(Conclusion, continued from yesterday)
COTABATO CITY—What happens when Muslims do not spread the teachings, the lessons, the values exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad?
That’s a question Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan of Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao, an advocate of old Muslim tradition, has sought to answer as Islam recently commemorated “Mawlidin Nabi”—literally “Birth of the Prophet”—for a whole week from the 12th day of Rabbi-ul Awal of the Hijrah Calendar.
That period corresponded this year to Dec. 9 to 16.
“Now, the situation is such that you stop the occasion (Mawlidin Nabi) where the Prophet’s values and teachings are shared with children, and even with non-Muslims. But how do you deal with those who speak lies of the Prophet and those who misrepresent Islam on Internet?” Ampatuan said.
Abdulfatah Tanog, a Muslim preacher delving on comparative sects, said that although Muslims are made up of sects and sub-sects, they do not differ much on the spiritual aspects of the Islam. Rather, they are separated by their own cultures and traditions, and the “circumstances of geopolitics.”
For instance, Tanog said, the Sufi Muslims are akin to some Shiite practices, but they also follow the Four Sunni Schools of Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Safi-i. Aside from the Qur’an (Muslim Holy Book) and the Hadith (Written Tradition of the Prophet), the Four Schools have also considered Qiyas (reasoning) and Ijma (consultation) as secondary references or sources of laws.
Oral traditions have held that historic Philippine Muslim leaders like Rajah Buayan Silongan, Sultan Kudarat, and the late Senator Salipada Pendatun, as well as many of the Tausug traditional leaders, were tolerant Sufi Muslims.
On the other hand, followers of the Salafi sub-sect do not necessarily use the teachings of the Four Sunni Schools for guidance, as they treat the Qur’an and the Hadith as the only references or direct sources of learning Islam.
But Tanog said instead of looking at their differences, Muslims should complement each other’s efforts, contributions and characteristics to unite.
For instance, Tanog said, the Al-Azhar University, in Cairo, Egypt—which first established the university concept of classroom-based teaching and learning—was first developed by the Fatimid Shiite followers. It was said that key members of this sub-sect were mostly women, or that it was led mostly by women.
Because of such a divide, scholars of both the Sunni and Shiite sects met to present issues about their sects at a recent summit in Amman, Jordan, Tanog said.
Tanog said: “Then, they (Sunni and Shiite scholars) had ended up with common resolutions that: 1) they uphold and utter the same Declaration of Faith in prayers and in their secular affairs; and 2) that they read the same Qur’an, the Holy Book of the Muslims.”
He said local Muslims should not import the conflict fought in foreign lands, just because “funds” were offered along the way, citing that such foreign conflicts had “unseen instigators that do not care much about the welfare of their peoples.”
“Such a great blunder [importing ideology] is now evident in what has happened to our dear Marawi. It’s no difference from what had happened to Iraq and Syria,” Tanog said.
