Kinship, Islam, and Raiding in Maguindanao, c. 1760–1780chiefs asserting that “no alteration shall be attempted in the established
Religion” (i.e. Islam).^15 Indeed if one is to concur with Cesar Majul,
Islam lies at the causative core of Maguindanao and Sulu raiding in the
Spanish-occupied northern islands,
In this struggle [against the Spaniards], Islam became transformed into
an ideological force which rationalized resistance while at the same
time infusing patriotism with a religious sentiment...What Spaniards
missed in their reflections on the so-called “Moro Wars” was that Islam
provided the elements which formed a sort of identity and nationalism
among the Muslims.^16If Majul is entirely or even partially correct, to what extent were
Maguindanao’s relations with other groups and regions likewise in-
flected by religion?
In north Sulawesi – Maguindanao’s immediate neighbor to the
south – Islam as a manifest tool of political antagonism seems to have
surfaced only in 1875. Under the banner of perang sabil (holy war)
- H. de la Costa, “Muhammad Alimuddin I, Sultan of Sulu, 1735–1773”, Journal of
the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 38.1 (1965): 65. - Cesar Adib Majul, Muslims in the Philippines (Quezon City: University of the
Philippines, 1973): 102.
Figure 3.1: Map of the Celebes Sea and surrounding islands (map by author)