second written code of laws among the M ohammedan
Filipinos.
1
C. B. Elliott, op. cit., p. 131.
CHAPTER VII
DOMESTIC LIFE IN MOROLAND
Domestic life in Moroland does not seem to be like the
life in Arabia, but more or less like the life in the East
Indies. But it is evident that Arabian elements of life
have permeated the Moro customs in some respects.
Turning now to the study of the domestic life of the
Mohammedan Filipino , it should be remembered that it is only
by this method of study that one can surely appreciate with
discrimination the conditions and situations that existed in
the country. The following account of the industries and
daily occupations of the Moros will help the student to know
his culture and his methods of earning his living.
AGRICULTURE
The agricultural stage of civilization is always notice
able when the civilization of a certain group of people is
studied. Agriculture is one of the domestic activities of
tbe Moros. There are tenants among them, and these tenants
work for the datus, but the distribution of wealth 1s fairly
shared by all who dwell in the community.
56
Agriculture is the primary industry in Moroland. The
Moros grow corn, potatoes, bananas, cocoanuts , tobacco, sugar
cane, coffee, gutta-percha, rubber, rice and hemp.
COMMERCE
Commerce and free trade were carried on for years among
the Moros and those of the East Indies. In fact the Mohammedan
traders were first responsible for bringing the Moslem faith
to the Philippines. Among the Moros themselves barter went
on from island to island. Evidence shows that the Moros went
as far as northern Luzon to carry on trade to the Ilocano re
gions. Their sea-daring spirit made them strong merchants in
a good many places of the archipelago .
Spices were brought from the East Indies _ to the Philippines ,
and were exchanged with the products raised by the Moros. Chi
nese trade prevailed in the Philippines as far back as the
ninth century, and is carried on to this day. Trade and com
merce opened the M oreland into .the culture of the nearby
islands and countries, thus bringing to pass a great amount
of diffusion of cultures.
FISHING
The Moros are good fishermen, and the only group of
Filipinos that are good divers are the M oros. The fact that
the M oros build their homes over the water or mostly near
the water i ndicates their love of it. Fishing and pearl
fishing form a part of their domestic life activities. The
best of pearls are found by the Moros in the Sulu sea, the
Celebes sea, and near-by sea.
BLACKSMITHING
57
The Moro blacksmith produces articles of iron such as
rings, bolos, spears, arrows, knives, and other farm imple
ments. Before the Spaniards came the Moros learned this art
of making articles of metals. All over the Philippines native
blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and other metal-smiths are found.
BUILDING OF BOATS
Moro piracy has encouraged to a certain extent the build
ing of boats. But most of all, the fact that so many islands
exist makes it necessary to provide transportation over the
waterways . So it was needed that boats should be built to
carry the facilities for the groups of islands. Boats made
of wood were produced by hand. Most all the sea coast towns
of the Philippines have boats made of wood. The wooden boats
were the first inter-island transportation facilities for
the people. With boat-building commerce and trade was fostered.
POTTERY
The art of pottery is common to all the people of More
land. It is believed that these potteries were of East Indian
design. Perhaps the art was first known in the Malay country
and thus brought by waves of emigration in the early days of
Philippine life. The making of brass vessels has a close con-
58
nection with the art of pottery.
WEAVING
The Moro women weave cloths of good quality . Primitive
looms are used, with the hands, in the production of the
native cloths that are used both for men and women. The
sarong and large handkerchiefs used by both men and women
are woven with the most skillful hands. Hand-weaving is pre
valent all over the country. The weaving industry among .the
Moro women is one that deserves high credit for the many
different varieties of clothing articles produced. Often
times, colored threads are woven in order to produce attract
ive articles. The native method of dye.ng cloths is from the
bark and flowers of certain trees. This native method of
dyeing cloths is found all over the Philippines, and is traced
back to the culture of the East Indies.
To conclude this chapter on the major industries in
Moreland, let us add that there has grown through the cen
turies an accumulation of cultures which more or less diffused
.
as the succession of cultures came to the Philippines. The
farm culture, the iron culture, the brass culture, the pottery
culture, the weaving culture and others of like domestic in
dustry, suggest the possibility that cultures came to the
land as different peoples lived there from generation to
generation. A great social inheritance has been bequeathed
to oroland by Islam and other Asiatic religions.
