people, the MNLF sought international recogni-
tion as the sole representative of the Moro nation
(Bangsamoro). Meanwhile, one of the leaders of
the MNLF, Salamat Hashim, educated in Cairo’s
al-azhar University and influenced by the Islamic
movements in the Middle East during Jamal abd
al nasir’s presidency, grew concerned that the
leadership of the MNLF was rapidly progressing
toward Marxist-Maoist politics and away from
an Islamic orientation. Thus, he split from the
MNLF to organize the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF). Although the MNLF and the MILF
signed a unity pact in 2001, the MNLF continues
to be plagued by factional divisiveness fomented
to some degree by the Philippine government. In
December 1996 the Final Peace Agreement was
signed between the Philippine government and
the MNLF. In the same year, Misuari ran in the
gubernatorial race for the Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and won. However,
Misuari is currently imprisoned and charged with
rebellion.
Tara MunsonFurther reading: Cesar A. Majul, The Contemporary
Muslim Movement in the Philippines (Berkeley: Mizan
Press, 1985); Thomas M. McKenna, Muslim Rulers and
Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the
Southern Philippines (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1998); Najeeb M. Saleeby, The History of Sulu
(Manila: Bureau of Science, Division of Ethnology Pub-
lications, 1908).
Moses (scholars debate his historicity;
some place him ca. 13th century b.c.e.)
(Arabic: Musa) biblical leader who freed Israelites
from slavery in ancient Egypt and received the Torah
on Mount Sinai; considered an exemplary prophet in
Judaism and Islam
Moses is one of the most prominent people in
the Bible and the qUran. In both holy books he
is portrayed as a man called by God to lead the
people of israel from enslavement under the
Egyptian pharaoh and deliver God’s revelations to
them. Jews refer to the Hebrew Bible as the torah
(instruction or law) of Moses, and consider their
Talmud (study or learning) to be the oral Torah
of Moses. For them, he is both a prophet and a
rabbi, or teacher. Moses is mentioned more than
any other Hebrew prophet in the New Testament.
Christians also hold him in high esteem as a
lawgiver, and they have drawn parallels between
him and JesUs, whom they also call the “second
Moses.”
Muslim understandings of Moses are based
in the Quran and the Islamic scriptural commen-
taries (sing. tafsir). He is also mentioned in the
hadith and in the “stories (qisas) of the prophets”
literature. All of these sources presume contexts
in which biblical and post-biblical accounts about
Moses were in wide circulation among the Arabs,
even before Muhammad’s time (i.e., prior to the
seventh century). His name is mentioned in the
Quran more than any other prophet—136 times,
not counting indirect references to him. It occurs
in chapters associated with both the Meccan and
Medinan phases of Muhammad’s life, with the
lengthiest narratives in Q 7, 18, 20, and 26. The
stories are told so as to let the reader/listener draw
parallels between events in the life of Moses and
that of mUhammad (see, for example Q 20:99).Mount Sinai, Egypt (Juan E. Campo)K 482 Moses