CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY

Burias Campus
Burias, MambusaoCapiz

Rhealyn A. Sanan Dr. Romulo N. Lagon

BSED3 Course Faciltator
Introduction and Spread of Islam

Introduction to Islam
Islam is the second largest religion followed by 1.6 billion people, which constitutes about 23.4 %
of the world population. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe Islam is the
revelation of God which came through the Prophet Mohammed. Their holy book, the Quran,
contains the revelations given to their Prophet by the angel Gabriel. The words and actions of the
life of Mohammed are constituted under the Ahadis, meaning Tradition. Along with the Quran,
Mohammed’s life and words are the standards for behaviour and moral life in Islam . Islam teaches
strict Monotheism and the word Islam is translated as “surrender to the will of God”.

Origin and Spread:

Islam originated in Arabia in 7th century A.D . The exact year of the origin of Islam is 622 A.D. This
is the first year of the Islamic calender. This year marks the migration of Mohammed from Mecca to
Medina. The origin of the revelations which came to Mohammed dates back to the year 610.
Mohammed, a 40 year old man, had the habit of spending time in contemplation and meditation in a
cave. One such day, the angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to him and asked him to write down
whatever he recited. These revelations from Gabriel continued on and off over the next 23
years. They were collected verbatim and constitute the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims.
Mohammed took this message to the people of Mecca who were polytheists. They rejected his
message. But he gathered a group of followers , who were persecuted along with him in Mecca. The
persecution was very severe and in the midst of all this, the death of his protector and guardian Abu
Talib constrained Mohammed and his followers to migrate to Medina. This incident is called the
Hijra and marks the first year of the Islamic Calender, which is A.D 622.

Three factors contributed to the spread of Islam in Asia. These include: 1) The Political situation
and the conversion of the rulers; 2) The work of Sufi missionaries, who integrated Islam with
local practices and beliefs; 3) The Influx of Islamic traders, their success and subsequent
establishment of Islamic trading settlement in southeast Asia. These three factors combined and
resulted in the spread of Islam and the establishment of Islam to different degrees in different regions
in Asia.

“Age of Rashidun” capital in Medina 632-661

Umayyad Caliphate capital in Damascus 661-750
Abbasid Caliphate capital in Baghdad 750-1258
A short critique:

1. Islam spread by the sword. Right from the time of Mohammed, it was “Surrender to Islam or
die” .The first three Caliphs were very strict in implementing this policy. But from the time of
Ummayad dynasty, the policy got slightly diluted as materialism crept in, as conversion to Islam
would mean loss of non – muslim taxes. Islam from it’s very inception is a ‘state-forming religion’.
Violence was the the primary mode for the spread of Islam. Terrorism seems to be inherent and
native to the Islam of Prophet Mohammed, especially after he acquired political power. Islamic
extremists can find a lot of support from the life of the Prophet and the Caliphs.

2. Christianity on the other hand did not have any political support in the first three hundred years. It
spread purely by the work of missionaries and Church planters. States became Christian as the
population and the rulers became Christian. Therefore, at it’s core Christianity is NOT a ‘state
forming religion’. Separation of Church and State is a viable option with Christianity, whereas with
Islam it would go against the precedent set by Prophet Mohammed. Therefore Violence was not the
primary mode of spread of Christianity. Violence, according to the Bible and Jesus Christ is not an
accepted way to usher in the Gospel. The Gospel spread by the sacrificial deaths of the martyrs and
the work of the Holy Spirit.

3. One of the factors considered responsible for the spread of Islam in north Africa was the
innumerable divisions within Christianity. North Africa, a Christian area, which gave rise to St.
Augustine, became and remains to this day Islamic. Islam at that time of history provided a united
face, which resulted in the loss of North Africa to Islam. This should warn us of the consequences of
divisions over minor issues and constrains us to follow the teaching of Christ, who commanded us to
witness for him through our love and unity. In John 13 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to
you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all
people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The core belief of Islam are there is only one God unitary and beyond comprehension and that
Muhammad is the prophet god, the last in a series of prophets beginning with adam. The Quran is
upheld as eternal, literal word of God. And revelations to earlier prophet , as seen in the Jewish Torah
and Christian Gospels are believed to have become distorted by human intervention. Muslim revealed
that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. And belief in angel as God’s
is part of the Islamic tradition.