CHAPTER VIII
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE MOROS
The present status of the . M oro people is based upon the
different strata of culture that have laid the foundation of
the actual Moro life of today. However, the subduing of the
natural forces that form the environment of these Filipino
Moslems should be considered. It has been found that the
economic , educational, political and religious life of Moro
land has not progressed as it ought. This is due to a great
extent to the lack of real eniightenment, and the inability
of the Mohammedan order to bring into the country scientific
knowledge that opens the way for progress. The coming of
Spain has not brought the M oros to ~he proper social progress,
and America has just begun to i nstall the occidental methods
of modern living.
The M oros have not been able to modify their environment
in order to make whatever surrounded them more fruitful and
useful for them all. M ohammedanism, in spite of its being
the very first organized and systematized religion in the
Philippines, has not introduced through the unfolding of en
light enment the modern methods of domestic living, and so
the people remained entirely ignorant, superstitious, and
uneducated.
60
The Moros in the Philippine Archipelago are Filipinos.
There was a time when the Filipino M ohammedans were not named
as Filipinos just because they were Mohammedans . That was a
mistake, ands~ every Christian Filipino should take it upon
himself to insist that the Mohammedan Filipino loves the
Philippines just as he does. Of course, for administrative
purposes, the Moros were under the division of non-Christian
tribes, but nevertheless they are Filipinos just the same.
Uncle Sam should be saluted for having been able to lift the
Moros to a level with the Christian Filipinos.
The ocial status of the Moslem Filipinos has become
more and more k.nowrr because they naturally own the best culti
vated lands that will bring wealth to the Philippins Islands.
The testimony of General John J. Pershing, who was a Governor
over the oros, shall be quoted here. He says:
Relativer there has been great progress, but in reality
the people are yet in dense darkness and only the merest be
ginning has been made toward their enlightenment. The main
thing to record is that we have a solid foundation for the
future, in that the wild people and the Moros have come _ to
look upon the Americans as their true friends. They have
learned that they dare ask anrl that they will receive pro
tection. They have found Americans just and unselfish, and
they regard us as their -defenders against their own country
men who would keep them in ignorance for exploitation or
seize upon them and sell them into slavery. However, unless
he can be induced to relinquish some of his most vicious
customs, and unless he can be protected from exploitation at
the hands of his data, the Moro faces the future with very
little promise . He cannot progress far while he is bound
down by the chains of polygamy and female slavery. A code
hich recognizes plurality of wives and authorizes concubin-
61
age cannot prevail against civilized standards of morality.
Its baneful influence encourages sensuality and lust with
all their degrading effect upon moral character. Neither
can the Moro advance under dato rule, the very foundation of
hich is laid in ignorance and strengthened by superstition.
The moral sense is generally lacking in these dato leaders,
and as a consequence even to a greater degree is the con-
science of the common Moro befogged.l .
General Pershing's statements introduce the reader to
the present status of the oros. In reading through the above
statements one can see the social problems that arise . One
is the question of slavery, which had been existing for years
and years before the General wrote about it . This roblem,
if traced atiently, leads to the economic situation of the
people . The problem of land ownership , the distribution of
wealth, the opportunity to earn a good living, has not been
so normal as it ought to, because the economic resources have
not been discovered to permit the flow of it rightly into the
hands of everyone.
ECONO IC RESOURCES
1th regard, therefore , to economic resources, M oroland
is prophesied to be the future granary of the Philippines.
This applies particularly to indav .~o, which is the main
source of future wealth not only to t he oros but also ·to
the whole Archipelago at large. In previous chapters, the
products ind industries of M oroland were mentioned, but it
1
C. B. Elliott, The Philippines (To the End of the
Military Regime), P- 114-115 .
62
will be of benefit if the agricultural opportunities are
touched upon, because agriculture really will help solve the
question of independent living. The vast cultivable lands
of Mindanao assure economic safety if the Moros can find a
way to offer their lands to those who know how to develop
them. In spite of this, however, the government of the
Philippines is encouraging emigration to these lands of the
Moros in order to help grow a source of domestic security.
The dense forests offer a multiplicity of products be
sides lumber. It is found that rubber-trees, as has been
mentioned, could grow in the country. Other forest products
provide a great amount of wealth for the people of oroland.
