Lesson 12—Week 13

The Role of Islam in the History of the Filipino People

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
• Recall the historical background of Moslem people in the Philippines
• Describe the development of Islam in the southern part of the Philippines
• Characterize a unique historiography of Islam in the Philippines
• Contrast Moslem historiography from the usual church-oriented writing of history

Facts demonstrate that Islamic influences from Borneo and Sulu were beginning to shed root
in Luzon during the first half of the sixteenth century. Not long after, Islam was being
strengthened in Mindanao from Sulu as well as from the Moluccas.
The spread of Islam in the Malaysian Archipelago is indeed a legitimate field of inquiry; but
such a complex phenomenon must not be looked at as a mere spread of a few theological
principles or religious beliefs and rituals made possible by a handful of enthusiastic
missionaries. The spread of Islam had represented an interplay of political, economic,
psychological and social causes and factors together with their ideological concomitants.
Furthermore, the attractive characteristics of Islam as such, as well as its ability to satisfy new
needs brought about by rapid economic changes due to the nature of the international trade
at that time, must also be considered.

The First stage. The first stage represents the conception of Malaysia as a
constellation of sultanates and principalities exemplifying different stages in Islamization. It
covers the period from the end of the 13th century to the end of the 15th century.

This stage portrays sultans, port- kings, minor chieftains, etc., participating in various
degrees and intensities in the international trade from the Red Sea to the China Sea, a trade
that was under the control of Moslem traders, principally Arabs, Indians and Persians. Many
of the Malaysian ports served as sources of articles of trade and as clearing houses. A more
direct participation of Sulu in this international trade can be traced to the arrival of Arab
traders around the end of the ninth century or the beginning of the tenth century, not long
after they were ousted from the China trade in 878 during the T’ang dynasty. After a
prohibitive policy of the Chinese against Arab and other Moslem traders, Kalah in the Malay
Archipelago became for some time the last port of call for them. However, due to the
persistent demand for Chinese products in Arab lands either for domestic use or re exportation
to other lands in the Mediterranean, the Arab traders made efforts to get a Chinese product.
It was then that they learned or discovered a new route starting from Borneo then passing
through Sulu, Palawan, Luzon, up to Formosa and the South of
Japan where Chinese products were available. Even after the middle of the tenth century
during the Sung Dynasty, when the Moslem traders were allowed once more to frequent the
ports of South China and the old route through the coast of Indochina began to be utilized
again, the new route was still used since the traders became acquainted either with new
products or better sources of old products. However, it is clear that the use of this new or
second route does not necessarily imply the Islamization of either Borneo or Sulu.
It only suggests that the presence of Moslem traders in Sulu and, therefore, its more
direct participation in the international trade. Sulu had started to become a clearing house for
products which its intrepid sailors brought from the more outlying islands.

The following are important phases of the first stage:

