Message Assalam u alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu,
Hearing news about new Muslims are becoming normal but this one is something I
am proud of. Philippines religious faith has a unique narrative in the
evolution of the Ummah. Islam came peacefully to the Philippines earlier than
Christianity just like its neighbors Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. A small
country as it maybe, however, experienced the same intense 'Christianization'
as Spaniard did in Spain. It was not peaceful preaching of faith that reached
there, it was the Swords of the Spanish conquerors that killed Rajah Solaiman
and company and then relentlessly influence the population. The defiant group
in the southern Philippines earned for them the name Moros. It is a coined
term symbol of hatred and frustration by the Spaniard Friars for failing to
subjugate this group for almost 400 years of continuous fighting. Moros feel
proud of this name as if its a certificate proving how their ancestors died
defending Islam. To this date, Moros are still fighting regaining their
'separate' identity because they never recognize the authority of the Spaniards
which in the first place have no right to cede or sell them to the incoming
colonial United States.
Everything happens for a reason. MashaAllah Christian Filipinos are themselves
coming back to where they used to belong. Allah knows best, maybe the prayer of
the Moros to have their own separate state is not granted because Allah has
something bigger to give inshaAllah.
May Allah show the perfect light to the rest of the Filipinos, ameen.
Maassalama,
Maryam
----- Original Message -----
From: Zahrani, Abdulqader H (FPD)
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 4:04 PM
Subject: Glad tidings.....New Muslims
Takbir (allahu Akbar)
please read the Arabic down below.
53 Christian Filipinos became Muslims after Iftar gathering with Muslims in
Rabiq (small city in the west of Saudi Arabia).
They found their way to ALLAH subhanaho wa ta'ala.
I ask Allah to show them the right path all of their lives. I hope the same
for all the people looking for their way to ALLAH
www.islam-guide.com
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============================================
Filipino Theologian Embraces Islam
By Rexcel Sorza
IOL Philippines Correspondent
When Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari wanted Mindanao to secede and become
an Islamic state, a Mindanao-born theologian and sociologist was among the
first to rise and argue that the southern Philippine island is never home to
Muslims alone.
Catholic priest Estanislao Soria campaigned against the Moros takeover
of the whole of Mindanao. I vehemently disagreed with Mr. Misuari. I
campaigned against the Moro movement, said Soria, who used to be popularly
known as Father Stan.
Soria did not want to argue without basis as he is an academic and
theologian schooled in the Jesuit-run learning institutions.
He embarked on a historical and sociological research to back his
arguments. In the back of mind, though, was the thought of the need to convert
Muslims to Christianity. This also brought him to read Islamic writings, and,
quite surprisingly, lead him to revert to Islam.
As a linguist well-versed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, I thought I can
learn Arabic that easily. I also wanted to translate Arabic writings into
English as well as translate Western ideologies like existentialism into Arabic
but I realized it was difficult, he told IslamOnline.net.
Soria believed that making Western writings available in Arabic would
lead Muslims in Mindanao to appreciate Christianity more than Islam. I wanted
to open their minds to Christianity because I had heard a lot of negative
things about the Muslims. I told myself they have to be educated.
But in getting deep into his readings, Soria realized that persons
considered as Church fathers such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, got their
knowledge from Islamic readings and teachings; that many of the so-called
Western ideologies and theologies have long been discussed in Islam.
[My readings] enlightened me that Western civilizations thoughts sprung
from Islamic teachings. After reading more works of Islamic theologians, I
strongly changed my views on Islam, he told IslamOnline.net.
Soria added, I even realized that the Gospel of Barnabas is even more
credible than the gospels of the four evangelists [included in the Christian
Bible]. The Gospel of Barnabas is a work purporting to be a depiction of the
life of Jesus by his disciple Barnabas. It is also considered to be pro-Islamic.
He, too, found out through his sociological research that most of the
negative things said of the Filipino Muslims were untrue. They were not what
they were stereotyped to be.
In 2001, Soria, who had served as parish priest in various cities and
towns in Metro Manila after taking his college and theology studies at Xavier
University and Loyola School of Theology, both of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de
Manila University, reverted to Islam.
He has since been known as Muhammad Soria, but many, including his Muslim
friends, still call him Father Stan.
The 64-year-old Soria said his decision was met with condemnation and
disgust by most of his relatives and former parishioners, an experience similar
to what many of the Muslim reverts, locally known as Balik Islam, go through.
This, however, did not deter him from leaving the priesthood after 14 years and
embracing Islam.
Soria is getting used to Islam, which to him is not only a religion but a
way of life.
He has gone on Hajj in Makkah five times already, being a member of the
Islamic Da`wah Movement of the Philippines. He also married a 24-year-old woman
last year after living a celibate life as a priest.
Soria said that if there is one thing that Muslims should learn from
Christians, it is being organized. To him, having a structure would greatly
help in spreading Islam as structure helped the Christians.
For example, he said, Muslims should put up universities all over the
globe, as Catholic missionaries did with their universities. Also, why cant
Islamic states produce preachers and do what the Christian missionaries did?
he asked.
He further said there is a need to intellectualize Islam through
rationality because by doing so the teachings embodied in the Quran would be
better appreciated by people totally new to it.
He is also ecstatic about the annual fast this Ramadan. He said he is
again reminded of the sunrise to sundown fasts spiritual value in contrast
to the Christians dieting which is too material or human.
Soria said, In Islam, we are taught that if you discipline your body the
Creator would grant your wish. Harmony between Filipino Muslims and Filipino
Christians in this largely Christian nation, amid the stereotyping of Muslims
as terrorists, is among the wishes he prays to be granted.
He that does good for good's sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is
sure of both in the end.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Click English section for contact Islam Relief Organizations
Want to learn about Islam and Christian?
visit: http://come.to/christian-islam
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