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Archive for the 'Muslim' Category

Jan 12 2008

Sulu To Send Muslim Clerics, Students Leaders On Education Tour In Malaysia, Saudi

Published by The Mindanao Examiner under Beautiful Sulu, Education, Gov. Sakur Tan, Muslim, Philanthropist

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan prays with other Muslims in Patikul town. Tan says he will send student leaders and Muslim clerics on educational tours in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia as part of a local government program aimed at enhancing their knowledge on Islam and Shari'a law. (Mindanao Examiner Photos/Nickee Butlangan and Mark Navales)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 12, 2008) - Muslim clerics in the southern Philippine province of Sulu hailed a proposal to send selected clergies in other Muslim and Arab countries as part of a local education program.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, the proponent of the program, said sending ulama in countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia will further enhance their knowledge of the shari’a law, including philosophy, dialectical theology or Quoranic hermeneutics.

Usually, the fields studied and the importance given them will vary from tradition to tradition, or even from seminary to seminary.

“We will send the ulama to an education trip to further expose them and enhance more their knowledge of Islam, the shari’a and other fields,” Tan, himself a religious man, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The ulama in most nations consider themselves to represent the ijma (consensus) of the Ummah (community of Muslims) or to represent at least the scholarly or learned consensus. Many efforts to modernize Islam focus on the reintroduction of ijtihad and empowerment of the Ummah to form their own ijma.

In a broader sense, the term ulama is used to describe the body of Muslim clergy who have completed several years of training and study of Islamic sciences, such as a mufti, qadi, faqih or muhaddith.

Aside from the ulama, Tan said he will also send dozens of Muslim high school and college student leaders in Malaysia for an education tour where they would visit different schools and meet with other student leaders.

“The tour will give our students an opportunity to see and observe the educational system in Malaysia and mingle with Malaysian students and we can even propose or start an exchange program between Sulu and Malaysian students,” Tan said.

Education in Malaysia broadly consists of a set of stages which are Pre-school, Primary Education, Secondary Education, Tertiary Education and postgraduate studies. In 2003, Malaysia introduced the use of English as a medium of teaching in all science subjects.

Tan said the Sulu provincial government will spend for both the ulama and students education program which will begin this year.

“This is good and we long wanted to travel to other Muslim or Arab nations and observe the implementation of their respective shari’a law and other Islamic scholarly issues,” one Muslim cleric, who identified himself only as Ustadz Mohammad, said.

Tan, a known philanthropist in the southern Philippines, urged students to excel in their academics and pursue their goals so they can be a responsible citizen and future leaders of the province.

“Education is very important and only through education that we can help not only our family, but the government as well by becoming more responsible and a partner in nation building,” Tan, a former congressman, said. (With reports from Nickee Butlangan and Mark Navales)

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Dec 12 2007

Muslims To Get Own Homeland In Southern Philippines

Published by The Mindanao Examiner under Eid Kabalu, MILF, Malaysia, Mohagher Iqbal, Muslim, Peace Talks

MILF women during a plenum in Mindanao while rebels raise their flags. And a Muslim rebel reads the holy Koran during a break in the training in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 12, 2007) – Muslims in the southern Philippines may soon have a separate homeland, an aspiration they have longed for centuries, as the seven-year old peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Arroyo government may finally end in a treaty that will bring unity and harmony in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao.

Philippine government and MILF peace negotiators have finally agreed on the issue of issue of ancestral domain, which refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

Peace talks have been stalled since September last year after both sides failed to agree on the scope of the ancestral domain. It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.

Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said both sides are expected to sign the agreement on ancestral domain probably before the year ends after the two groups ended a meeting in Malaysia in November.

Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks between Manila and the MILF, but it had previously threatened to pull out its contingent from the International Monitoring Team if the negotiations remain stalled.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said they wanted progress in the peace talks.

Government and rebel negotiators had previously held secret talks in Kuala Lumpur since early this year, but they failed to arrive at an agreement that would end Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines.

“We have already agreed on the issue of ancestral domain and we expect to sign the agreement soon,” Iqbal told the Mindanao Examiner.

The ancestral domain which covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And even Palawan Island in central Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago.

“Basically, nothing has been changed on the scope of the Muslim homeland and we are now consolidating all other agreements in preparation for the next round of peace talks in January next year in Malaysia.”

“We will tackle the political settlement and eventually, In ša Allāh, sign a peace deal and finally put an end to the problems of insurgency and start socio-economic projects in Mindanao,” Iqbal said.

