COMPASSIONATE MUSLIMS IN KOLAMBUGAN (Published in Manila Times)
COMPASSIONATE MUSLIMS OF KOLAMBUGAN
By Dan Mariano of Manila Times
The hawks on either side of no-man’s land in the Far South would like nothing better than to see the violence in Mindanao escalate.
On one hand are certain religious hotheads, including some in Manila—far, far away from the battlefield, who regularly issue the tired old warning about jihad if the government does not abide by the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which both sides never got to formally sign in the first place. Perhaps some of them are already plotting a campaign of terror in Metro Manila and other parts of the country in order to divert government security forces away from Mindanao.
On the other are the war freaks among the so-called Christians who have been demanding “all-out war” against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in reprisal for the raids staged by renegade MILF commanders and their followers in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani. Others have called out to their co-religionists in the other islands to raise funds to buy arms for their embattled kasimanwa in Mindanao .
While claiming to embrace different faiths, these hawks actually share the same religion, which believes that the resolution to any contradiction can be found only at the business end of an assault rifle. The more guns, the better—and the more Christians and Muslims who are willing to take their anger out of their erstwhile neighbors, well, that would be just great!
Communal conflict—reminiscent of the confused bloodbath among the Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims as the former Yugoslavia imploded in the 1990s—is what awaits Mindanao if the hotheads among the Moros and the war freaks among the Christians have their way.
Fortunately, there are still Muslims and Christians in the Far South who understand that at the root of their kindred faiths is the universal virtue of charity. Having experienced firsthand the futility of violence—not to mention the personal and collective tragedies armed conflict has produced—over the past 40 years or so, they have resisted the temptation to become active belligerents.
Instead, they have quietly—but resolutely—defied the hotheads and the war freaks. Take the case of an imam and other Muslims in Kolambogan.
As MILF renegades swooped down on that and other Lanao del Norte municipalities, the town’s Muslims opened up their mosque to hundreds of Christians who were trying to get away. The Kolambogan Moros even gave shelter to four Catholic priests and a seminarian whose bus had been intercepted by the MILF renegades.
According to Bishop Jose Maguiran of Dipolog, the four priests and one seminarian from his diocese in Zamboanga del Norte were riding Rural Transit Bus No. 171 bound for Cagayan de Oro to attend an alumni homecoming of St. Francis Xavier Regional Seminary. At around 4:30 a.m. last Monday, their bus was stopped by gunmen as they neared the town center of Kolambogan.
“They were asked to get out of the bus, and once outside, they saw more armed men moving to and fro, firing their guns indiscriminately,” Maguiran was quoted saying in a published report. “My clergymen panicked and ran to different directions to take cover.”
In an act of Islamic compassion, the Kolambogan Muslims “invited them and an estimated 100 other passengers to take refuge in a mosque nearby,” the bishop said. “They were given food and water by the community and were protected from the armed men.”
The MILF raiders wanted to enter the mosque, but the town’s Muslims refused, according to reports reaching the bishop. The bus passengers, including the Catholic clergymen from Dipolog, stayed in the mosque until 11 a.m. When it looked safe to leave, they went out and took a motorized outrigger for Ozamis in Misamis Occidental.
An appreciative Maguiran said: “I would like to thank our Muslim brothers and sisters in that community for helping and providing security measures to the passengers, my clergymen and my seminarian. As a religious leader, I am and will always be for peace to reign in Mindanao.”
There probably were other compassionate acts done by Muslims for Christians and vice versa—for they are neighbors, after all. When the MILF and the government forces leave, they would still be neighbors.
The real tragedy would come if the belligerents on both sides do manage to convince the Muslims and Christians of Kolambogan and other Mindanao towns to begin looking upon their neighbors as enemies.
Lest that happens, we need to always remember the compassionate Muslims of Kolambogan.
_
By Dan Mariano of Manila Times
The hawks on either side of no-man’s land in the Far South would like nothing better than to see the violence in Mindanao escalate.
On one hand are certain religious hotheads, including some in Manila—far, far away from the battlefield, who regularly issue the tired old warning about jihad if the government does not abide by the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which both sides never got to formally sign in the first place. Perhaps some of them are already plotting a campaign of terror in Metro Manila and other parts of the country in order to divert government security forces away from Mindanao.
On the other are the war freaks among the so-called Christians who have been demanding “all-out war” against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in reprisal for the raids staged by renegade MILF commanders and their followers in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani. Others have called out to their co-religionists in the other islands to raise funds to buy arms for their embattled kasimanwa in Mindanao .
While claiming to embrace different faiths, these hawks actually share the same religion, which believes that the resolution to any contradiction can be found only at the business end of an assault rifle. The more guns, the better—and the more Christians and Muslims who are willing to take their anger out of their erstwhile neighbors, well, that would be just great!
Communal conflict—reminiscent of the confused bloodbath among the Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims as the former Yugoslavia imploded in the 1990s—is what awaits Mindanao if the hotheads among the Moros and the war freaks among the Christians have their way.
Fortunately, there are still Muslims and Christians in the Far South who understand that at the root of their kindred faiths is the universal virtue of charity. Having experienced firsthand the futility of violence—not to mention the personal and collective tragedies armed conflict has produced—over the past 40 years or so, they have resisted the temptation to become active belligerents.
Instead, they have quietly—but resolutely—defied the hotheads and the war freaks. Take the case of an imam and other Muslims in Kolambogan.
As MILF renegades swooped down on that and other Lanao del Norte municipalities, the town’s Muslims opened up their mosque to hundreds of Christians who were trying to get away. The Kolambogan Moros even gave shelter to four Catholic priests and a seminarian whose bus had been intercepted by the MILF renegades.
According to Bishop Jose Maguiran of Dipolog, the four priests and one seminarian from his diocese in Zamboanga del Norte were riding Rural Transit Bus No. 171 bound for Cagayan de Oro to attend an alumni homecoming of St. Francis Xavier Regional Seminary. At around 4:30 a.m. last Monday, their bus was stopped by gunmen as they neared the town center of Kolambogan.
“They were asked to get out of the bus, and once outside, they saw more armed men moving to and fro, firing their guns indiscriminately,” Maguiran was quoted saying in a published report. “My clergymen panicked and ran to different directions to take cover.”
In an act of Islamic compassion, the Kolambogan Muslims “invited them and an estimated 100 other passengers to take refuge in a mosque nearby,” the bishop said. “They were given food and water by the community and were protected from the armed men.”
The MILF raiders wanted to enter the mosque, but the town’s Muslims refused, according to reports reaching the bishop. The bus passengers, including the Catholic clergymen from Dipolog, stayed in the mosque until 11 a.m. When it looked safe to leave, they went out and took a motorized outrigger for Ozamis in Misamis Occidental.
An appreciative Maguiran said: “I would like to thank our Muslim brothers and sisters in that community for helping and providing security measures to the passengers, my clergymen and my seminarian. As a religious leader, I am and will always be for peace to reign in Mindanao.”
There probably were other compassionate acts done by Muslims for Christians and vice versa—for they are neighbors, after all. When the MILF and the government forces leave, they would still be neighbors.
The real tragedy would come if the belligerents on both sides do manage to convince the Muslims and Christians of Kolambogan and other Mindanao towns to begin looking upon their neighbors as enemies.
Lest that happens, we need to always remember the compassionate Muslims of Kolambogan.
_
Comment
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Comment by Djam on August 26, 2008 at 9:45pm - AM SO PROUD TO BE MUSLIM IN KOLAMBUGAN!!!!
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The Red Planet is about to be spectacular in August of 2009!
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens… Continue
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