Books on the Muslims

The first book of the Muslims by a Filipino was The Sulu Archipelago and Its People. Written by Dr. Sixto Y. Orosa and published by the World Book Company of New York in 1923, the work encompasses every aspect of Muslim life, and has been described as the first book sympathetic to the Muslims.

Its chapters are on The Land/The Long Feud with Spain/American Administration/The Sultanate/Inhabitants of the Archipelago/The Mohammedan Sulus/Customs, Music and Sports with these subtitles Baptism, Marriage, Funeral Rites, Juramentado, Forms of Greeting, Music, Dancing, Sports/The Sulu Calendar/Representative People of Sulu Medical Ministrations/Education.

The introduction was written by Teofisto Guingona Sr., senator, 12 district of Mindanao.

According to Alejandro R. Roces, a copy of The Sulu Archipelago and Its People is in The Rare Book Collection of Harvard U Library. Through the years, the book was a supplementary reader in high schools and colleges. Presumably, it still is.

The book was written when Dr. Orosa was head of the Sulu Public Hospital, with his wife Dr. Severina Luna-Orosa helping him to administer it and to minister to the sick. In 1970, the book was updated and enlarged with a supplement which includes chapters on "The Great ‘Moro’ Problem" and "Muslims of Mindanao". The American journalist Faubion Bowers used the book as his primary source material for his article "The Land-locked Pirate of Sulu" (Kamlon) in Holiday magazine.

After WW II, many books on the Muslims were written, mostly by foreigners. In 2003, Margarita "Tingting" de Los Reyes Cojuangco wrote a little book entitled A Handful of Pearls, with the subtitles Essays on My Mindanao-Sulu Sea Travels.

Tingting took up history at the UST, with specialization on the Samals and other groups of Mindanao. From her actual travels and research has come this charming account of customs, rituals, traditions, superstitions of the Samals, Tausugs and other ethnic tribes. There’s a chapter on a "diviner" – a seer or prophet with a jin (spirit) entering into her. The book even includes beauty secrets of the women in Tawi-Tawi! The final pages are on a Tausog ritual for the dead.

Travelling with a group, Tingting describes the inconveniences, hardships and risks she faced (with courage) during her adventures on land and sea. Enroute, she established rapport with members of the tribes, some of whom she actually lived with for a few days.

Significantly, the various tribes Tingting writes about are peace-loving; they are not to be identified with or mistaken for the terrorists in Mindanao. Further, she gives insights into the Muslim character. The writing of her book, with its attempt to deepen understanding between Christian and Muslim Filipinos is the right step in these perilous times.