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The Manila Times D e c e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 0 7

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BY SAMIRA GUTOCMORO TIMESMANAGING EDITOR

THE missionary and“guro” (teacher) whorose to be the country’smost powerful Muslimreligious leader andLanao’s longest andhighest-serving politicianwas an uncle, a husbandto five wives and father tomany poor Muslims.

Aleem (learned Mus-lim) and Dr. MahidMutilan died a tragicdeath after meeting a car accident onthe way to Cagayan de Oro (CDO) inDecember 6 speeding to catch an earlyseven flight, after praying the Subuh(four in the morning) in Marawi (twohours away from CDO airport).

Every year, my Eid celebrations inMarawi would be special with con-gregational sermons laced with Bapa(Uncle) Mahid’s jokes and monikerlaughs. Listening to his Arabic waslike romancing the unknown. I couldonly appreciate the glory of the HolyQur’an’s message with his Maranaoanecdotes and fiery quotes.

This year, Muslims will be cel-ebrating Eidul Adha (the Feast ofSacrifice, without Mahid, the presi-dent of the Ulama (plural for aleem)League of the Philippines and co-convenor of the Bishop-Ulama Con-ference of the Philippines.

I realized how important he waseven to foreign guests when I wasorganizing the Environmental Con-ference on Lake Lanao in MarawiCity last year with my group, thePhilippine Muslim Women Coun-cil (PMWC) . This was to be the firstMarawi visit for US AmbassadorKristie Kenney. His staff always re-minded us to invite Mahid Mutilan.

During the first Southeast Asian Fo-rum on Islam and Democracy at theManila Hotel on December 10,former President Fidel Ramos askedthe delegates for a minute of silenceto remember Mutilan. Marawi hostednational leaders who paid their re-spects to Mahid. Secretaries NorbertoGonzales and Jesus Dureza, formerSenator Santanina Rasul and formerARMM Governor Parouk Hussin werein unison that the country had lost anational figure, a bridge betweenMuslims and Christians.

Former dean of King Faisal Centerfor Islam, Arabic and Asian StudiesHamid Barra, who is writing a bookabout Mutilan, said Mutilan wasunique in that he “filled many shoes”—as Grand Mufti of the Philippines,Ulama League President, Bishop-Ulama Conference co-convenor andOMPIA party chairman.

When his body arrived aboard achopper flown from Cagayan de Oroat the Campo Ranao in Marawi, amourning crowd from Lanao’s 39towns had gathered to see his bodywrapped in white (in Islam, the bodyis buried in white, symbolic of manreturning to his natural state). Callscame from Sulu and as far as the Mid-dle East, where many Maranaos areworking, to inquire his time of burial.

Just a day before, he had calledon all Muslim leaders to support theMindanao Week of Peace with cara-vans and gatherings. Last month, hehad distributed sacks of rice to thepoor for the Eidul Fitr celebrations.

Nobody can fill the shoes by aman just a little over five feet. He hadan aura that made him larger than

life with his gift forgab. Although he wasa busy man usuallyentertaining ulama inhis house in Marawi,he provided specifictime for his wives (af-ter an Egyptian wife,he had married thefive Maranao wives atdifferent times) andinspired the brood tostudy hard. My cous-ins who were account-ants and medical doc-tors finished their de-grees with his support.

Orphaned by the father and fromfar-flung Tamparan, Lanao del Sur,Mutilan was schooled in the madrasahand obtained a scholarship to studyEnglish and Islam at the world’s mostprestigious Islamic university, Al-AzharUniversity in Egypt. He organized theMuslim Filipino students in Egypt torecognize the Bangsamoro struggle.Elected president of the multi-tribalPhilippine Students Association inCairo or PHILSAC, Mahid assistedmany students who came to Cairo forstudies. Many students were able toenroll and seek scholarship grants invarious educational centers abroadthrough his assistance.

He served in Japan for more than10 years as a Muslim missionary.He helped build Islamic schools inthe secular society. Mutilan was flu-ent in Nihonggo as well as Arabicand English.

But he is best remembered as apolitician and ulama. When Lanaopolitics was dominated by the tra-ditional elites with large clans in the1980s , Mahid was a nobody in lo-cal politics coming home fromabroad. He organized the Ompia(Reform) party in 1986, the first Is-lamic populist party, that banked onthe growing Islamization by ulamaof the Maranao public in the ‘80s.Ompia helped him to becomemayor of Marawi, three-term gover-nor of Lanao del Sur and even Vice-Governor of the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindanao and con-currently held the controversial postas Secretary of Department of Edu-cation (DepEd).