a. The coming to Sulu of Arab traders, who performed missionary activities during the end
of 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. At this time there is evidence of
trading colony in Sulu consisting at least of transient Moslem traders. This is the phase of the
coming of the Makhdumin (Arabic Singular: makdum). The first seeds of Islam were sowed
by them
b. Increasing participation of Chinese traders in the Sulu trade. Traditional accounts claim
that Chinese Moslem traders had accompanied or competed with Arab traders. Eventually,
competition and other factors made the Chinese displace Arab traders in the second route.
c. The coming of Sumatran Islamic influences and political institutions during the end of the
fourteenth century. This phase is represented in the Sulu tarsilas by the coming of Rajah
Baguinda Ali with ministers and soldiers who arrived in Sulu and established a principality.
d. Sulu’s official contacts with the Celestial throne 1417-1424. At least three “tributes” were
sent.
e. The establishment of the sultanate in Sulu around the middle of the fifteenth century under
the Sherif Abu Bakr, an Arab who had travelled extensively in Malaysia. The establishment
of the sultanate assumes that a great number of the coastal inhabitants of Sulu had become
Moslems and therefore responsive to such as Islamic institution. It also shows their
acquaintance with some Islamic jurisprudential elements especially those which asserted the
right of an Arab. More specially a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, to rule non-Arab
Moslems. The Sheriff Abu Bakr initiated attempts to convert the inhabitants of the interior
of Sulu (Buranuns) and is believed to have been successful. The coastal peoples and those of
the interior of Sulu became slowly integrated into a political community under a central
authority.
f. The coming of Islam to the Cotabato basin and its consequent spread to the Lanao area
during the end of fifteenth century. This is signified in the Mindanao tarsilas by the coming
of the Sherif Mohammed Kabungsuwan,an Arab- Malay from Malaya, as well as a couple of
Arab predecessors claimed to have been also sheriffs and of which one returned to Sumatra.
g. The increase of Islamic influences in Sulu and Mindanao through greater maritime
contacts with Malacca, Java and Borneo, and the occasional visits of Moslem traders and
missionaries from Arab and Indian lands.
 The second stage. The second stage represents the coming of Western European
Imperialism and Colonialization during the 16th and 17th centuries to Malaysia. This stage
represents the destruction of the Arab and /or Moslem monopoly of the international trade in
Southeast Asia as a consequence of the coming of the Portuguese and the defeat of Arab fleets
in Socotra (1507), Diu (1513), etc. The Portuguese and Spaniards came in the sixteenth
century not only to extend the possessions of their sovereigns but to spread Catholicism.

In the same manner that they had the consciousness of coming from Christian lands
and h ad a religious mission, the Moslems and Malaysia had a consciousness of their
Islamic faith and o f the integrity of dar-ul-Islam. It would be a fallacy to maintain that on
account of the different st ages of Islamization in the various parts of Malaysia there was no
such conception. Actually, by t his time Islam was well rooted in Acheh, Malacca, parts of
Java, Brunei and Sulu. From a very i mportant point of view, Islam constituted the only
ideology that resisted and combatted Western I mperialism and Colonialism, and
Christianity. Early Portuguese and Spanish authors had looked at their arrival in Malaysia as
the continuance of the Crusader’s war between Christians and Mosl ems. It will be recalled
that the fall of Malacca in1511 was less than two decades after the fall of t he Moorish
kingdom in Granada. The Turkish menace to Europe had also increased after their co nquest
of Constantinople, while the coming of the Portuguese to Malaysia had followed their war s
in North Africa against the Moslems.
The important phases of the second stage can be summarized as follows:
a. The coming of the Portuguese and their disruption of the Moslem international trade
control. The fall of Malacca to them in 1511, with the consequence that the center of power
of Malaysian Moslems shifted from Malacca to Acheh on northern Sumatra. Dutch
commercial
interests in Java and other parts of the East Indies in the 1590’s.
b. The coming of Christian Religious and economic threat brought about a deliberate attempts
at Islamic missionary activities on the uncommitted parts of Malaysia who were either
Hindu, pagan, etc. This time the missionary activities were initiated by Malaysian
themselves, principally Javanese, accompanied occasionally by Arab zealots. Many port
kings became Moslems: Ambon 1515, Banjarmasin 1520, Mataram 1525, Bantam 1527,
Sambas, Bima, and Macassar in 1600, etc.
c. The rise of Brunei as a commercial power, its dynastic alliances with Sulu, and its greater
participation in the trade of the Philippine Archipelago. By the second half of the sixteenth
century, Manila was already ruled by members of the Bornean aristocracy. This signified
the beginning of the Islamization of the area around Manila Bay. Beginnings of Bornean
missionary activities in Batangas and other part of the Philippines during the last quarter
of the sixteenth century.
d. By the last quarter of the sixteenth century, there began a greater consolidation of the
possessions of the Sulu sultan from the northeastern part of Borneo to parts of Zamboanga,
including the islands of Taguima (Basilan) and Tawi-Tawi.
e. At the same time the consolidation of the “sultanates” of Maguindanao and Buayan is
begun. Dynastic relations between them as well as with the Moluccas, principally Ternate.
Coming of Moslem missionaries and functionaries from Ternate to Mindanao.
f. Fall of Manila as a Moslem principally in 1571.Spanish attacks on Brunei in 1578 and
1581 and first attack on Sulu in 1578.Treaty between the Sulu Sultan and Spaniards on
June 14, 1578.
g. Conflicts between Spaniards and Magindanaos in 1579, 1596, etc. Spanish attempts to
colonize Mindanao. At this point a study of Bertram Schrieke’s theory that the spread of
Islam in Malaysia was accelerated by the coming of Western powers is imperative.
h. Spanish expeditions to the Moluccas: 1982, 1585, 1593 and 1603. The expeditions can
be interpreted not only as attempts to check Dutch ambitions in the area or to extend Spanish
territories but also as attempts to isolate Moslems in the Philippine Archipelago and cut off
sources of human and material aid to them from the Moluccas. Conversely, the temporary
neutralization of the Magindanaos was sought to facilitate the conquest of the Moluccas.