Other mineral products such as gold, coal, iron, and
lead are found in Mindanao . The government , however, looks
upon oroland as the ultimate hope for a great economic sup
port of the land. The Bureau of Labor and the Bureau of
Lands of the government of the Philippines have through them
laid plans for the cultivation and development of the roro
country.
It is unfortunate that the organized religion of Mo
hammed did riot discover the ealth that lay at the foot of
their mosques and at the dooryards of the sultans and the
panditas of the time. The wealth of M oreland cannot be
estim ated in terms of dollars alone , but it might be well
s id that roroland offers a "gold rush" to the Filipino
people.
63
POLITICS
The political status of the ohammedan Filipinos is not
very much different from the Christian Filipinos. When the
Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the early part of the
sixteenth century, they found that the Filipinos had some
form of government. This government has been described in
the preceding chapters. It was the tribal form of controlling
the social group of the time. Upon this form of tribal govern~
ment the Spaniards built, and imposed upon it the European
system> which finally became the basis and foundation of the
present American system of government in the Islands.
The dato and sultanate systems are still used as means
of civil control, and on top of these two the Moros are now
allowed to elect for themselves, through their datos, a re
presentative to the Philippine legislature. Senator Hadji Buto
has been the first Mohammedan senator of the Philippines.
The introduction of the American system of government
into oroland has been difficult. The oros are gradually
transforming their Mohammedan form of government into the
new form as is now practiced by the Christian Filipinos, and
the time is not far away hen they will adopt the present
form of government.
EDUCATION
Mohammedanism provided, for the Philippines, the very
first system of education, through the panditas . The Koran,
64
as has been mentioned, was the very first textbook for the
very first school in the Islands. The Roman Catholic church
claims to have founded the very first Christian schools, but
it must not be forgotten that regardless of religious affili
ations the Moslem faith established the first educational sys
tem in the land. Opon this system of education the Spaniards
and the Americans built their methods of controlling the edu
cational system among the Moros .at the present time.
Laubach describes the "Moro passion for education" as
follows:
The most wonderful aspect of the transformation in
Moroland is the new passion for education. For the first
time in all the history of that fanatic al religion, a Mo
hammedan nation is going to school. And the teachers are
nearly all Christians. In Lanao, for example, six thousand
Moro children were enrolled in 1922, or thirty-five per cent
of the school population. The superintendent reports that
the children are rushing to school in spite of the suspicion
of their parents. But there is something more marvelous.
They are sending girls to school, though women among M o
hammedans are slaves. It i s contrary to M oslem custom to
be educated. As an I ndian M oslem visiting the Moros ex
pl ained, "The place of w omen is to be subservient to men,
but if she becom es a little educated, she talks back and
you cannot keep her in her place". But the M oros are edu
cating their girls, regardless of M oslem custom.
1
M orolan~ needs another type of education. The present
standard of education in the Philippines does not meet the
needs of the M oro people. Therefore, in connection with this,
the government of the Philippines, by an act of the Philippi ne
1
F. C. Laubach, The People of the Philippines, p. 7 ~ -73.
65
legislature, created a Board of Educational Survey under the
leadership of Dr. Paul Monroe of Columbia University. Dr.
onroe became the director of the Board of the Educational
Survey Commission of the Philippines. This commission has
recommended the following to meet the needs of the Moro people
through a process of educational development:
First: There should be the special supervisor or
deputy director.
Second: He and the regular division superintendents
should work in close connection with the datos. Experiments
in giving authority to some dato to carry out a well planned
educational scheme, should be tried.
Third: There should be no compulsion used at the pre
sent stage in securing the attendance of girls.
Fourth: Girls should always be taught by w omen teachers,
preferably married women.
Fifth: The industrial work should be such as will con
tribute something useful to the life of th~ immediate commun
ity. Except in very limited instances, where the economic
incentive is very clearly developed, and can be met without
the long delay incident to the present plan, commercial work
for the Manila or for the world market should not be dem anded.
Sixth: This industrial work should be varied and
adapted to the community. It might be boatbuilding, net
ma~ing, rattan or bamboo furniture-making, hammock-making,
simple basket or m at-making, or the making of furniture or
utensils suitable for their homes; shell work, bamboo decor
ative work, brass work, jewelry work, weaving, the prepar
ation of all types of articles peculiar to these people,
many of which have considerable dem and in curio, as well as
in the local markets. All these might be well encouraged.