The Moro to the Spanish Colonizers

It is claimed that in the sixteenth century, European colonial powers such as Portugal and Spain
wanted to conquer Southeast Asia in order to, first, control the spice trade which was then driving the
world economy; and second, in the words of the Portuguese Viceroy, to “[cast] the Moors out of this
country [Malacca], and [quench] the fire of this sect of (Muhammad) so that it may never burst out
again hereafter.” Armed encounters with the Muslims and military expeditions to Mindanao and
Borneo occurred almost as soon as the Spaniards settled in the Islands; historian Cesar AdibMajul
charted six stages of the so-called Moro Wars that took place from the mid-1500s to the late 1800s.
Among the Spanish missions was the 1578 military expedition in Mindanao, which aimed to: 1) have
the Moro acknowledge Spanish dominion; 2) establish trade with the Moro, and explore and exploit
the natural resources of the land; 3) end Moro piracy and raids against Spanish ships and
Christianized settlements; and 4) convert the Moro like the other Philippine groups. The head of the
expedition was instructed to quash the “[preaching] of the doctrine of Mahoma, since it is evil and
false, and that of the Christians alone is good.” These guiding principles are said to have held fast and
defined Spain’s relation to the Moro for the next three centuries.

Fr. Pi described the Moro as arrogant, ungrateful, and treacherous despite being “poor, miserable, and
needy.” Ruled by notoriously cruel datu, they were seen as savages or ladrones who plundered land
and sea. Fr. Pi believed that, owing to their poor comprehension of the Quran, the ignorance of the
Philippine Moro extended to their own religion. “[The Moro] have … a blind and ever-living hatred
of all things Christian, whether Catholic, schismatical, or Protestant; and this one thing they know for
certain: that Mohammed commanded a holy war without tract or termination upon Christians who,
according to their idea, are infidels (or capir); and they believe that it is a meritorious thing to rob,
and that to gain heaven it is sufficient to kill the Christians.”

Although he claimed that “the Moros have been the only but constant and tenacious enemies of the
civilization brought here by Spain,” the Jesuit priest argued against exterminating the Muslim people,
as he saw this to be unjust, difficult, and expensive. However, he urged the American colonial
government to do all that it could to subjugate the Moro, free other “infidels” from Moro slavery, and
ensure the Catholic evangelization of “Moroland.”

Philippine history in the tradition of Majul (and Gowing) proposes that Spanish colonial oppression
nurtured among the Muslims an Islamic consciousness that sustained their wars and raids throughout
the centuries, as well as their separatist movement later on. The scholar Hannbal Bara avers: “Just
like other Muslim nations in Southeast Asia, [the] national identity of the Philippine Muslims was
shaped by Islam and further developed in the course of their heroic struggle against western
colonialism. … They were called Moros …. Since then, the Muslims in this country have been
identified in Southeast Asia and across the Muslim world as the Bangsamoro people.”

The fact that Spain never got to conquer Mindanao, except for a few small port cities, is not due only
to Moro resistance; other historical and political factors must also be taken into account. However,
because Spain did manage to acculturate most of the rest of the Philippines, it can be said that
Spanish views of the Moro in history contribute a lot not only to the contemporary Muslim Filipinos’
identity formation as individuals and as a community, but to the shaping of national memory as well.
In the words of the historian, Samuel K. Tan, “we only read and see blood, tears, and deaths recorded
in the memories of the Muslim and Christian communities. This is the bitter part of Filipino
heritage.”

MAP: Islam in the Philippines

Islam is the Philippines' second largest religion. See its reach not only in Mindanao but also in other
provinces. MANILA, Philippines – Even before the arrival of Spanish colonizers and Roman
Catholicism in the Philippines, Islam was already present in the country. Introduced by Muslim
traders in southern Philippines in the 14th century, Islam's influence had once spread north to Manila.

Many centuries later, Islam continues to be an integral part of Philippine history and culture.

Islam is the Philippines' second largest religion, with followers of 5,127,084 as of 2010, according to
the National Statistics Office (NSO). In a span of 10 years, it increased by close to one-third or
32.7%, from 3,862,409 in 2000.

Majority of Filipino Muslims live in the Mindanao island group, with at least 4,838,060 Muslims
there, or 94% of the country's Islamic population.

Within Mindanao is the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), composed of the
provinces of Basilan, Lanaodel Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, but excluding Isabela City
in Basilan and Cotabato City in Maguindanao.

The ARMM is home to at least 2,979,814 Muslims, or 58% of the country's Muslim population.

In Metro Manila, only at least 105,094 Muslims live there, making up only 2% of the country's
Muslim population, and a miniscule 0.89% of the Metro's entire population.

Top 10 Provinces with the Largest Muslim Populations

Province Muslim Population (2010) % of PH's Muslim Pop.