The third stage. The third stage represents the gradual fragmentation of the
Malaysian dar-ul-Islam under the spheres of different colonial powers. It is a stage of great
resistance and counterattacks against the West which were mainly unsuccessful. The rise of
Acheh as a great Moslem power failed to dislodge the Portuguese in Malacca. Javanese
resistance against the Dutch commercial ambitions had weakened. Brunei’s eclipse as a
commercial power had begun. Brunei’s missionary activities in Batangas, etc. had ceased.
The fall of Luzon and the Visayas to the Spaniards and the destruction of Moslem pockets of
resistance in Mindoro and other island islands signifies that the northeast expansion of Islam
to the furthest end of the Malaysian Archipelago
had been checked. Islam’s furthest limit would then be in its outposts in Sulu and in
Mindanao.

The following phases are important:

a. The contest for the control of Luzon and the Visayas between the Spaniards and the
Moslems. This refers to at least two events: The first represents the 1589 attempts at alliance
between the Brunei,Sulu and Magindanao sultanates with the disgruntled aristocracy of
Manila and Tondo ( now under Spanish rule) to dislodge Spaniards from the Philippine
Archipelago. Desperate attempts to get Japanese help did not materialize. Significance of the
Magat Salamat Conspiracy. The second event refers to the so-called piratical raids initiated
by the Magindanaos with Sulu and ternate help from 1599 to 1603. Blood compact between
Magindanaos under Buisan and Leyte datus against Spain. Failure of the ultimate aim of such
large-scale raids.
b. The decline of the “sultanate” of Buayan around 1619 in favor of the Magindanao sultanate
under the redoubtable Sultan Dipatuan Kuderat whose powers extended up to the Maranao
regions.
Cagayan de Oro become tributary to him in 1622 and Selangani in 1626. Kuderat’s
assumption of the title of Sultan. After his death in 1671 the decline of the Magindanao
sultanate began and slowly broke up into various minor sultanates. Spanish presence in
Mindanao frustrated the natural course of events for the gradual integration of various minor
Moslem principalities under one centralized authority.
c. Spanish conquest of the Moluccas in 1606 cut off aid to the Moslems of the Philippines
from the farther south. Further isolation of Moslems in the Philippines. Sulu and Magindanao
sought for Dutch alliance in 1614.Increase of Moslem raids in 1616, 1625, etc.
d. The system of divide and rule of the Western colonial powers. Sultanates and principalities
made to fight each other. In the Philippines, Christianized natives made to fight Moslems as
well as to extend Spanish possessions. Spaniards persistently tried to foster dissensions
between Buayan and Magindanao. Nevertheless, dynastic or commercial rivalries between
Western powers at home and abroad brought to Malaysia. This explains Dutch aid to Sulu,
Magindanao, and Ternate Moslems in their resistance against Spanish rule. The eventual
frustration of Dutch ambitions in the Philippines also implied further dependence of Moslem
in the Philippines on their own resources. Establishment of Spanish fort in Zamboanga in
1635.Continued raids on Spanish held territories by Moslem alliances.
e. The expeditions of Governor General Corcuera to Mindanao in 1637 and Sulu in 1638.
Lanao expedition of 1639.The temporary character of Spanish victories. Fall of Jolo on
January 4,
1638.Transfer of Sultan’s capital to Tawi-Tawi in 1639.The long rule of Sultan Muwallil
Wasit I (Rajah Bongsu) from around 1614 to 1648. His alliances with Macassar in 1638.
Alliances with the Dutch in 1644. Treaty between Spain and Sulu on April 14, 1646. The
evacuation of Zamboanga in 1662. The Sulu and Magindanao sultans as independent as
before.
f. The inability of Sulu to expand or extract tribute from up North led it to look further
westward in the Island of Borneo for its tributary expansion. On account of intervention in
Brunei’s dynastic wars, the Sulu Sultan’s territories in Borneo extended further West to the
Kimanis river in North Borneo around 1690.By the end of the seventeenth century during the
reign of Sahab-udDin, the power of the Sulu sultan extended from parts of Zamboanga to the
Kimanis river in the northern part of the Islands of Borneo.

