the north. The population of the Philippines is
96 million (2008 estimate), roughly 81 percent
of whom are Roman Catholic, about 5 percent
are Muslims (known locally as Moros), and the
rest practice Protestantism, Buddhism, and indig-
enous religions. The Muslims are Sunnis, most of
whom follow the shaFii legal school and belong
to different ethnic groups, including the Maranao,
the Maguindanao, the Iranun, the Tausug, the
Yakan, the Sama, the Sangil, the Kaagan, the
Kolibugan, the Palawan, and the Molbog. Muslim
communities are among the most impoverished in
the Philippines, lagging in median annual income
compared to other provinces and regions.
Prior to the Spanish establishment of a settle-
ment in Cebu in 1565, most of the islands were
locally organized into independent barangays
(villages and districts), each headed by a chieftain.
Islam arrived in the Philippines in the 13th cen-
tury through Muslim merchants traveling through
the Malay Archipelago toward China. According
to genealogical studies of elite Muslim families
in Sulu and Mindanao, Islam became established
after Muslim religious leaders from neighbor-
ing islands intermarried with the ruling elite
in Sulu and Mindanao. By the mid-1500s there
were already two sultanates (territories ruled by
sultans) flourishing in Mindanao and Sulu, and
Manila already had extensive contact with the
sultanates of Sulu and of Borneo. Additionally, the
sultanate of Maguindanao reached its peak dur-
ing the mid-1600s after the Spanish had already
begun colonizing the Philippines. Although most
of Luzon and the Visayas were Christianized by
Spain, Mindanao managed to remain independent
until it was conquered and pacified by the Ameri-
cans. In 1898 Spain ceded the Philippines to the
United States after the Spanish-American War.
The Philippines was granted its independence
from the United States on July 4, 1946. It main-
tains close ties with the United States. Muslims in
the Philippines were galvanized into organizing
resistance movements in the late 1960s, renew-
ing debates about the place of Muslims in a
largely Catholic country that bore strong colonial
imprints. The moro national liberation Front
(MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) continue to challenge the Philippine gov-
ernment’s national integrity. In 1976 the Tripoli
Agreement was signed between the MNLF and
the Philippine government, providing autonomy
to 13 provinces, and creating Islamic courts and
banks for Muslim Filipinos. The Autonomous
Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was cre-
ated in 1983 by the Republic Act 6734, in which
4 of the 13 provinces were incorporated into the
ARMM. Every presidency since the Tripoli Agree-
ment has attempted to implement parts of the
agreement, but not the whole, and thus hostilities
continue between the MNLF and the Philippine
government. Malaysia is also brokering a peace
agreement between the MILF and the Philippine
government.
See also christianity and islam; colonialism;
islamism.
Tara MunsonFurther reading: Jose Abueva, ed., The Making of the
Filipino Nation and Republic (Quezon City: University of
the Philippines Press, 1998); Cesar A. Majul, Muslims in
the Philippines (Quezon City: University of the Philip-
pines Press, 1973).philosophy (Arabic: falsafa)
Perhaps the best characterization of Islamic philos-
ophy is both generous and vague: it is the tradition
of philosophy that arose out of classical Islamicate
culture. One virtue of such a circular definition is
its capacity to accommodate contesting portraits
of the philosophical tradition drawn with one eye
toward illustrating or proving different theories in
the field of Islamic studies. What is more, most
definitions of Islamic philosophy will exclude
recognition of the rational approaches, methods,
and arguments—hence a philosophical tempera-
ment—found in varying degrees in the Islamic
sciences, such as dialectical theology (kalam),philosophy 553 J