By· d~awing upon native and local interest and skills which
already exi st, ~he simple and rudimentary arts of these
people mi ght be developed.
Seventh: In a similar way the agricultural w r)rk of the
farm and agricultural schools should be more directly adapted
to the life of these people. Either through home garden, home
farming, poultry or other animal proj ects, the ork should
66
be carried directly to the people. Where efforts are made to
improve methods of cultivation or types of produce, careful
study should be given local conditions. Much of the diffi
culty of the schools in these regions is that the method and
content of the work are wholly foreign to these people. It
might even well happen that methods of rice raising, success
ful a.t Munos, are not at all adapted to conditions in the
Moro country. Cooperation instead of compulsion, leadership
instead of driving force, is needed in all these workd, and
above all, in the work of agriculture.
Eighth: Exceptional attention should be given to hy
giene and sanitation and to the general problem of healthful
living. This should be of a practical character, a training
of habit wherever possible; but it should not contravene
essential Moslem matters of faith.
Ninth: Special attention should be given to the train
ing of girls in . the arts and practice of housekeeping, .child
care, and of a healthful physical life. So far as possible
a dormitory attached to the school for a few well chosen
girls is to be com mended. The type at Cottabato is an illus
tration. Especially i . n a society organized as that of the
Moro, the education of a few girls from the dominant families
is far more influential than the attempt to get a large
number of girls in school. ·
Tenth: All such w ork should endeavor to enlist the co
operation both of the M oro leaders and of the people. M uch
of the educational work attempted is so paternalistic in
type and oper ated so entirely from the outside, that is leaves
the people quite uninfluenced. They should be made to under
stand t hat the school work is their work, that it should be
partially suppo
1
ted by them, and that it is designed w holly
for t heir good.
The above recommendations of Dr. M onroe and his associ
ates in the commission show marked social achievements in the
past and for the future. It should be noted that the education
al system should be built upon the existing M oro culture. Then,
too, it is urged that the natural force s be utilized and mo-
1
A Survey of the Educational System of the Philippine
Islands, 1925, p . 101-102.
67
dified to meet the actual social needs of the M oro people.
The M oro arts are to be developed as these arts are needed.
The social status of oro w om anhood is to be elevated in ac
cordance with the custom of the Mohammedan faith. This re
commendation of the Educational Survey Commission shows a
real case in social diagnosis beginning from the needs of the
individual and extending to the common needs and problems of
the whole M ohammedan society.
A process of socialization is hereby to be hoped for,
as education in M oreland will gradually transf orm the youth
into a new group of M ohammedans. It is interesting to know
that a process of culture change is taking place. This cul
ture change ha s been brought about because of the diffusion
of different cultures that came in succession in Morel and.
But in spite of the fact that the di f ferent cultures came
about, they absorbed one another and thereby produced a dif
fused culture. The diffusion of the Ar abian, Hindu, East
Indian, Chinese, M alayan, Spanish and Ameri can cultures pro
duced a new social situation in M oroland.
RELIGION
The status of the Mohammedan r eligion in the Phili pine
Islands is not to be dealt with here at length, because time
will show what will happen. However, the public educational
system in oroland will without question permeate the train
iug of the M oro children and t here is hope that the Mohammedan
68
faith will some day be made to meet the modern needs of the
young Filipino Moslem.
As yet Islam is still the most sacred social value among
the Moros. They still want to die for their faith. Strict
adherence to the faith is still strong, but enlightenment will
come slowly and the progress in modified religious life will
be established. As long as Christianity will insist on con
verting the M oro, so the Moro will also commit hi self in de
fense of Allah. There should be a neutral way where both re
ligions might me et and find the ways and m eans in which both
could interpret the Divine wisdom to the people in the light
of scientific research and study.
Mohammedanism will not be stamped out in the Philippines
and neither will Christianity. But could the Filipino Christ
ian and Filipino M ohammedan find a clear way of understanding
one another , the relationship of both groups would be m ore
blessed in the days to come.
Scientific enlightenment is needed among the ioslem
Filipinos. Socialization is also needed.
