Jump to content

Moro people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 23prootie (talk | contribs) at 15:56, 26 August 2006 (→External links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
This article deals with ethnic Muslims. For the religion, see :This article deals with ethnic Muslims. For the religion, see Islam in the Philippines.
█ Bangsamoro territory under Moro control
█ Historical extent

Filipino Muslims form the largest non-Christian ethnic group in the Philippines, comprising about 5% of the total Filipino population as of 2005. Also known as Moros, a term which originated from the Spanish colonizers, Moros mostly live in a region dubbed as Bangsamoro in the southern Philippines. Due to migration, Moro communities have also begun to appear in major cities like Manila, Cebu and Baguio.

Background

Longstanding grievances stemming from resentment due to prejudice against them, years of governmental neglect as well as impoverishment have contributed to the roots of the Moro struggle in recent decades.

A significant change of government policy led to the 1990 creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which gave Moros in the region control over certain aspects of government, but not their security and foreign affairs.

Social factors in the early 1990s contributed against the political autonomy sought by Muslim leaders. Industrial development and increased migration outside the region brought new educational demands and new roles for women. These changes in turn led to greater assimilation and, in some cases, intermarriage.

Nevertheless, Muslims and Christians generally remained distinct societies.

Culture and Society

Hierarchy

Although the sultan is the highest figure of authority in most Muslim societies, that is not the case in the Philippines. Here, datus are traditionally the most common and most influential Muslim political figure.

The function of the datu is simple. In return for tribute and labor, the datu provides aid in emergencies and mediates disputes with other communities through the agamat. They may also have four wives if they wish. In the past, datus have led raids on other villages in order to seek revenge ('maratabat) for the death of a follower or injury to his honor.

Datus currently act as the community leaders in Moro societies in Mindanao and administer the Sharia (Muslim law) through the agama. The datu essentially heads government programs in Moro communities, which tend to be hierarchical in rural areas.

Practices

Islam has been the most dominant influence on the Moro culture. Polygamy under Islam is permitted but is rarely practised. Pork is rarely eaten since it considered taboo under the Qu'ran. Another practice include circumcision (tuli). This pratice is done by most Filipino males, whether Christian or Muslim.

Subgroups

Dominant Moro Subgroups

There are at least ten ethnic subgroups within the Moro ethnic group. These could be identified on the basis of language. Three of these groups make up the majority of the Moro. They are the Maguindanaons of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Maguindanao provinces; the Maranao of the two Lanao provinces; and the Tausug of the Sulu Archipelago. Smaller groups include the Samal and the Bajau of the Sulu Archipelago; the Yakan of Basilan and Zamboanga del Sur; the Ilanons and Sangirs of Davao; the Melabugnans of southern Palawan; and the Jama Mapuns of Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi Island.

Moros are not closely knit and they lack solidarity. Each group is proud of their culture, identity and language, including their variation of Islam. Endemic conflict has persisted for centuries. Internal differences among the Moros existed in the 1980s, however, these were outweighed by cultural, social, and traditional aspects as well as shared historical experiences vis-à-vis non-Muslims.

History

Pre-Hispanic Era

Islam entered the Philippines through Makhdum Karim, a Muslim missionary. Subsequent visits by Muslim Malay missionaries helped establish the Islamic faith.

Thie introduction of Islam aslo led to the creation of many sultanates including the Sultanate of Maguindanao and the Sultanate of Sulu, which was the largest and longest-lasting Muslim state in the country until its annexation into the Philippies in 1898.

Many of the inhabitants of the pre-Hispanic Philippines are said to be Muslims. Rajah Sulayman, a chieftain of Manila at the time of the Spanish conquest, and Lapu-Lapu, the well-known chieftain of Mactan Island, are a few examples.

Post-Philippine Independence

Controversial Government Policies

The government policies instituted immediately after independence threathened the Moro society.

The creation of the now abolished the Bureau for Non-Christian Tribes and the encouragement of migration by non-Muslim Filipinos, led to the settlement of hundreds of thousands of Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilocano, and others inside the Bangsamoro provinces in the 1950s. Their influx inflamed Moro hostility.

The problem began when Christian migrants complained that the ownership of the land which they bought where not recognized by the Moros. Moros claimed that Christians only entitle land through government agencies, which were unknown and therefore unrecognized by the Moros. Another contributing factor was the public school system, which was regarded by most Moros as an agency for the propagation of Christian teachings.

Internal Divisions

Divisions along clans are existent among Moros since the 1960s.

Many young Moros, dissatisfied with the old system, have asserted that datu and sultans were unnecessary in the modern Moro society. Among themselves, these young reformers are divided between the moderates, those who work within the system, and the militants, those who engage in guerrilla-style warfare.

Moro reformers, on the otherhand, have achieved to establish unity within the community through religious adherence. This bond is strengthened by the continued expansion of Christians and by the prolonged presence of army troops within Bangsamoro.

Struggle for Freedom

The strugle has been in existence for centuries, starting from the struggle against the Spanish up to the Moro rebellion in the American period until the current Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines.

The history of the Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines began shortly after independence. The Philippine government envisioned a united country in which Christians and Muslims would be assimilated into the dominant culture. This vision, however, was generally rejected by Muslims, who feared that it was just a euphemistic equivalent of assimilation. Because of this, the government realised that there was a need for a specialized agency to deal with the Muslim community so they set up the Commission for National Integration in 1957, which was later replaced by the Office of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Communities.

Concessions were made to Moros after the creation of these agencies, with Moros receiving exemptions from national laws prohibiting polygamy and divorce. In 1977, the government attempted move a step further by harmonizing Muslim customary law with the national law.

Unfortunately, most of these achievements were superficial. The Moros, dissatisfied with the government, established the Moro National Liberation Front led by Nur Misuari with the intention of creating their own homeland. This initiated the Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines in he late 1960's, which is still ongoing up to the present and has since created a fracture between Muslims and Christians.

By the 1970's, a Christan terrorist organization called the Ilagas (Rats) began operating in Cotabato. In retaliation, Muslim armed bands, like the Blackshirts of Cotabato and the Barracudas of Lanao began to appear and fight the Ilagas. The Armed Forces of the Philippines were deployed to install peace, however their presence only created more violence.

Currently, the Philippines is under threat due to the presence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (the breakaway faction of the MNLF) , The Abu Sayyaf (an offshoot of the terror groups), and by Jemaah Islamiyah. While the government is currently under peace talks with both the MiLF and the MNLF, the violence is still far from over.

See also

  • http://blog.wyzemoro.com Moslemen M. Macarambon Jr. Blog - my confessions, rants, reviews and reflections
  • Isulong SEOPH - Moslemen M. Macarambon Jr. writes about his thought and experiences on search engines, search optimization, online marketing, and other Web-related things that strike his fancy.


Template:PHPeoplesmall
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moro_people&oldid=72017939"