The role of religious leaders

Tenth part of a series

BY definition, the majority of the population of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) are Muslims – 98% in Sulu, 97% in Tawi-Tawi, 94% in Lanao del Sur, 82% in Maguindanao and 80% in Basilan.  As anyone who is even slightly familiar with the Muslim faith knows, Islam is a religion that touches every aspect of a person’s life.  From the moment a faithful adherent wakes in the morning to the last moment before retiring in the evening, from the simple greetings of peace which precede all communications to his conduct of business transactions, Islam influences the actions of the faithful.

For this reason, religious leaders carry great weight in the societies they live in, since they serve to counsel and guide the members of the ummah, the community of the faithful, on which actions accord with the will of Allah and which do not. They are persons of great influence in their communities.

However, in the author’s view, it is puzzling why, in the face of the unrelenting violence and even the barbaric actions undertaken by the Abu Sayyaf Group – particularly in recent years – the religious leaders of the area have been relatively silent.  One has yet to hear the religious leaders of Sulu or Basilan take a clear and unequivocal position regarding the activities of the Abu Sayyaf in their respective provinces.

True, the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP), an organization which has over 1,000 religious leaders as members, has spoken out.  For example, after Robert Hall, a Canadian kidnap victim, was executed by the ASG in June 2016, the NUCP issued a statement, branding the Abu Sayyaf’s act as “un-Islamic, inhuman, and condemnable”.  But the NUCP, as an umbrella organization, serves to hide the positions of individual members or member organizations.  Organizational statements or positions are not necessarily unanimously supported by its members.

When Jurgen Kantner, a German, was killed by the Abu Sayyaf in February 2017, Muslim legislators likewise issued a statement condemning the act as “not [being] in accordance with Islamic religion or way of life”.  The leadership of the Armm and even of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) condemned this barbarous act.

But, to the author’s knowledge, the religious leaders of Sulu — those closest to the battlefront, as it were, where these and other killings took place, where the bulk of kidnap victims have been held captive over the last six years – have themselves not taken a public stand on the actions of the ASG.

The same observation can be made about the religious leaders of Basilan, the other area where the Abu Sayyaf is deeply entrenched.

Sometime within the last three years, the author was asked to help a family explore options to secure the release of their sibling who had been kidnapped by the ASG.  Thinking that perhaps some of the religious leaders could convince the kidnappers to release their sibling, the family asked for an opportunity to speak to some religious leaders who would be willing to consider this.  Through friends who were close to a number of religious leaders, the author conveyed the request of the victim’s family to some Ulama, but unfortunately the Ulama contacted declined to even speak with the family.

What is behind this seeming reluctance to confront the issue of the Abu Sayyaf frontally?  One realizes that this is a sensitive issue which entails security risks for anyone who delves into it.  And the security risks come from both sides of the conflict.  While there is the possibility of retaliation on the part of the ASG against anyone speaking out against them, there is also the possibility of the government security agencies looking with suspicion on parties delving into issues involving the ASG.

In fact, one of the reasons given by one of the Ulama contacted was precisely this:  that they may be misconstrued by the military for involving themselves in matters concerning the ASG.  An unfortunate incident in the past was brought up as an example.  In 2007, the AFP distributed posters of ASG commanders who were being pursued.  One of those included was Yasser Igasan, also known as Tuan Ya, who at one point was considered as the possible successor of Khadaffy Janjalani as Amir of the ASG following Khadaffy’s death in 2006.  Unfortunately, the poster showed the picture of another person, Ustadz Yahya Abdulla, a member of the Sulu Ulama Council for Peace and Development, as being Yasser Igasan, who is also a religious scholar.  While this was an obvious mistake, it created serious problems for Ustadz Abdulla who had to go to the military authorities to clear the matter up lest someone, not knowing him personally but seeing his picture, mistake him for a wanted person and attempt to either capture or, worse, kill him for whatever reward may have been offered for Igasan.

But is there something deeper than concern for one’s security?  A close friend, a native of Sulu, highly educated and deeply religious, whom the author consulted on this issue opined that there may still be a residue of bias or even resentment among Suluanos against Christians due to the history of the struggle between Muslims and colonial powers, despite decades of efforts on the part of Christians to reach out to Muslims, inter-faith dialogues, and despite the veneer of civility that educated Muslims may display toward Christians. In the deepest recesses of the psyche of some Muslims, perhaps below the levels of conscious thought, at the levels of the subconscious that are the real influences of one’s thoughts and actions, the resentment may still exist.  This was discussed in the second article in this series. (to be continued)