As a political leader, Mahid wasappointed as Secretary of the Com-mittee on Preamble and NationalIdentity at the Philippine Constitu-tional Convention in Manila; he as-sisted in drafting the constitution.In this present GRP-MILF talks,Mahid is supposedly assisting theMoro leadership in convincing thegovernment of its demands.

Former Representative MichaelMastura said Mahid tried to balancesecularist politics with dialogue inpeace with religion. UNESCO Com-missioner Taha Basman said his legacyfor peace advocacy/interfaith dialoguewill remain with us for a very longtime. Former Mindanao State Univer-sity—General Santos ChancellorMoner Bajunaid fondly remembersAleem Mutilan when he once arguedthat power lies not in the knowledgeof men, but in the will of Allah who isthe source of power and knowledge.

The Moro Times Editor AminaRasul recalls Aleem Mutilan as onewho believed Muslim women couldcontribute to good government, ad-vising her to run for the Senate in2004, contrary to the belief of manythat Islam prohibits women fromseeking elective positions.

He will be missed.

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The Manila Timesthe

Eid without Mahid

Muslim feast demands more ‘sacrifice’

(P18,000). There were not manypeople milling around these chicshops, so I concluded that themoneyed sheiks, the princes and theprincesses had simply packed off toPalma de Mallorca, Torremolinos orMonaco for the holidays.

Cellphones: Don’t leavehome without itThe most important possession that apilgrim must have is the cellphone.Thanks to it, missing persons weredrastically reduced. In a place where thetents all look alike, where every pilgrimis garbed in white, cellphones make thedifference that Saudi Boy Scouts had todo less work in herding people who losetheir way going back to their camps.You can now take pictures to yourheart’s contents. I see upraised handsholding aloft their 3G phones for thepeople back home to view the Al-Haram. The only hazard is takingpictures at the Jamarat. Manycellphones have been cracked from thehails of pebbles that the pilgrims throwto stone the devil at the Jamarat.

But I feel that pilgrims should bediscreet with their mobiles especiallyduring the circuit round the Ka’aba—the Cube. I was on my fifth circuitwhen suddenly a cellphone fromanother hajj rang with the ring-backtone of the Police’s Every Breath YouTake. This could befuddle yourconcentration.

Easiest hajjFor years, the worst accidents happened

in the Jamarat area. The stampedes thatclaimed lives seemed to be a thing ofthe past. If the success of managing thethrowing of stones at the Jamarat is tobe taken as a gauge, then this is theeasiest and most convenient hajj so far.The Hajj authorities of the Kingdomhave to be commended: they are close toreducing the hajj routine to a science.The flow of the people was orderly, withone-way routes that redistribute thepilgrims back to their tents. For thosewho wish to go to Al Haram for thetawaf (circuit), there is a 1.4 kilometertunnel that leads through to the holyplace. To demonstrate their confidence,the authorities have allowed people onwheelchairs to cast their stones at theJamarat.

LodgingThe Philippine contingent wasdispersed in many buildings near andfar from the holy mosque. ThePhilippines is always late in puttingup the needed deposit in gettinglodging contracts with the serviceproviders. Apartments which are awalking distance from the holymosque are at a premium. Because thedecision to go on hajj among Filipinosis always done in the last hour, thelack of funds for billeting reservationsrelegated many of our hajjis to theoutskirts of town. The service providerhad promised to ferry the hajjis to andfro Al-Haram on shuttle bus whichheld good only for a few days.

The Saudi government hasconstructed new apartments for the

pilgrims, a far cry from the crampedand old lodgings we used over adecade ago. In fact, the elevators wereso new in one apartment that thecontractor obviously had forgotten toapply grease along the runners. Wehad a hard time opening and closingthe elevator doors. This was correctedonly when a hajj was trapped and alittle drama ensued.

NostalgiaI tried to mingle with the elderly andget their stories and views on the newMakkah. An old man lamented thespeed in which technology has takenover. He said that in the past whenpilgrims traveled by boat, they use tobury the pictures of their loved ones inthe plains of Mina and Arafat. Theywould call from atop the hills, thenames of kin echoing along the valleys,inviting them to go on hajj, on thebelief that this would hasten their kins’going on hajj. “Nowadays,” he went on,“you simply dial your cellphone and inseconds you are talking to your wife.The conversation, mind you, are not thetear-jerkers ones. It could be asmundane as reminding her to look overthe pockets of your trousers beforelaundering it, because you have somereceipts or money left in it.”