The fourth stage. The fourth stage refers to the attempts of the Sulus to regain part
of their former glory during the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Around 1700
there were dynastic quarrels between Sulu and Maguindanao and the Sulus tried to exercise
some domination over the Cotabato and Zamboanga regions. During this state there were
strong attempts on the part of the Moslem sultanates to recapture their ancient commercial
glory. The English tried to have a foothold in Sulu territory to exercise greater hold on their
China trade A few salient events are listed below:
a. A modest resumption of Sulu trade with China initiated during the reign of the Sultan
Sahabud- Din around 1700. Badar-Din its missions to China in 1726 and 1727.
b. Attempts to Badar-ud-Din I for peaceful commercial relations with Manila. Treaty of
December 19, 1726.
c. The so- called piratical raids during this time and earlier can be interpreted as a source of
income to make up for the loss of participation in the international trade and the former
trade with China. The raids were also meant to weaken Spanish resources which were used
to subject the Moslems. Of importance too was that they were also intended to intimidate
Christian natives used by Spaniards to conquer the Moslems. Moslem attack on Palawan,
 the Calamianes, etc., under Datu Sabdula (Nasar-ud-Din) in the 1730’s. The significance
of these attacks is that they partially satisfied the expectations of the Sulus for strong
leadership during a time when there was a dynastic rivalry for the sultanate.
d. The difference of character and rule of the two brothers A’zim-ud-Din I (1735-1748) and
Muiz-ud-Din (1748-1763). The former believed that he could keep his throne and help Sulu
with friendly relations with Spain and by the granting of concessions to Spaniards.
Accepting the fact of the meager resources of the Sulu and their relative isolation from
other Moslem principalities now under the domination of other Western powers A’zim-ud-
Din I believed that Sulu’s progress could be the result of the strengthening of the institution
of the sultanate and other Islamic institutions together with commercial and political
relations with Spain and other lands. His attempts at commercial relations with China. His
“tribute” to China in 1743, Muiz-ud-Din (Datu Bantilan), on the other hand, believed that
such independence could be maintained by the closer relations with English who could be
considered as sources of material aid against persistent Spanish aims at domination. He
even toyed with the idea of contacting the Ottoman sultan at
Istanbul for possible aid to help maintain Sulu’s independence. Bantilan’s conception of dar-
ulIslam though relatively of place at that time reflects his Islamic consciousness. In 1754, he
almost asked for Chinese protection. Muiz-ud-Din reign witnessed an increaser of Moro
depredations on the Bicol Regions, Mindoro, the Manila areas etc.
e. Relative peaceful relations between Sulu and Spain from the reign of Sultan Muhammad
Israel (1774-1778) to Sultan Sharef-ud-Din (1791-1808). Modest commercial prosperity for
Sulu.

