Author Highlights Role of Muslims in Philippines’ Culture
Mohammad Jafari Malek added that the culture of the Philippines cannot be properly studied with considering the culture of its Muslims.
He made the remarks in a ceremony held at IQNA on Wednesday to unveil a book in Persian about the Philippines’ Muslims.
Jafari Malek and Tandis Taqavi are the coauthors of the book, titled “Muslims of Southern Philippines”.
Head of the Iranian Academics Quranic Organization and Managing Director of IQNA Mohammad Hossein Hassani, IQNA’s Media Deputy Mostafa Karimi, Iran’s former ambassador to the Philippines Mohammad Tanhayi, Head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization’s South and Southeast Asia Department Amir Rahimi, and expert at the Islamic Culture and Teachings Research Center Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Reza Mosleh were present at the ceremony.
Jafari Malek said the 2017 Daesh attacks in Mindanao motivated him and Ms Taqavi to study the situation of Muslims in the region.
He stressed that the Muslims of the Philippines have no inclination toward the ideology of the Daesh terrorist group.
He further said that since the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Muslims in the south of the country have been battling against colonization and struggled to protect their identity.
Ms Taqavi gave some explanations about the book and Muslims in the Philippines, saying Islam is deeply rooted in the South Asian country.
Other speakers at the ceremony hailed the book as a good source for researchers and those who want to know more about the subject.
The Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south.
According to national religious surveys, there are about 5.1 million Muslims in the Philippines, composing 6% of its population.
More than half of the country’s Muslims live on the large southern island of Mindanao.