After the third-day of stoning theJamarat, the 2.5 million pilgrimsstarted dispersing out of Mecca afterperforming their farewellcircumambulation (tawaf) of the Ka’ba.Some went to Medina some 600 kmaway to visit the Prophet’s Mosque.

Some went straight to the airport fortheir flight back home. Others go to theseacoast of Jeddah to buy things tobring back.

I went to the Holy Place to snap upsome pictures. Flocks of birds, chasedaway by millions of pilgrims, werenow returning to the square. I waslazily ambling along the edges of thesquare when I saw a familiar figuresetting on the edge of a marble hedgealong the stairways of Ben Dawood. Itwas Toni Leviste, the famousequestrienne, her feet dangling andswaying in a playful mood. Sweatbeaded her forehead after performingthe Farewell Tawaf.

I had met her and her father, Ex-Governor Leviste, earlier at the JeddahInternational airport when Idiscovered that we were together onthe same incoming flight. My editorAmina Rasul had asked me to get aninterview with her some few monthsback, but I was never successful. Whenshe recognized me, Toni smiled. Shesaid she was waiting for her Dad whowas doing his Tawaf. I said, “Whatabout the promised interview?” Shesaid, “Okay, why don’t we do it inJeddah. We have to catch our breathfirst.” I said, OK.

In a while we saw her fatheremerging from the Grand Mosque, hishead freshly shaved. He gave me a widegrin. Toni sort of complained what tookhim so long. He only smiled. Theywaved at me and mingled with thethrong until they were just a smear inthe landscape.

■ WORLD FROM C4

Mecca diary: It’s a small world after all

■ Dr. Mahid Mutilan

■ Muslim pilgrims buy religious ornaments and gifts in the Saudi holy city of Medina.Hajj pilgrims heading home from Mecca are not only carrying mental “souvenirs” fromtheir unforgettable spiritual journey but also taking home gifts to their loved ones whowere not fortunate enough to do Hajj. AFP PHOTO

GAZA CITY: As Muslims across the world celebrate Eidal-Adha with the ritual slaughter of animals, char-ity, and joyous feasting, the weary residents of theGaza Strip brace for more sacrifices.

Six months after the Islamist movement Hamasseized power, the territory remains in the grip ofIsraeli and international sanctions, battered by near-daily military strikes aimed at Palestinian militants.

“The Islamic world celebrates Eid Al-Adha withjoy and happiness, with family visits and travel...but we in Palestine celebrate the Eid with martyrsand blood,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniya told acrowd of thousands on Wednesday.

On December 18, 12 militants were killed acrossGaza in a wave of Israeli air strikes, including a topleader of Islamic Jihad, a radical group behind manyof the rocket attacks on Israel.

“We sacrifice, not only meat for our Eid, but our-selves, our lives, our hopes, our young men and ourleaders, all for God,” Haniya, prime minister in thesacked Hamas-led government said after leadingprayers in a Gaza stadium.

In a normal year the streets of Gaza would bedoused with blood as Muslims remember ProphetAbraham’s near-sacrifice of his son Prophet Ishmaelby slaughtering animals and sharing the meat withpoor neighbours and loved ones.

But again this year few people can afford the ritual.Since the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, a group

pledged to Israel’s destruction, the Jewish state hasbrought the economy to a grinding halt by limitingimports to little but essential humanitarian aid.

The measures are aimed at putting pressure onHamas and curbing rocket attacks launched at Is-raeli communities near the Gaza border.

“We had to buy a smaller cow, because that wasall they had. The price of a kilo has gone from 11shekels last year to 20 this year,” says Eyman, a 38-

year-old police officer, as he slices chunks of meatoff a hanging carcass.

He will share the meat with his five brothersand their families—some 60 people—and accord-ing to Islamic tradition will donate a third of themeat to the needy. In past years he purchased muchlarger animals.

On another normally crowded street a group ofmen stands in the cold early morning, a giantskinned cow at their feet, hosing blood into a nar-row river running past empty sidewalks and shut-tered shops.

Tuesday’s air strikes—in which a car filled withmilitants was struck by an Israeli missile just a fewblocks away—were still on everyone’s mind.

