Lably
Skip to content

Islam in the Philippines

  • 15 min read
  • 5 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Muslims, Merchant and Trade

Lab · Class 6–12Ancient Indian Ocean TradeLabAncient Indian EmpiresLab · Class 7–10Trade Routes

Muslim sultanates had already begun expanding in the central Philippines by the 16th century, when the Spanish fleet led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived. The Spanish referred to Muslim inhabitants of the Philippines as "Moros," after the Muslim "Moors" they had regarded with disdain in Iberia and the Maghreb. The subsequent Spanish conquest led to Catholic Christianity becoming the predominant religion in most of the modern-day Philippines, with Islam becoming a significant minority religion.

In the 21st century, there is some disagreement regarding the size of the Muslim population. The 2020 census conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority found that 6.4% (6,981,710) of Filipinos were Muslims, up from 6.0% (6,064,744) in 2015. However, it was reported in 2004 that some Muslim groups asserted that the proper number was between eight and twelve percent. Presently, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) estimates Muslims constitute 11% of the total population, attributing the difference to a number of factors.

Most Muslims live in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago – an area known as Bangsamoro or the Moro region. The Bangsamoro region is predominantly Muslim, with 91% of its 4.9 million inhabitants adhering to Islam. Some have migrated into urban and rural areas in different parts of the country. Most Muslim Filipinos practice Sunni Islam according to the Shafi'i school with a Salafi minority.

History

From the 9th–13th centuries, Muslim trade networks linking Champa and Sumatra (including Aceh) brought resident traders and scholars to the southern Philippines, especially Taguima (Basilan), where they introduced Islamic practices and teachings.

In the 11th century Muslim traders had strong ties to Butuan in Northeast Mindanao. Butuan would use Muslim traders to lead embassies on their behalf to the Song dynasty, as they had already been doing for the last few decades on behalf of other South East Asian polities like Brunei, Java, Sanfotsi and Champa. In 1003 and 1011, the Song Huiyao Jigao records missions sent by Butuan led by Muslim envoys, with Li Yu xie (李于變), reconstructed as Ali Yusuf, leading the 1011 delegation.

By the 14th century, localized Islamic teaching traditions, later associated in Sulu with figures such as Makhdum Karim, became more visible in the region.

In 1380, the Sunni Shaykh Makhdum Karim reached the Sulu Archipelago and Jolo in the Philippines and established Islam in the country through trade in several regions of the island. In 1390, Minangkabau Prince Rajah Baguinda and his followers preached Islam on the islands. The Sheik Karimol Makhdum Mosque was the first mosque established in the Philippines on Simunul in Mindanao in the 14th century.

Subsequent settlements by Indian Muslim missionaries traveling to Malaysia and Indonesia helped strengthen Islam in the Philippines and each settlement was governed by a datu, rajah and sultan. Islam was introduced by Chinese Muslims, Indian Muslims, and Persians. Islamic provinces founded in the Philippines included the Sunni Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Sulu, Confederate States of Lanao and other parts of the southern Philippines.

When the Spanish fleet led by Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippines in 1565, they were met by local datus as they traveled in the islands. Arriving in the Maynila (now the Philippine capital of Manila), a vassal-state of the Sultanate of Brunei, in 1570 they were met by the Muslim rajah, Rajah Sulayman.

By the next century conquests had reached the Sulu islands in the southern tip of the Philippines where the population was Buddhist and Hindu and they took up the task of converting the animistic population to Islam with renewed zeal. By the 15th century, half of Luzon (Northern Philippines) and the islands of Mindanao in the south had become subject to the various Muslim sultanates of Borneo and much of the population in the almost of South were converted to Islam. The Visayas consisted of independent coastal communities led by datus and rajahs engaged in trade and regional alliances at the time of Spanish contact. While Indic cultural influences were present, there is no evidence that the region was dominated by formal Hindu-Buddhist states, and the Visayans had little to no contact with Muslims prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Early Spanish accounts, including Relación de las Islas Filipinas and Historia general de las islas occidentales a la Asia adyacentes, identify Sugbu as the native name of Cebu prior to 1565. After 1565, during the Spanish colonial period (1565–1898), the Spanish attacked Muslim communities in Mindanao and Sulu and took captives. In response, Muslim raiders launched attacks on Spanish-controlled towns in the Visayas.

Zheng He's voyages

The Chinese Muslim mariner Zheng He is credited with founding several Chinese Muslim communities during China's early Ming dynasty.