•
CHAPTER IX
THE MOHAMMEDAN FILIPINO AND THE FUTURE
A new spirit is permeating the Moslem world today.
Philosophers are now making scientific investigations as to
the social values that oham.medanism as a religion has con
tributed to the social thought of the ages, and even to the
present age. This new spirit in the Islamic countries seems
to bring forth enlightenment, and now the emphasis upon the
values in human society is more and more given attention, in
order to manifest the best that has been cradled in the heart
of the faith.
From the standpoint of sociology the Mohammedan faith
is a vast culture complex. Therefore with the vast amount of
wealth in civilization, Islam, particularly in the Philippines,
looks ahead .and wonders what might be the possibilities .and
opportunities for her to realize for the good of all her
countrymen.
It is very unfortunate to say that all the social pro
cesses that helped Mohammedanism in the Islands have not
brought forth the progress that is now found in the Christian
70
communities. The reason for this is not to be discussed be
cause of lack of space, but it is possible to denote that
trained leadership and scientific enlightenment have not been
found among the Moros. Proper communication in order to
bring about a unified program of socialization has not been
developed, but now the time has come when a new regime of ad
ministration by themselves and for themselves is needed. Uncle
Sam ought to be congratulated in his efforts at subduing the
~oros for their own good. Tact, diplomacy, and intelligent
understanding of the Moros brought about peace and goodwill
for all Moroland.
THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW
Trained leaders among the Moro people are needed. These
leaders, however, should come from all walks of life in Moro
land. As the Educational Survey Commission has suggested,
the Moros should turn their mind vocationally in order to
bring about a new economic enterprise for themselves and for
the rest of the people of the Philippines.
One hope of Moroland is the open-heartedness of the
people to let the Christian missionaries both Catholic and
Protestant introduce the teachings of the Christ from the
viewpoint of science. It might as well be called "Filipin
ization", because the majority of the people of the Archi
pelago are Christian-minded and have a higher standard of
living and citizenship because of the Christian ideals they
71
possess.
There is a better chance for development of the Moros
for leadership in the Christian institutions. The educational
methods of the Protestant missions seem to be more attractive
to the Mohammedan Filipinos than any other institution, but
the public school system if properly manned and managed will
bring forth leaders who will take positions of responsibility
and feel that they, too, are children of the land now called
"The Pearl of the Orient".
A free social intercourse with other civilized tribes in
the Islands should open new experiences that will tend to
right relationships among the tribes and thus bring cooperation,
national spirit, and a feeling of relinquishing one's selfish
motives, and open an opportunity to share one's blessings
for a common welfare .
oroland needs moral leaders. While this is true in all
parts of the land, it sounds as if the Moslems do need this
kind of leadership very badly because of the standards of
soqial relations introduced by the faith. This refers es
pecially to the slavery and w oman problems in the Moro country.
The distribution of wealth among them needs a moral education
to break the communism that exists, for private property gives
a more holesome social life than the community idea. Moral
ity is low in Moroland. It needs elevation. Christian ideals
might be the solution.
Socially minded government leaders are needed among the
72
Moslems of the Philippine Islands, as now their leadership
is not very efficient. Of course the old datos and sultans
are still on the job of controlling the civic affairs, uut
the time is not far distant when the young Moro will take up
high responsibility in public life.
The writer is a friend of one Moro young man. His name
is Matias Cuadra. Cuadra was converted to the Christian faith.
He gave himself into the ministry. For years he has proven
himself an able minister. He was trained in the Christian
schools of Moroland and later he was brought to the Union The
ological Seminary in Manila. He married a Christian girl.
In 1928, the writer was the companion of this Moro, with
others, to represent the Philippines to the World's Sunday
School Convention in Los Angeles. Educational opportunities
opened the way for these delegates to study. Cuadra remained
in the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, and later he
went to the Union Theological Seminary in New York. Then he
traveled a great deal in behalf of the Student Volunteers of
America. The experience and training of Cuadra have prompted
him to give his life in public service. His Christian ideals
have encouraged him to give his life in Moreland . Time only
will tell what will happen in Moreland .