In ša Allāh is an Arabic term evoked to indicate hope for an aforementioned event to occur in the future. The phrase translates into English as “God willing” or “if it is God's will”

In his recent released book entitled “The Long Road To Peace,” Iqbal wrote the peace negotiations have been driven in positive direction through a combination of several factors: moving forward creatively on substantive issues, political will on both sides, able third party facilitation, a solid cease-fire mechanism combined with joint law enforcement features, aggressive international support, constructive grassroots activism and interfaith dialogue, among others.

“Self-determination evokes strong emotions in the warrior and concern in established power structures. The fear of a new nation or sub-state spinning off from the main is valid, and must be conditioned by an enlightened gradualist approach.”

“It seems that both sides in the negotiations support this approach not only because it avoids pitfalls of misunderstanding among constituencies that need to be transparently brought and not forced into the process, and allows the conventions that breed conflict to wash off as the Philippine government and the MIF try to reinvent the strategies of peace,” Iqbal wrote.

Mohammad Ameen, a senior rebel leader, said the MILF will only sign a peace deal with Manila if it establishes genuine governance for Muslims either in the form of “state” or “sub-state”.

President Gloria Arroyo has opened up peace talks with the MILF, the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state, in 2001.

The MILF earlier warned that hostilities may erupt in Mindanao if the peace talks fail or if Malaysia pulls out its truce observers from the International Monitoring Team in Mindanao, whose 16 million populations included four million Muslims.

The IMT is composed of 41 officers from the Malaysian Defense Forces, the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Prime Minister’s Department and is also supported by 10 military officers from Brunei Darussalam and 5 from Libya. Japan also has a member in the IMT.

The MILF said Libya also wanted to help in the peace talks and has offered to host the negotiations in Tripoli. Former Libyan ambassador Salem Adam has met with MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim and has assured the rebel group of Tripoli’s support to the peace talks.

“Libya has been very supportive of our struggle to have peace in Mindanao,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said in a separate interview.

He said the MILF is optimistic with the peace talks.

“We are glad that the talks were fruitful and the MILF is looking forward for the resumption of the peace negotiations. We wanted peace to reign in Mindanao,” Kabalu said.

But analysts fear that Arroyo or her allies in the House of Representatives might use the peace talks with the MILF as an excuse to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from Presidential to Parliamentary or Federalism to allow the MILF to have a separate state and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Under the Presidential form of government, Arroyo is allowed only three terms, but she can be elected as Prime Minister should Congress, dominated by her political allies, approves a proposal to dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to Parliamentary.

Arroyo, who deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, is unpopular in the Philippines and topped the list of the most corrupt presidents in recent history, according to a Pulse Asia Survey.

The survey conducted Among 1,200 respondents nationwide from October 21-31, 2007 showed that 42% think that Arroyo is the most corrupt followed by Ferdinand Marcos with 35% and Joseph Estrada with 16%. Former presidents Fidel Ramos with 5% and Corazon Aquino with 1% came in at the bottom of the list.

The Philippines is also perceived to be among the world’s most corrupt countries and ranked 131st out of the 180 nations studied, with a 2.5 rating, together with Burundi, Honduras, Iran, Libya, Nepal, and Yemen, according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index released recently by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International.

The index score ranges between 0, which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Nov 01 2007

RP Poll Body Gets New Muslim Member

Published by The Mindanao Examiner under COMELEC, Iligan City, Moslemen Macarambon Sr., Muslim

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 01, 2007) - President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday named a prominent Muslim judge from the southern Philippines to sit at one of seven commissioners at the Commission on Elections.

The Philippine News Agency said Arroyo appointed Iligan City Judge Moslemen Macarambon Sr. to fill a post that has been vacant for nearly a year. The last Muslim poll commissioner was Mehol Sadain, a professor of Asian studies at the University of the Philippines.

The appointment must still pass the scrutiny of and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, which convenes next week.

But this early, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he would oppose Macaranbon's appointment because of the judge's close association with former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, who was accused of cheating in the last presidential elections in favor of Arroyo.

Macarambon's appointment completes the six slots for commissioners. The seventh slot, that of chairman, has been vacant since October 1, when Benjamin Abalos resigned.

Abalos resigned after he was accused of bribery over a government broadband deal favoring a Chinese firm. Senior Commissioner Resurreccion Borra has replaced ABalaos.

Commenting on the appointment, Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento said he was "quite surprised" since Macarambon's name was not in a purported list recently circulated to the press.

"Honestly, I do not know the person, his professional background, his competence… but he is a Muslim and for me it is a welcome (move) because it is consistent with the peace agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government, that Muslims be appointed (to high posts) in government," said Sarmiento, a former undersecretary in the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The purported list, however, mentioned another Muslim, Alioden Dalaig, Comelec's director of the law department, as among the candidates from whom the President picks her choice.

