ISLAMIC COLONIAL

• Islam was already well-entrenched in Southern Philippines, where it continues to be culturally dominant and strong
• Islam said to have gained significant grounding in Sulu


  13th century
• Arrival of Sayyid Abbubakar of Arabia led to a significant turn of events


  15th century
• 6 significant changes


  1. Marriage of Sayyid Abbubakar and Princess Piramisuli

  2. Enthronement of Sayyid Abbubakar

  3. Establishment of the Sultanate of Sulu

  4. Introduction of the Holy Texts (The Qur'an)

  5. Building of the House of Prayer (Mosque)

  6. Building of the Religious School (Madrasa)
• Natives and practitioners who spread Islam


  • Natives from Zamboanga
  • Yakans from Basilan
  • Teachers from Jolo, Sulu
  • Other practitioners from nearby regions
• Islam as a


  • Driving force
  • Religion
  • Way of life by Mindanao peoples
• Ummah


  Community of believers
• Tawhid


  Emphasizes the impermanence of nature and the incomprehensible greatness of the divine being
• The interior of mosques are covered with elaborate patterning in the form of reliefs to draw the attention away from the concrete object toward the contemplation of the divine
• In Islam, Divine unity is expressed through abstract forms and patterns for mental concentration
• Mihrab or niche and the Qiblah wall are oriented to the WEST
• All Islamic buildings must be oriented toward Mecca
• Bulbous dome


  • Represents all levels of cosmic existence
• Octagonal base


  • Represents the spirit
• Four-sided main base


  • Represents the earth or the material world
• water supply that serves the function of ablution or cleansing before one enters the sacred space of the mosque
• Gardens within the mosque compound or even outside homes are evocative of paradise
• Many Islamic forms


  • Inclined to project
  • Grow
  • Have an upward orientation
• Mohammed/Mohammad


  Messenger of Allah
• Burraq


  Horse with a head of a girl that Mohammed rode to go to Allah
• Mosques in the Philippines

  • Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid in Cotabato City
  • Masjid Al-Nasser Abpi, the White Mosque in Maguindanao
• Kaaba or Ka'bah is the building in the center of the most important mosque in Islam; the most sacred place in Islam
• PROF. ABRAHAM SAKILI: Two aspects of reality


  • The object perceived by the ordinary sense
  • The sense of nothingness, a space or a void empty of all things