THE MOHAMMEDAN FILIPINO AND THE
CHRISTIAN FILIPINO
Once upon a time, the Moro and the Christian Filipino
forgot that they were of the same race, that they were of the
73
same father and mother, that they were under the same God,
and that they were of the same national ideals, and that they
were under the splendor of the same oriental skies. If the
Philippine Islands are to be a true "Pearl of the Orient", then
the Christian Filipino and the Moslem Filipino must be will
ing to embrace one another regardless of religion, folkways,
and tribal differences.
The spirit of nationalism. Nationalism unifies the
Filipinos in sincere devotion and loyalty to ideals of those
who shed their blood and gave their lives that the Philippines
might be free and independent. The spirit of nationalism in
duces a national consciousness for the protection and love
of the country. It _ is verv important that both the oros and
the Christians, and all other tribes, breathe the spirit of
patriotism so that the ideals for hich the forefathers died
shall live eternally, and common welfare for all shall be
established.
Cooperatiog. Tribal conflict, tribal competition, and
sectionalism are evils that need to be eradicated in the so
cial life of the land. "A house divided against itself can
not stand" would be a good slogan for the Filipinos, for often
times the tribal loyalty is greater than the national loyalty.
Cooperation in national issues and problems would bring pro
gress and blessings for all. If the Moro and the Christian
can learn to cooperate, stability and security and prosperity
will insure national safety. Cooperation in commerce and
trade will also create economic formdations for the future
success of the Philippines. It will also foster invention,
and development of all the industries which give domestic
progress.
MORO PSYCHOLOGY
74
Moro social thought begins with Mohammed, the one true
Prophet for them all. If there is such a thing as" oro
psychology" , American diplomacy has discovered it. \nd in
order to be able to adjust the oro into the life of the na
tion, one must know the background of his life and his ways
of thinking, and how he modifies his environment. Three
American officers shall be mentioned here to show how they
understand the mind of the Moro.
General Wood in Moreland. General Leonard ood took time
to study scientifically the psychology of the Moro. He col
lected all the literature that dealt with Mohammedanism and
everything that seemed valuable in the interpretation of
modes of thinking of the Filipino Moslem. He had a room full
of these materials , and because he as not satisfied 1th the
information he got from these books, he traveled to the East
Indies, especially in Borneo , J&va, Sumatra, and the neighbor
ing islands. When he went to M oreland he chose with utwost
care all his subordinates and gave them proper instructions
in order to be able to deal with the Moros in the right way .
75
It must be understood, however, that all the books were read.
The individual behavior and social behavior of the Moros were
given adequate evaluation in order that they could gain trust
and confidence in the American officers and leaders.
When General W ood reached Jolobut the Sultan was absent,
but Raja Mudah w~s acting in his place. A cordial invitation
was sent by General Wood to the prince to pay him a visit .
Because the Raja or prince was sick, he could not accept the
invitation, but 1th courtesy and regard General W ood sent a
company of soldiers to find out about the health of the acting
sultan. In the twinkling of an eye the Raja recovered from
his illness , and decided to go with the company of soldiers
who stood at attention to await him. Wood received him most
respectfully and conducted him around the camp to show how he
disciplined and managed his soldiers. A machine gu~ was
fired. A few trees were burned down and the Raja grew to be
more anxious and enthusiastic.
Other chiefs or datos were asked to come to see the
general and the same method of finding their ways of thinking
was experimented with, and such methods werL successful. With
the feeling · of fear and inability to understand them, the
American officers went so far as to ask even the chiefs to
free their slaves.
Dato Ali of Jolo declared var against the American sol
diers but was defeated. The most unconquerable Moro tribe,
the Tarracas in Lake Lanao, were also conquered and the strong-
76
hold of the Moro warriors was at last subdued.
Captain Bullard. Captain Bullard, who used his intelli
gence among the Moros appeared with friendliness, sympathy,
and trust among them. He was willing to help, and he was al
ways alert to understand the needs of the Moros . Besides be
ing an army officer, he was a teacher, a priest , and m ost of
all a social worker. He studied the social ideals, the social
conditions of the time, and with this experience he knew how
to ork and live with the oros, so that for a time and in
most cases he was able to gain the friendship and confidence
of the Moros.
Cholera attacked M oreland so severely that many of them
landed in the grave. Alandug, an old oro, sa Captain Bullard
in his camp one day, and the old Moro wondered why the Ameri
cans did not suffer from cholera. The captain showed him the
boiling water and told him that the fire killed the cholera
germs, and so they could live. This fact of fire killing all
the cholera germs was com municated to all the Moro communities.
