Understanding ‘true Islam’

Newspapers carried yesterday carried stories that have to do with affairs in the South. One headline story was about the probe on a US soldier wounding an Abu Sayyaf suspect in the shooting of a resident of Tuburan, Basilan in the course of an arrest operation. Another report quoted US Secretary of State Colin Powell as saying that future Asean military exercises be modeled on the successful Balikatan exercises between the US and the Philippines. A picture on the front page showed President Macapagal-Arroyo holding up a beautifully-crafted malong which presumably was given to her as a gift during a royal wedding of scions of the Gandamra-Dumarspa families in Marawi city.

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An interesting inside story said that the President last Sunday urged the powerful Ulama League of the Philippines to help the government by clarifying misinterpretation of Islam.

Speaking before the moderate Ulama organization, she said extremist groups, including the Abu Sayyaf, sold their own versions of the Koran which often bordered on extremism if not radicalism.

The ulama (scholarly clerics), she said, should help their people understand Islamic teacher. Khadaffy, said the President, said, "Allah does not differentiate between the Koran, the Torah and the Bible because they are all Allah’s book."

Contrary to "lies" spread by anti-government forces, the war on terrorism is not singling out Muslims. "We don’t discriminate in terms of religion. We are not waging religious wars, we are promoting religious understanding."

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Those are encouraging words from the President, even as encouraging developments are taking place with regard to enriching the curriculum in Islamic schools with the view to inculcating values in Muslim schoolchildren. (This is a project of Presidential Adviser on Education Mona Valisno.) Other projects in the pipeline include a national conference on developing a culture of peace and cooperation between Muslim and Christian women scheduled for November. (Inquire from the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development of Mindanao, tel. 049-536-7622.)

Those projects are worth supporting. What we would like to see is a genuine attempt on the part of Christians to understand the Islam religion and Muslim culture. We should have dialogues and symposia to breach the wide gap of misunderstanding between Christian and Muslims.

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ON ANOTHER FRONT, it’s amazing how swift and strong the Upsilon Sigma Phi Fraternity network works. At the click of the finger – by text messaging – hordes of Upsilonians converged at the Bahay ng Alumni at the UP campus in Diliman to determine whether to reinstate or not Sen. Kiko Pangilinan who was expelled from the fraternity during the early 80s.

The senator’s reinstatement has been a festering subject of debate among Upsilonians. The unresolved question is whether Kiko, who was then president of the UP Student Council, lied or not about not voting for fraternity brother Christian Monsod during the election for president of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines.

This issue has been a "pain in the neck" for the frat, particularly for the current leadership led by President Gari Tiongco and Chairman Doming Santiago.

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One group said during the meeting that the issue is threatening to divide the frat, if it has not already. One member said, "I don’t care if he is a senator or even president of the Republic. For as long as he does not show and practice humility in accordance with the established credo of the fraternity, he should not be reinstated. This is what the Upsilon Sigma Phi is all about."

Another group holds the opinion that the "healing is overdue. We must find a solution to this problem. It is hurting the frat. It is not proper to expel a fraternity brother. Once an Upsilonian, one remains an Upsilonian until he is buried six feet under the ground."

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Some suggest seeking the advice of illustrious Upsilon alumni such as Supreme Court Associate Justice Josue Bellosillo, Sen. Joker Arroyo, Tourism Secretary Dick Gordon, NEDA Secretary General Dante Canlas, Dion de la Cerna, Domacio and Madki Alonto, Mon Abad, Ingky Reyes, Mat Caparas, Boying Remulla, Dick Galvez, Estelito Mendoza, Ed Espiritu, Pons Mathay, former Justice Ramon Fernandez, and Saeed A. Daof.

Still another school thinks the issue should be resolved at the Upsilon Enkwentro, an international convention and reunion of Upsilonians scheduled to be held in San Francisco in August.

Can the Upsilonians pull themselves together and keep intact the oldest fraternity in the UP? Will there be healing – if Senator Pangilinan admits that he had made a mistake and asks to be taken back into the fold of the fraternity?