The decline of the sultanates. The decline already manifested earlier becomes more
manifestly rapid by the middle of the nineteenth century onwards. Badar-ud-Din’s earlier
failure to capture Zamboanga in 1719 not long after its refortification by the Spaniards
revealed Sulu’s weakness. Badar-ud-Din’s alliance with the Maguindanao and negotiations
to patch divisive elements between Sulu’s and Maguindanaos around 1720 to make another
try at Zamboanga was not very effective. Greater pressures from Spaniards to assert their
sovereignty in Sulu. Sulu was then being pushed into the vortex of conflicting and rival
ambitions of Western powers which spelled doom to its independent existence as a small
principality that had ceased to have place in a rapidly changing world condition. A few of the
significant events are as follows:
a. The commercial ambitions of the English exemplified in the cession of Balambagan and
the first cession of the North Borneo territories of the Sulu Sultan to them in the 1760’s.
Destruction of Balambangan in 1775 by the Sulu’s under the leadership of the royal datu
Teteng. French commercial ambitions shown by their desire to purchase the Island of Basilan
from Sultan Pulalun (1842-1862) in 1844 and 1845.
b. Spanish use of steam war vessels in 1848 enabled them to gradually gain mastery of the
Sulu Sea. The destruction of the power of the Balangingi Samals and forcible deportation
of survivors in 1848 by the Spaniards.
c. Spanish expedition to Davao in 1848. Oyanguren versus the Sulu Datu Bago
d. The visit of James Brooke, the British consul general at Borneo and governor of Labuan,
to Sulu in 1849. The inking of the political and commercial pact between Great Britain and
Sulu (although never confirmed) revealed the attempts of Sulu to play one European power
 against another. Fear of rival Western powers in Sulu alarmed the Spaniards who now
desire more than ever to subjugate Sulu.
e. Spanish fear and reaction to the ambitions of British and French as well as the persistence
of piratical raids culminated in the Spanish expeditions against Sulu and the capture of
Julu in 1851 under the leadership of Governor General Urbiztondo.Treaty with the Sulus on
April 30, 1851. Sulu’s interpreted the treaty as one of the friendly relations while Spaniards
considered it Sulu’s acceptance of Spanish sovereignty.
f. The Spanish expeditions of 1876 and capture of Jolo. Establishment of a permanent outpost
in Jolo. The January 1878 cession of Sulu’s North Borneo possession to a British company
by the Sulu Sultan. Treaty of July 26, 1878 with the Spaniards. Extension of Spanish power
to the other Islands. Spanish intervention in Sulu affairs even in dynastic quarrel, etc. Rule
of Jamal-ulA’zam (1862-1881).
g. The rise of the juramentados . Significance of such an event is that organized resistance
under the Sultan had failed. Responsibility for the integrity of dar-ul-Islam had become an
individual one.
h. Change of official Spanish policy: the transformation of the Moslems in the Philippine
Archipelago into loyal Spanish subjects rather that converting them into Catholicism.
i. The 1885 Protocol; between Great Britain, Spain and Germany agreed that Sulu belonged
to the Spanish sphere of sovereignty.
j. The 1891 Weyler Campaign in Cotabato. The 1895 Blanco’s campaign in Lanao. The
juramentado institution among the Magindanaos.

The Philippine Revolution and the American Occupation.

a. The leaders of the revolution considered the Moslems of the South as Filipinos bound with
them by racial ties, ancient historical relations, and geographical propinquity. The
manifesto of the Hong Kong Junta in 1893 declared that the Filipinos were made to fight
in the Moros in
Mindanao and Sulu who “in reality are brothers, like us fighting or their independence.”
Aguinaldo’s message to the Congress on January 1, 1899 proposed that the Government be
empowered to “negotiate with the Moros of Jolo and Mindanao for purposes of establishing
national solidarity upon the basis of a real federation with absolute respect for their beliefs
and traditions.”
b. The Bates Treaty with the Sulu Sultan in 1899.
c. The defeat of sporadic rising against American Occupation and the futility of the battles of
Bud Bajo (1906) and Bud Bagsak (1913).
d. Sultan Jamal-ul-Kiram’s formal abdication of political power in 1915 (Carpenters
agreement). Moslem representation in the Philippine Government.
e. The role of the Moro resistance against the Japanese Occupation.
f. The independence of the Philippine on July 4.1946. All Filipino Moslems with rights of
Citizenship. Their responsibility in building the National community and the responsibility
of others towards them. The increased secularization of Philippine society.

