Why were the native Filipinos in Mindanao and Sulu able to preserve their Muslim heritage?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
The Philippine Muslims was once a dominant group in the country. They have 500 years political history, so far the longest political experience compared to other groups in the whole Philippines. Their culture is a blend of Islam and adat. Adat is the sum of both pre-Islamic culture and the philosophical interpretation of the Muslims on the teachings of Islam. It is itself the lasting contribution of the Philippine Muslims to the country’s national body politic. However, to know the Muslim history, one should understand the role of Islam in bringing about historical development. It is this Islam that actually produced heroic resistance against western colonialism. The Philippine Muslims today became known as cultural communities owing to their culture surviving foreign hegemonism to this day.
The history of the Philippine Muslims is part of the backbone of the historical development of the whole country. Filipino historians like Dr. Renato Constantino asserted that no Philippine history can be complete without a study of Muslim development (1990:29).
The Philippines has two lines of historical development. The first line, which is the older, came to develop in Mindanao and Sulu. And this refers to the Muslim line of historical development . Had not this line of historical development been disturbed by western colonialism, Islam might have charted the entire destiny of the Philippine nationhood. External factors swept into the country and brought the second line. The Hispanized Filipinos were central to the development of this second line. This is the product of the great historical experiences of the Filipino people under western rule.
Roots
Mindanao and Sulu are the original homeland of the Philippine Muslims. These areas are now the third political subdivision of the Philippines. They are located at the southern part of the country, and lie around hundred miles north of equator. The areas occupy a strategic position at the center of shipping line between the Far East and the Malayan world. They are situated north of Sulawise and to the west is the state of Sabah. Mindanao and Sulu has a total land area of 102,000 square kilometers. It is a fertile region and known to be rich in agricultural plantation, marine and mineral resources. As reported, more than half of the country’s rain forest are found in Mindanao. While its agricultural crops include rice, corn, root crops, vegetables, cassava and fruits. Marine products like seaweed production, fish as well as gas and oil are dominant in the Sulu sea. Fifty nine percent of tuna and sardines are largely taken from the Sulu sea. Mainland Mindanao has substantial mineral deposits. Zamboanga del Sur has gold, silver, lead, zinc deposit; Davao oriental has chromite reserves; marble deposits for Davao del Norte and oil deposit in South Cotabato. These huge resources of the southern islands have made Mindanao the land of promise.
However, the main concentration of the Philippine Muslim population is confined largely to the western side of Mindanao down to the Sulu Archipelago. In mainland Mindanao, the Muslims are dominant only in Lanao and Maguindanao provinces. While the rest of the Muslim populations are scattered in nearby provinces such as Zamboanga peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Qudarat, South Cotabato, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and Sarangani island. In the Sulu Archipelago, the Muslims are all dominant in three island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
The Muslim Etnic Groups
Ethnic is an Italian term for nation. An ethnic community may be defined as tribal group which has its own language, hold in common a set of tradition different from others whom they are in contact. It has its own territory from which its ethnic identity is derived, and thus becomes a uniting factor for group cohesion. The Muslim ethnic groups in Mindanao and Sulu are linked by both ideological and geographical factors.