Many of them tried the same thing,and they were saved from
cholera.
Captain Bullard became so well known to the M oros in his
efforts at helping them that the Moros came to him for advice
and counsel. At last they loved him, and took him to be their
American defender and friend . This again illustrates some
social situations that were solved by a socially minded Ameri
can who deserves honor and respect in the hearts of the Moro
77
people .
Bulla.rd found out that the Moros must be given something
to do, and keeping them busy was a means of discipline. So
he gave them work . He also found out that the Moros ere in
constant fear, so that they could be easily directed and man
aged . In this way he gave them enough wages in orde~ to make
them happy, and roads were built for their own common elfare
in oroland .
Governor Frank Carpenter . Governor Carpenter 1as full
of initiative . He managed to get an expert landscape gardener
fr m ashington, D .c., and set him to beautify the capital
city of Zarnboanga in the Moro country . The most beautiful city
in Moroland today is this city, filled with fine parks, gar
dens, and fountains hich attracted the oros . This work of
making the city beautiful caused admiration for the governor
and the Americans in general, and so the ·oros counted the
Americans as their protectors and friends.
The M oros must be well understood by all means. They
have , of course, equal rights in the Philippines with the
Christians.
pine life.
The Moro is an asset and a benefactor in Philip
The sociological task is to study his sychology
and socialize him .
CHAPTER X
CONCLUSION: ORO SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION
.
. .
78
Philippine culture is a complex culture . Mohammedanism
is but one part of it . It is , therefore, the purpose of this
section to state in brief the character of Moro social organ
ization as it has made itself distinct from the rest of the
culture complexes in the Islands . Social distance existed
between the Moros and the Christians and so they were not able
to assimilate one another as they should.
Moro social life should be re&lly traced from the social
thought of the Prophet ohammed. This social thought shall
be treated in a separate section.
ET HNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
Dr . A. L. Kroeber, a well known American anthropologist ,
will be the au~hority in this study ith regard to the ethno-
1
logical background of the oro social life . One can under-
stand the development of the social life of the Moros by know
ing the early environment and birthplace of the culture . But
1
A. L. Kroeber , The People of the Philippines, p . 21-72.
79
it is beneficial to know that this background has an especial
bearing upon the Moro culture and for the Philippines at
large.
The layout of the Philippine Archipelago manifests a
corinection jith and is a geographical link in the islands of
the East Indies which stretch clear to the continent of Asia.
The Cordillera Mountains lie in ranges and chains, north to
south, following the rangAs of mountains in the Visayas,
indanao, and the range curves itself toward the East Indies.
Geologically and biologically the Philippines are con
nected to the continent of Asia through the East Indies. In
this case it is safe to say that the culture in that part of
the country is of Asia. It is then of great int erest that
-
the plant life and animal life in the Islands are similar to
those of southern Asia and the East Indies.
The two biological lines, such as those of Wallace and
Weber, indicate two lines of the distribution of man in the
East Indies and the Philippines. The statement of Kroeber
denotes the racial similarity of the peoples of the Islands,
and the Moro tribes are included because they repres ent the
later waves of emigration to oroland. He says:
Racially and historically, that is in regard to man, dis
tributions tend to follow the same areas and lines. The
islands that belong geographically to Asia, and those of the
intermediate area, are inhabited by a brovm, straight-haired
people , the so-called Malayan race of the older books, whose
rel8tionship is primarily Mongoloid and therefore Asiatic.
East of Weber's line, that is in the islands a ssociated i ~
Australia, a black, broad-nosed, curly-haired people prevails
80
far out into the Pacific, but not in the islands most remote
from Australia. These are the Papuans of New Guinea and the
Malaysians or black islanders. The main lan -mass of Australia
was held by a somewhat different, wavy-haired people, who were ,
ho~ever , also black and broad-nosed. The Australians are at
least superficially like Negors; the Pa-uans and the Malaysians
record as belonging outright to the Negroid family. The racial
contrast is
1
herefore as sharp as the geological one, and con
forms to it.