“Every year the Jews commit some kind of mas-sacre and turn our joy into sadness. We want to en-joy the holiday, but we think of the martyrs andtheir families,” says Azmi, 33, as he holds his bloodyhands away from his shirt.

The cow’s head rests a few feet away on thesidewalk, its eyes open, its slack tongue hangingfrom blood-encrusted lips.

Hamas has called on Gazans to reject the re-cently revived peace talks between Israel and thePalestinian government in the occupied West Bankand to redouble their efforts to resist the Israelisby any means.

Haniya called on Gazans to rememberAbraham’s example, to “surrender to God, seizethe knife, and be willing to sacrifice your son,” butthis year the message fell on the ears of peopleweary from the struggle.

“We can sacrifice, we are able to, but for howmuch longer? We do not see anything ahead of us,any future for our children,” says Azmi’s brotherNail, 30, a shopkeeper with two children. “Howwill this end?” AFP

TimesmoroThe Manila TimesA M O N T H LY N E W S S E C T I O N O F E V E R Y L A S T F R I D A Y

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D e c e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 0 7

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AFTERroundtablemeetings

in Manila, Jakarta,Kuala Lumpurand Bangkok, effortsto build closercooperation betweenand among Muslimleaders and Muslimcommunitiesof Asean camefull circle.

■ The drafting committee of Southeast Asian Forum on Islam and Democracy prepared the proposed charter for the regional group. From left: Dr. Hamid Barra, Dr. Abdul Rahman Bin Awang,Amina Rasul, Dr. Shafi’i Anwar, Haji Maarof Bin Haji Salleh and Dr. Sukree Langputeh.

contributed to nation-building inthe context of their multiracial andmultireligious society.”

According to Dr. Abdul RahmanBin Awang of the International Is-lamic University of Malaysia, theforum is “an excellent platform forthe Muslims in the region to ex-change views and share experienceson Islam and Democracy,” with Dr.Sukree Langputeh of the ThailandCenter for Muslim and DemocraticDevelopment states that this ex-change of experiences and successstories is an important part in spur-ring the democratization process ineach country in Southeast Asia.

Islam, democracyand peace“Islam is often associated today withterrorism or violence. This is not atrue reflection of Islamic values.Muslims, particularly Muslims inSoutheast Asia, firmly believe in hu-man rights, tolerance, and equality,as do the majority of Muslims in theworld. We want a mechanism bywhich we can systematically engageand educate the world to the true ten-ets of the Islamic faith,” said formerSenator Santanina Rasul, one of theco-organizers of the event.

In an unprecedented move, afteronly two days of discussions, theparticipants approved a draft char-ter. A work in progress, the draftcharter would guide the process ofinstitutionalizing the forum as aplatform from which Muslims inthe region would promote, amongothers, peace, tolerance, mutual un-derstanding, economic opportunity,good governance, sustainable devel-opment, human security and hu-man rights.

Rasul, praised the efforts of theparticipants in not allowing theirpolitical, historical and social diver-sities to get in the way of organiz-ing the historic forum. She de-scribed the forging of the charter,despite debates and contestations,as proof of the possibility of democ-racy in Muslim communities.

Foreign Affairs UndersecretaryEnrique Manalo, who delivered the

Mecca diary: It’s a small world after allBY NASSER SHARIEFTHE MORO TIMES

IN 1992, I made my farewell circuitround the Ka’aba after working in theKingdom of Saudi Arabia for 13 years.Last month, I received notice that Iwould be joining the supervisory teamfor the Filipino pilgrims this year. Iimmediately dusted off my joggingshoes and renew my membership at agym. I know how rigorous the hajj canbe. I was flabby and out of shape, aman past forty, and busy working toget his kids through college.

Immersed in the details of life in

Manila, the Kingdom seemed to me afaraway world. So ill-prepared was Ifor the shock that awaited me.

Al-Haram: The oldand the newEntering the holy city of Mecca—barred from non-Muslims—is likegetting through the cracks of aneggshell. I lost my bearing because theold markers I was counting on weregone. The good old zouqs (shops)surrounding the holy mosque Al-Haram, where expatriates and exilesused to hold congress in small cafes,had given way to high rise hotels and

sleek shops. They have chipped off themountain cliffs for more space. Famoushotels now ring the holy mosque—theHilton, Sofitel, Sheraton,Intercontinental, Novotel, etc. Hobbit-type tunnels now worm their way inand out of Mecca going to and from theplains of Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifa andthe Rhub Al-Khali desert beyond.

