nice blogs bro.

Thank you for the informative blog. I am trying to find information on the Sultan of Cotabato, Sultan Mohammad Adil. Will you have any information on him? I last read he is 75 years old. How old is he now? How can he be contatced? Thank you.

Rizwana

But I hope it will not reach that point. I love both the peace loving Muslims and Christians.

Karim

Here I am again. I appreciated much your writings on the Muslims and Mindanao. However, I just wanted to clarify the distinction between a Moro and a Muslim Moro. It is unfair to true Muslim Moros if we will generalize them as Muslims. This has been the thing that we Muslim Moros want the media to get rid of, i.e. when the criminal is a Maguindanaon or any Moro tribe, the media would say MUSLIM CRIMINAL; when he is a Christian, he is merely a CRIMINAL, without attaching the word CHRISTIAN. This is obviously unfair. Right?

I agree that the Matalams are generally haud-haud. Some of the Montawals are rapists. Other Paglases are landgrabbers. But their acts are not that of a Muslim. Hence, they are by practice not Muslim Moros but mere MOROS. I hope, we as peace advocates will also be careful of using descriminatory words. True Muslims my friend don’t attache Christianity to criminal Ilocanos or ilonggos, or whatever tribes because we feel IT unfair to the true Christians.

If we can advocate on this (anti-prototyping), I think we can advance our closer understanding as bothers and sisters, as I already mentioned in some of my e-mails, Christians and Muslims are rooted from the Abrahamic religion.

Thank you,

Karim

Thank you for your honest observation on the crisis in Mindanao.

I can’t blame you and the other Christians if you are skeptic (I don’t know if that is the proper term but what I mean is about your understanding of the Islam religion) of our capacity and effectiveness in governing ourselves when granted with a truly autonomous political power.

I don’t have the energy to refute the realities you have cited (e.g. datuism, elitism, landlordism, etc.) about the contemporary Moro leadership as these are very obvious particularly in the ARMM. But I just wanted to share with you that what some (if not most) of these Moro leaders have done and are doing are un-Islamic in nature.

Datuism, for example, where cruelty, opportunism, terrorism, etc. are evident as its core elements are strongly condemned by Islam. Our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) if you search for the truth will tell you that the system of datuism (such as in Mindanao, for example) is strongly condemnable. He is of royal origin but never had he exercised dictatorship.

It may be hard to prove that what I am telling you is true because it is very different from what you experienced and observed not only in the Philippines but also in some other Muslim countries. But I just wanted to clarify that a truly Muslim country is the one completely following the teaching of the Qur-an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) where everybody has the right to co-exist provided that everybody is faithful to his religion, doesn’t undermine the existence of each other’s group, doesn’t transgress each other and doesn’t do other form of injustices to humanity. It is only when any of these condemnable acts that an Islamic country or community or group will react aggressively through, to some extent, the use of force (arm struggle). Hence to respect what Islam is advocating for, which are for the benefits of all – regardless of color, ethnicity or nationality, religion, etc. – means peace and prosperity to all.

Full Autonomy based on the principles of Islamic governance is the one we are aspiring for, because we firmly believe that it’s only this way that the condemnable acts I have cited above can be eradicated, regardless of who will commit any of them; either they be Moros, Lumads or Christians or any group for that matter.

But again, you will not completely understand the things that I shared with you if you will not read and understand our Qur-an and the traditions of the prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) – not necessarily to adopt them, but just to know them. Just try to read them and you will conclude that what some (if not most) of the Moro leaders, including other Muslim leaders in the world, are doing are un-Islamic. Please don’t be deceived by some interpreters who just wanted to highlight the violent teachings of Islam without stating first why Islam is acting that way.

The BJE (MOA-AD) may be the solution to the Bangsamoro problem. But granting that the operation of this system will deviate from the Islamic perspective as its leaders will still practice the traditional ills such as datuism, elitism, landlordism and other forms of social injustices not only to the Moros but also to Lumads and Christians, expect that not only the Lumads and Christians may revolt against the system but more importantly the TRULY MUSLIM MOROS will continue its arm struggle for a PEACEFUL AND PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY for the Mindanaons.

Lastly, i just wanted to go back a little bit about the Pinols’ very strong objections to the MOA-AD and Umra Katu’s allegedly terroristic (un-Islamic) activities. I am confident that you are an independent minded Christian – like Archbishop Quevedo and Fr. Mercado, to mention a few – who wants to seek peace, justice and progress for all; as Jesus Christ (Peace Be Upon Him) had maintained his advocacy for truth and peace.

I would advice you to please do an independent investigation about the Pinols’ acquired land properties which can be affected by the MOA-AD: how they acquired these thousand hectares of the ancestrally claimed land of the Bangsamoro (parts of Columbio, Tulunan and M’lang in the nearby marshy areas) and the Lumads (Arakan valley); the bearing of Manny’s anti-MOA-AD move on his surreptitious plan to run against Susing Sacdalan for the 2010 Governoship in Cotabato, and on his strategy to use the poor Ilonggos (mostly) to advance his plan.

For Umra Katu, if you could have access on independent Christians in the nearby villages in Tubak, Aleosan, they may provide you information whether Katu really started the war or not, and may tell you if he really killed innocent Christian civilians and burned Christian houses.

To seek for the truth, join the independent local human rights groups and the Bangsamoro to request the direct participation of International Investigating Body – although I personally hate to involve outsiders but that is the only way because of the bias investigation of the local CHR, the mass media and other anti-Moros investigating groups – to settle the issue, once and for all. I would suggest the inclusion of human rights advocates from the U.S.A. and the Europen union (not to include the OIC) so that no one can say that the group is siding the Bangsamoro.

Regards,

Karim