Anyone with some acquaintance with the history of events in Sulu and Mindanao will
easily noticed the incomplete character of the above outline. Actually, there has been no
intention comprehensiveness. It is hoped that most of the most important events were
included. However, to one desiring to avoid a purely chronological narration, these events
can only be significant in terms on the social and political institutions of the Moslem of the
South as well as the economic structure of their society. It is indispensable to possess a good
background of classical Islamic beliefs, practices, and institutions over and above a
knowledge of those indigenous or Pre-Islamic elements shared by the Moslems of the
Philippines with the other Malaysian peoples. With such a background it is possible to
appreciate the results of the impact of Islam on such indigenous elements. For example, the
juramentado upsurge in the 1880’s cannot be fully understood except with the knowledge of
the Sultan’s failure to prevent a non-Moslem power from controlling a land asserted to have
been part of dar-ul-Islam . That the responsibility for the defense of such a territory had
shifted from a duly constituted authority to that of an individual is only significant if elements
of Islamic jurisprudence are considered. Likewise, the General lack of Sulu adherence to
treaties entered between their Sultan and Spanish Authorities can be better understood in
terms of the relations between the Sultan and the datus or traditional chiefs. This in turn
requires knowledge of Sulu traditions regarding the coming of the Sherif-ul-Hashim, reputed
to have established himself as first sultan of Sulu, his commitments with the datus, the
principles of dynastic succession, the division of territorial authority, etc.

Moreover, the dynastic relations between the different sultans in Mindanao and their
claims to rule and exact tribute are to some extent based on appeals to Islamic law and
traditions. For the first two stages in the outline there must be further recourse to the
additional local tarsilas other than those already published. One must also be continually alert
to tarsilas that are slowly coming to light from Borneo and Indonesian Islands from the south
of Mindanao. However, it is imperative to develop a technique to evaluate such tarsilas in
order to render them of historical value. A comparative study of the local tarsilas is essential,
and a great deal of some of them can be checked against Spanish, English and Dutch sources.
The value of some tarsilas, especially those that present an enumeration of the sultans of Sulu,
is that they do not only reveal the most salient characteristics of the personality of the sultans
but also what the Sulus considered the most important historical event of their reign.
Negatively speaking, the differences among tarsilas, relative to certain omissions, reveal
dynastic rivalries and even certain Sulu models for dynastic successions. But further research
into the primary sources in the Spanish, British and Dutch Archives is indispensable.
However, without the virtue of tolerance and the ability to emancipate oneself from
unexamined premises, historical empathy for the struggles of Moslems in the South, and
uncompromising desire to understand, nothing can be accomplished.
The history of the Moslems in the Philippine South and the lives of their sultans are not
devoid of an epic character. That a great deal of cruelty, tears and suffering have followed
the wake of their depredations and persistent struggle against aims to conquer them is not to
be denied; but these are merely responses to similar inflictions upon them. In all life-and-
death struggles, no contestant has a monopoly of virtue or vise. Yet the foe had observed the
invariant bravery, stoicism in defeat, and in general, magnanimity in the moment of Moslem
victory. What had not been easily conceded to them is that such behavior could have stemmed
from their basic Islamic belief, that there is universal prescription for behavior and that man
ought to try to approximate it. Indeed, in the further search for national identity one of our
largest minorities in the Philippines can contribute a great deal.

Source: https://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-04-02-1966/majul-islam-history-filipino-
people.pdf

Learning Activity: Video analysis

Requirement: What is your reaction on the statement below?

According to John Leddy Phelan, “were it not for the Spanish colonization of the Philippines
for 333 years, the country, would have been a Muslim State like its Southeast Asian
neighbors.”

Torrentira, Readings in Philippine History