“This can’t be Mecca!” voiced anelderly hajj veteran who sat besidesme in the bus, which has Star Trek-likeinterior consoles.

From your stool at a McDonaldsyou can watch people emerging fromthe hastening ritual at the Safa and

Marwa hill-mounds. Yes, you can haveColonel Sanders’ Kentucky friedchicken at a to-go counter just acrossthe square. My feet were a bit sorefrom the hastening thatcommemorate Hagar’s plight lookingfor water for her baby Ishmael somethousands years back, so I wentinside a Starbucks cafe and orderedmocha latte.

When the balls of my feet felthealed, I window-shopped. I wentinside a GUESS shop and had to retreatjust as quick when I saw the price of alow-ride jeans for Saudi riyal 1,697

➤ WorldC3■ Pilgrims circumambulate around Ka’ba as one of the rituals during Hajj.

Charter on Islam, democracy drafted

The Philippine Council for Islamand Democracy [PCID] played hostto the First Southeast Asian Forumon Islam and Democracy (SEAFID)held at the Manila Hotel on De-cember 10 to 12, 2007. The delega-tion of 44 experts and leaders rep-resenting various think tanks, uni-versities, religious, and civil societygroups came from of Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand andthe Philippines.

The 2007 Manila conference gath-ered Muslim advocates of democ-racy, human rights, and peace inwhat could be the first platform thatcould represent the multifacetedvoices of the Muslims in SoutheastAsia—the region that is home to thelargest Muslim community in theworld with more than 200 millionadherents of Islam.

Welcome BanquetGracing the forum’s welcome din-ner was former President Fidel V.Ramos. In his keynote speech,Ramos congratulated the partici-pants for the regional forum whichhe felt was a vital step toward ad-dressing concerns on issues such assecurity, human rights and democ-racy in the Southeast Asian region.According to Ramos, regional effortssuch as SEAFID are necessary tostress the fact that “Southeast Asiais not a hotbed of terrorism nor isthe region teetering on the brink ofanarchy and sectarian violence as issometimes suggested.” He adds thatpolitical will, democratization, andregional strategies would be themost effective strategies in address-ing the problems in the region.Ramos noted that the rich experi-ences of South East Asian Muslimcommunities in democracy shouldbe shared with the Islamic world.

Organized by the PCID with sup-port from the Konrad AdenauerFoundation, the Australian Em-bassy, The Asia Foundation, and theMagbassa Kita Foundation, Inc., theforum is actually the fifth in a seriesthat has been organized for the re-gion, according to the PCID’s leadconvenor and chair of the Manilaconference, Amina Rasul. “The firstroundtable discussion was held inSeptember 2005 in the Philippines,and then subsequently held in KualaLumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indone-sia; and finally in Bangkok, Thai-land in September of 2006. We hopethis will evolve into an effective fo-rum that contributes to democrati-zation in Muslim coimmunities.”

Regional platformfor cooperation“This is a strong commitment ofSoutheast Asian Muslims to en-hance democracy, pluralism, hu-man rights and justice” says Dr.Syafi’i Anwar from the Jakarta-based International Center for Is-lam and Pluralism (ICIP). HajiMaarof Bin Haji Salleh from Sin-gapore’s Center for ContemporaryIslamic Studies expressed their hap-piness to participate as it gave them“an opportunity to share successstories of how the minority Mus-lim community in Singapore has

■ TheSoutheast AsianForum on Islamand Democracywas attended by44 religious,academic andcivil societyleaders fromMalaysia,Indonesia,Singapore,Thailand andthe Philippines.

■ Former President Fidel V.Ramos converses with Dr. Syafi’iAnwar of the International Centrefor Islam and Pluralism (ICIP),Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’scountry representative KlausPreschle and Amina Rasul of thePhilippine Council for Islam andDemocracy (PCID) during thewelcome banquet for theparticipants of the FirstSoutheast Asian Forum on Islamand Democracy.

closing speech on December 12, con-gratulated the group for their land-mark act, highlighting the need forinterfaith initiatives and strengthen-ing pluralism in the region. Manalostressed the need for collaborationbridge the gulf of misunderstandingbetween Muslims and non-Muslims.The Philippines is a leader in UN ledglobal interfaith dialogues.