A Mixed-up Culture and Religion?

One of our realizations on living in Marawi and in other predominantly Muslim areas in Lanao del Sur was the tendency, or perhaps an ingrained habit of Maranao Muslims, of treating what is cultural as Islamic or Muslim. For instance, the Maranao language and way of speaking is clearly cultural. But we often hear people say, let’s speak Muslim (“magminuslim ta”), and right-away rattle off into Maranao language, not Arabic.

In my previous column on Dialogue of Presence I made mention of a wedding of a Muslim man and woman where I stood as father of Matingka, a Muslim girl who became our friend. Except for the prayer in Arabic, the affair should be called a Maranao wedding. But it was always referred to as a Muslim wedding. The word, Muslim is Arabic and signifies one’s total submission to God.

Using the word, Mixed-up, in this article does not refer to something negative like a cultural fault. It refers to the strength of the religion of Islam which according to historians had preserved and strengthened the purity, value and usefulness of the Maranao culture. The Maranao language, arts, ethics, architecture, songs, dances, literature and habits are often times understood as part the religious perspective of Islam. But this is not confusing culture and religion as I will explain shortly. For the time being…

It is extremely important that those well-meaning non-Muslims who through Bangon Marawi and Duyog Marawi projects are trying to rehabilitate the Islamic City of Marawi must understand the Maranao culture and its relationship to Islam in order to really help effectively. A Western, European or American way thinking and way of doing things of many Filipino experts will not work. It is opposed to the local culture. This is why there is a Malaysian Islam, Indonesian Islam, Singaporean Islam. Here we have a Maranao Islam. This was also the mistake and fault of the Maute brothers and the Abu Sayyaf gang. They confuse Syrian and Iraqi Islam with Maranao Islam. Why is this so?

In my work in interfaith dialogue I have always emphasized two important truths: culture gives expression to religious belief. Religious belief or religion, for short, is the soul of culture. They are not and cannot be confused. Even in our Church we have a liturgical movement that promotes Inculturation of Catholic Worship promoted by the Second Vatican Council following the advice of Blessed Paul VI in his encyclical letter Evangelii Nuntiandi. The way we worship for the most part is still Latin and European culture except for use of the vernacular languages Cebuano, Ilonggo, Tagalog, Ilocano, etc. We are very far yet in the ideal inculturation of the Sacred Liturgy.