Muslims in the Philippines: Difference between revisions

As Anderson puts  it,  communities tend  to  imagine  their  cultural  self according  to their historical traditions, which are often shaped by the 'dynastic realm'."" Even though being no more than a mere symbolic construction to which people are referring  in order to compile  a common  identity, dynasties  have gained  their  legitimacy by traversing  all concepts  of modem statehood.  The  Malay sultanate  represents  such kind of imagined community, which despite ill defined and shifting borders  has exercised a great amount of control  over its subjects  by means  of a shared  code  of behavior.11  Muslims  in the Philippines  claim  that  this  concept  of statehood,  represented by the  Malay  Muslim sultans  of Sulu,  differs totally from the Christian one, which has been characterized by a strong dependency on cultural  and religious values introduced by the Spanish missionaries  in  the  sixteenth  century.

The  spread  of Islam in  Southeast Asia has taken  a very different  course  from its  land of origin.  The  traders  from  the  Middle  East and  India,  who  arrived  in  the  Malay Archipelago  in  the  fifteenth  century,  did  not  have  any  intention  to  conquer  new kingdoms  or to establish  areas of interest.  They  came to strengthen the trade  relations between  the major Arab and Indian  ports and those emerging trade  centers  as Melaka, which  soon  became  the  export  center  of the  new faith.  Islam  was confronted with  a society, which  had  already  established  its own specific social structure, the  kerajaan, which  revolved  around  the  Sultan  or Raja and  his court  at the  top  level of a tightly organized  hierarchic  structure. The  customary laws of traditional Malay societies were able  to  accommodate  Islam,  since  the  new  religion  was  able  to  merge  with  some elements  of the traditional  culture,  which  could  be seen as strengthening the position of the  Raja.