Philippines to open first Islamic institute of higher learning

Philippine’s Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the south-west of Mindanao Island, is to open the country’s first Islamic institution of higher learning, Arab News has reported, citing the region’s education minister, Mohagher Iqbal. 

The Kuliyyah Institution in Buluan will be supervised by the Bangsamoro Education Ministry, and is pending relevant legislation which is expected to be passed next month. The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Bill No.31 will provide a “unique opportunity for Muslim Filipinos to immerse themselves in Islamic and Arabic studies.” The institution will offer courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. 

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“I think the longest waiting period for the passage of the bill, which has been certified as urgent, will be until September,” explained Iqbal, “but I am hopeful that we might be able to pass it within August. Once the bill is passed within the power granted to the BARMM government, it will be deemed as approved… for implementation.”

He added the need to address the requirements of the people. “For us, during the Spanish [colonial] period, the most important thing we fought for was Islam. Islam is our life.” 

Islam arrived in the Philippines between the 12 and 14th centuries, primarily via Arab, Indian and Malay traders. Since the 16th century, Roman Catholicism has been the predominant religion in the country, with Muslims today representing around six per cent of the population, mostly concentrated in the southern islands of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago.

The government of Philippines signed a peace agreement in 2014 with the country’s largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, ending four decades of conflict and insurgency in the south.  

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