The early waves of emigration to the Philippi nes were .the
Papuans, Indonesians, and Malays. The last two groups mingled,
assimilated, and amalgamated, and among them grew a complex
culture which became the basis of the culture of the present
time. Reli gion and types of custom coincide with the geological
division. M ohaw.medanism reached the brown peoples as far as
the southernmost parts of southern Asia, while Hinduism reached
Borneo, Sumatra, an~ Java. It is further believed, then, that
in the Philippines and particularly in the Moro country, the
Hindu and M ohammedan culture naturally developed in this section
of the Islands.
Traces of culture show definitely that M oro social life
has been for centuries of Asiatic origin.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL AND POLITICAL SITUATION
The aristocratic, semi-religious , and political control
in M oroland has had feudalistic, and ecclesiastical, elements.
For the sake of a clear view, it might be well to follow up
the system, as revealed in the Moro social life. There are
1
A. L. Kroeber , op. cit., p. 25.
81
the common Moslem disciples; the panditas above them; then
above these the datos; above .the datos the sultan; above the
sultans, the caliphs; then Mohammed; and above Mohammed is
Allah, the only one true God. The religious rulers are the
civil officers themselves. It is similar to the experiences
of the Roman Catholic Church and the state complex.
The wealthy Filipino ohammedans spend once a year, a
pilgrimage to Mecca . This is a perfect evidence of their
loyalty to Mohammedanism, as do the Catholics with Rome, and
especially in Jerusalem.
Absolutism in Mohammedanism permeated the social situ
ations in Moro life. Complete submission is for the common
M oro to practice.
THE CASTE SYSTE
The caste system exists in the M oro country. This system
is probably borrowed from India or Arabia. It is noted that
slavery existed ln Moroland even to the present time. If
there are slaves, there are the masters. The wealthier oros
and the datos themselves have had slaves , and the slaves were
mostly w omen. The polygamous system as permitted by Mohammed
an doctrine has encouraged slavery and the caste system. The
caste system is also found in the other tribes. This trait
of culture is an evidence of the same type of social life
everywhere.
The superiority and the inferiority complexes marked
the social thinking of the time and in this connection one
can observe the distribution of wealth.
COMMUNAL LIFE
82
Common interests tied the Moro people together. They
fought together. They cultivated their lands together. They
traded together. They worshiped together. The "togetherness"
of life characterized the M oro social plan. Because of the
family-clan-village life the M ohammedan Filipinos could easily
cooperate in their common activities. The building of mosques
and the local industrial routine of the day attracted a com
mon attention. The spirit of communism prevailed with un
selfish motives.
MORO SOCIAL THOUGHT
Moro social life is controlled by the highest Supreme
God, Allah; therefore it is theocratic. With the relations
toward others it is embedded in the earliest creed that they
will not worship any but the one God, they will not steal,
they will not commit adultery, they will not kill their child
ren, they will not slander in any way , nor will they disobey
the Prophet in anything that is right. This· early social
tho ght of the Mohammedans came to be the natural social
thought of the Moslem Filipinos, but in their history these
principles of social life do not seem to have been ful filled.
The social life of the Moros of the Philippines has
been that of a complex culture through and through. Appreci-
83
ation should be expressed for what has come through them as
a contribution to the culture of the Archipelago . The o-
ha edan culture has become an everlasting monument to the
untiring efforts of the Mohammedan leaders in their attempts
and convictions to spread the best that they thought was good.
Mohammedanism as a culture has helped pave the way for the
progress of the country as a whole. The time has now arrived
when the Moslem Filipino and the Christian Filipino can sing
together the to national anthems, "I Love My Own, y Native
Land" and "Philippines , My Philippine~n.
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7
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Asset Metadata

Creator Morales, Silvestre (author)

Core Title The contribution of Mohammedanism to Philippine culture

School School of Social Welfare

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Conferral Date 1933-01

Publication Date 01/01/1933

Defense Date 01/01/1933

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Islam -- Philippines,Muslims -- Philippines,OAI-PMH Harvest,Philippines -- Religion

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Digitized in 2022 (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC112723833

Unique identifier UC112723833

Identifier SO '33 M828 (call number),etd-MoralesSilvestre-1933.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-MoralesSilvestre-1933

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Morales, Silvestre

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Type texts

Source 20230201-usctheses-microfilm-box6b (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu