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Returning to Allah

BAGUIO CITY (Oct. 5) — It would seem like a given, that Muslims are often victims of discrimination. Non-Muslims tend to take prejudice over the traditions of Islamic life. What non-Muslims do not understand about them is the most sacred thing for the Muslims. While some doubt the ways of Islam, more and more non-Muslims are embracing the religion each day.

On October 5, Muslims all over Baguio, Mountain Province and Benguet, gathered in the People’s Park here to celebrate the breaking of their fast on the first day of Ramadhan. The iftar, or breaking of the fast, was done first time outdoors. For years, the Muslims of Baguio have celebrated this occasion inside the mosques. This year’s celebration of iftar also attempted to open up the religion to the rest of Baguio’s people.

After a hefty dinner, which everyone enjoyed, an imam, a Muslim priest, then announced that two non-Muslims would like to enjoy the grace of Allah. An imam then introduced a man and a woman to the roaring Muslim crowd excited to welcome their newest members. Muhaimen Manumbilao, chairperson of Ramadhan Al- Mubarak 2005, officiated the conversion of the duo. They each had to recite a declaration of faith, Manambilao dictated. The declaration of faith or the shahada, would eventually mean that you have accepted Allah in your life. The two newly converted Muslims were both given a chance to choose their Muslim names as they leave their previous faith. After which, all were ecstatic, shouting their warm welcome to the two.

Shahada, or the declaration of faith to Allah, is also known here as the “Balik Islam”. According to Mussal Harun, a staffer in the Almaarif Muslim School in Baguio, the Muslims believe that all people were born Muslims. But as people begin their lives, they take different paths. Unfortunately, some of us were separated from Allah. He added that when the non-Muslim people join the Islamic world, it means they have left their previous life, and returned into the arms of Allah.

Harun stressed that converting into a Muslim need not sign documents just to prove that you really are such. It does not require rituals just to show the passage to being a Muslim.

“All one needs is a heartfelt declaration of faith,” he said. A person converting into Islam will have to recite the lines:

“Ashadu Allah, Ilaha Ilaha Ilah, Wa Ashadu Anna, Muhammad Rasulullah…”
“I bear witness that there is no other god to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah...”

These lines, ever so simple, as Manambilao puts it, only entail the purest of one’s heart and the dedication for the change. One must truly be sincere in accepting Allah and the words must come out from within one’s self.

In the celebration of Ramadhan, one might have noticed that among the crowd are familiar faces. Faces that resemble close to the Cordillerans. According to Harun, there are almost 10,000 Muslims in the City of Baguio. More than 1,000 are Cordillerans converted into Muslims. As it turned out, many Cordillerans opted to ‘go back” in the hands of Allah.

Glenda Chito, a Cordilleran who converted into Muslim, used to work in Dubai. After years of working in that area, she had witnessed the several thoughts and ways of Islam. With this, she had learned that in this religion, she found the deeper meaning of herself. She also discovered a deeper meaning of what religion and God should be. She said that since turning into a Muslim, she has had great comfort in her life. One of which, she adds, is that there was more respect for her as a woman now, rather when she was still a non- Muslim.

Chito, now prefers to be called Hannan, confessed that there would be some converted Muslims in abroad who would use the religion to obtain biases from their work. But as they go to other places, they unfortunately forget the ways of Islam. She then adds that Islam is a way of life—taken everywhere, practiced at all times and in any place.

Marilou Bomogao, another Cordilleran convert, said that the recognition of the rights of women in the Islam religion is one of the things that made her conversion more comfortable. She said that in a Muslim society, the women are treated equal.

“Men do not dominate women. Instead, both the man and the woman would develop and grow at the same time,” she explained.

There are other converts from the various provinces of the Cordillera. Each of their stories is a story of how their experiences with the Islamic community changed their perspectives and viewpoint, including a total shift in lifestyles. # Ge-Ann Malicdem for NORDIS

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