Macarambon was reportedly recommended by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and now ambassador to the Philippine mission in the United Nations. He belongs to the well-known and highly-regarded Macarambon clan of Lanao province.

The rest of the commissioners are Florentino Tuason, Romeo Brawner, and Nicodemo Ferrer.

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Mar 29 2007

Zamboanga Maid Abused In Dubai Flies Back Home

Published by The Mindanao Examiner under 7DAYS, DSWD, Domestic Helpers, Dubai, Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Muslim, OFW, Zamboanga Woman

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 29 Mar) – A Filipino maid, who was abused by her employers in Dubai, is set to return to her native home in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.

But the 21-year old Faija Salamat has reasons to come home happy despite her ordeal in the hands of a Kuwaiti woman and her Iraqi husband after a court in Dubai found the couple guilty.

Salamat was subjected to gratuitous torture and violence at the hands of her female Kuwaiti employer and an Iraqi man last July until her escape.

The two were jailed on February 27 having been sentenced to three years followed by deportation. They were found guilty of sexual harassment, battery and illegal detention, the Dubai-based online news site 7DAYS reported on Thursday.

The couple allegedly admitted torturing Salamat like she was a prisoner at the Abu Ghraib, a notorious U.S. military facility in Iraq.

“All I can think of now is to be with my family,” 7DAYS quoted Salamat as saying.

“I’m so excited to see my parents and my seven siblings back home. I just want to be home as soon as possible. I feel anxious - the memory of the cruel abuse continues to haunt me,” she said.

Salamat, a high school graduate, left home when she was only 18, to work as a housemaid in Kuwait in 2003 before working in Dubai eight months ago.

“I’d like to forget all about it and move on. At night, I sometimes cry myself to sleep when I remember them and the torture,” she said.

Salamat said her employers would undress her and touched her intimately and often times would stub lit cigarettes near her private parts. They also burned her with hot coals and scrub ice cubes on her body.

She said she was kept in a room for three days before forcing the door open and fleeing to the Philippine Consulate in Dubai.

“I don’t think I can forgive them for the awful things they have done to me. I hope that it will serve as a lesson for employers not to mistreat and subject maids to physical and psychological abuse,” Salamat said.

It was not immediately known where Salamat’s family is residing in Zamboanga City and the Department of Social Welfare and Development said it has to receive a report from the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) about the young Muslim woman.

“We have no reports about Faija Salamat or anything about her case. We have to receive an endorsement from the OWWA so we can take an immediate action about this as soon as she arrives home,” a local social welfare assistant Maryann Boncaras told the Mindanao Examiner on Thursday. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Feb 26 2007

Militants Denounce Arrest Of Muslim Farmer In Southern Philippines

Published by The Mindanao Examiner under Human Rights Violations, Illegal Arrest, Muslim, Suara Party List

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 26 Feb) – The militan party list group, Suara, on Monday urged the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the illegal arrest of a Muslim farmer in the southern Philippine port city of Davao.

It said security forces arrested Nahar Darawi, 20, for a still unknown reason. It condemned the arrest that occurred Friday in Purok 5 in the village of San Isidro in Bunawan District.

"We have been warning about this and it is coming; the Moro people suffering the deadly effects of a law anchored on paranoia and the desire to curtail the basic rights of the people," said Zaynab Ampatuan, national deputy security general of Suara.

"We condemn this incident and all the incidents where the Moro people, the national minority, end up being victims of an oppressive government. What happened to Nahar Darawi is an additional proof that this government can tag any individual as terrorist, make unlawful arrests and detain without filing charges against the person," Ampatuan said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Ampatuan said the farmer was arrested just after Friday’s Muslim prayers. Police and military operatives barged into the houses, even without search warrants, and seized Darawi and interrogated for hours, his relatives said.

"The military and police wanted some information from Nahar Darawi and they wanted it pathetically that they took him even without proper court documents. This just shows that civilians barely can trust their lives and freedom from very people who are supposed to secure them and assure them of free space for the exercise of this freedom," Ampatuan said.

Abubakar Uy, the party list’s secretary general in Mindanao, denounced the arrest.

"We also call on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate. This is not just a simple case of questioning and wanting to get information from a farmer. This is about the Moro people being the usual suspects. This is about harassment and profiling," Uy said.

Uy said the occurrence of this incident, along with other similar cases in Mindanao is one of the reasons why their group has consistently registered their opposition to the enactment of the anti-terror bill.

He said if such violations to basic human rights of the Moro and the rest of the national minorities are prevalent now, "how much more if such a hasty and vague legislation is implemented soon."

Last year, Rakman Camili, from Tagum City, was allegedly abducted by the military and had never been seen since then. Authorities linked Camili to the bombing of Sasa Wharf in April 2003 that left scores of people dead and wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)

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