Bruneian conquest (16th century)

In the year 1498–99, the Bruneian Empire conducted a series of raids against the natives of the Taytay in Palawan and the island of Mindoro which had been subjugated to the Islamic Bruneian Empire under Sultan Bolkiah.

Furthermore, Sultan Bolkiah's victory over Sulu, as well as his marriages to Laila Menchanai the daughter of Sulu Sultan Amir al-Ombra (an uncle of Sharifa Mahandun married to Nakhoda Angging or Maharaja Anddin of Sulu), and to the daughter of Datu Kemin, widened Brunei's influence in the Philippines.

In Luzon, a new dynasty in Maynila began under a local leader who accepted Islam and became Rajah Salalila who created a union through his marriage to the daughter of Sultan Bolkiah and Puteri Laila Menchanai of Sulu, which established Brunei's influence in the region. He also posed a trading challenge to the House of Lakandula in Tondo. Islam was further strengthened by the arrival of Muslim traders and from Jolo, Mindanao, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Spanish encounter

Rajah Sulayman was the Rajah of Maynila, a polity at the mouth of the Pasig River where it meets Manila Bay, at the time the Spanish forces first came to Luzon.

Sulayman resisted the Spanish forces along with Rajah Matanda and Lakan Dula.

Moro (derived from the Spanish word meaning Moors) is the appellation inherited from the Spaniards, for Filipino Muslims of Mindanao. The Spanish distinguished the Moro from the Indios, which referred to the Christianized people of Luzon and the Visayas. Islam continued to spread in Mindanao, from centers such as Sulu and Cotabato.

The Muslims seek to establish an independent Islamic province in Mindanao to be named Bangsamoro. The term Bangsamoro is a combination of an Old Malay word meaning nation or state with the Spanish word Moro which means Muslim. A significant Moro Rebellion occurred during the Philippine–American War. Conflicts and rebellion have continued in the Philippines from the pre-colonial period up to the present. Other related issue with the Moro secession is the territorial dispute of eastern Sabah in Malaysia which was claimed by the Sultanate of Sulu as their territory.

The Moros have a history of resistance against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The violent armed struggle against the Spanish, Americans, Japanese and Filipinos is considered by current Moro (Muslim) leaders as part of the four centuries long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro (Muslim Nation). The 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese, Filipinos, Americans, and Spanish by the Moro/Muslims persisted and morphed into their current war for independence against the Philippine state.

Muslim leaders in Zamboanga petitioned the Ottoman Empire to send a representative to advise them on religious matters. A scholar from the Shaykh al-Islām was sent in response.

Modern age

In 2012, research was conducted on cultural properties in Islamic areas in Mindanao. The research included the 'Maradika' Qur'an of Bayang, the notes found in the Qur'an of Bayang, the Qur'an and Islamic manuscripts of the Sheikh Ahmad Bashir collection, the 'Dibolodan' Qur'an of Bacong in Marantao, the Qur'an and the prayer scroll of Guro sa Masiu in Taraka, the 'Story of the Prophet Muhammad' at the Growing Memorial Research Center of the Dansalan College, and the Islamic Manuscript Art of the Philippines. In 2014, the Maradika Qur'an of Bayang was declared as a National Cultural Treasure, the first Islamic manuscript in the Philippines to be declared as such.

Bangsa Sug and Bangsa Moro

In 2018, a unification gathering of all the sultans of the Sulu archipelago and representatives from all ethnic communities in the Sulu archipelago commenced in Zamboanga City, declaring themselves as the Bangsa Sug peoples and separating them from the Bangsa Moro peoples of mainland central Mindanao. They cited the complete difference in cultures and customary ways of life as the primary reason for their separation from the Muslims of mainland central Mindanao. They also called the government to establish a separate Philippine state, called Bangsa Sug, from mainland Bangsa Moro or to incorporate the Sulu archipelago to whatever state is formed in the Zamboanga peninsula, if ever federalism in the Philippines is approved in the coming years.

Balik Islam

There is also a growing community of Filipino converts to Islam, known popularly as Balik Islam (return or returnees to Islam), often led by former Christian missionary converts.

At the end of 2014, the NCMF estimated that there were 200,000 Filipinos who had converted to Islam since the 1970s.

Sign in to keep reading

4 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Physical geography

World Heritage SitePlace of significance listed by UNESCOMediterranean SeaSea between Africa, Asia, and EuropeAtlantic OceanOceanic divisionPacific OceanLargest ocean on EarthAnatoliaPeninsula of Turkey in Western AsiaIrelandIsland in the North Atlantic Ocean