1. Maguindanao 993,040 19.37%

(including Cotabato City*)

2. Lanao del Sur 872,678 17.02%

3. Sulu 706,229 13.77%

4. Tawi-Tawi 353,865 6.90%

5. Zamboanga del Sur 336,840 6.57%

6. Cotabato 318,602 6.21%

7. Basilan 311,004 6.07%

(including Isabela City**)

8. Lanao del Norte 285,861 5.58%

 9. Sultan Kudarat 209,917 4.09%

10. Metro Manila (not a province) 105,094 2.05%

Source: 2010 Census, NSO

* Cotabato City, part of Region XII, has a Muslim population of 200,370.

** Isabela City, part of Region IX, has a Muslim population of 56,632.

Islam is the dominant religion in only the 5 ARMM provinces, with Sulu and Tawi-Tawi having the
biggest percentage of Muslims composing their respective populations.

But Islam has a strong presence in ARMM's surrounding provinces as well.

Top 10 Provinces with the Highest Proportion of Muslims by Province

Province Muslim Population (2010) % of Province's Pop.

1. Sulu 706,229 98.32%

2. Tawi-Tawi 353,865 96.83%

3. Lanao del Sur 872,678 94.00%

4. Maguindanao 993,040 81.73%

(including Cotabato City*)

5. Basilan 311,004 79.56%

(including Isabela City**)

6. Lanao del Norte 285,861 30.80%

7. Sultan Kudarat 209,917 28.13%

8. Cotabato 318,602 26.02%

 9. Zamboanga del Sur 336,840 19.13%

10. ZamboangaSibugay 84,835 14.53%

Source: 2010 Census, NSO

* Cotabato City, part of Region XII, has a Muslim population of 200,370.

** Isabela City, part of Region IX, has a Muslim population of 56,632.

Islamic Unity: Realistic Aspect of Success

Ideological Unity (Religious Unity):

The First Aspect: From a strictly religious perspective, all faiths in Islam stem from a particular
ideological understanding that is based on the visions and jurisprudential rulings deducted from
sources each faith has chosen to refer to and consider authentic, and eventually base their religion
upon. Each faith takes its knowledge from scholars it believes to be the most knowledgeable, and
books they believe to be authentic.

Therefore, ideologically speaking, it is impossible to combine faiths that disagree with one another,
and most importantly, view each other as people in need of guidance.

The Second Aspect: The Muslim nation is one nation which has differences within. Being different
is never a crime, neither religiously nor ethically. Therefore, the door of dialogue is open and our
common beliefs and practices are the best opportunity to bridge between one another. Each Muslim
denomination understands a certain event or sacred script in a specific way, as taught by their
scholars and figures they consider sacred, and therefore it is not appropriate to abuse other Muslims
due to their level and extent of understanding or due to the way they view certain matters. One must
always respect the opinions of others and agree to disagree.

If bonding and uniting ideologically is impossible, Muslims should strive to find other areas that they
are able to unite in.

Appropriate and Realistic Methods of Unity:

1. Political Unity- means that both parties have chosen to work together towards a common cause. It
does not mean they all belong to the same party, but that they are willing to put aside their differences
to accomplish the task at hand. This form of unity has been witnessed widely during the past few
years where Muslims from around the globe, including their religious leaders, have united against
ISIS and terrorism in the name of Islam. Thus, we find that Muslims are more than happy to come
together and stand against political corruption in the name of Islam.

2. Economical Unity- Once Muslim scholars have realized that their affiliation to the principles of a
particular faith does not affect their unity against terrorism and extreme ideologies in the name of
Islam, then they will have created a solid basis for other forms of unity. Starting from that platform,
they can begin discussions paving the way for the realization of the economical unity of all Muslims.

As we have witnessed in modern history, Muslims and Muslim governments do cooperate with one
another to benefit each other’s economies; and Muslim scholars - aside from politicians - should
supplement the progress already made. If this second step is successful, then Muslims can reach
higher forms of a political and economical unity, including common banks and markets.

3. Social Unity- In our era, the annual conferences of unity in Tehran play a big role in bonding
between the different schools of thought within Islam on a social level. Such conferences become the
basis for Muslim scholars from different faiths around the world to visit one another, and Muslim
families to gather on occasions such as the Eid festival after the holy month of Ramadhan. It is safe to
say that the narrow-mindedness and inflaming speeches of a minority of scholars in the past have
caused non-Muslims - who once held respect for Islam - to become perturbed to see the current state
of divisions within the Muslim communities.