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Lagid aya o kam'bangka sa Banggolo. Poonan ak'n so totol na langon tano p'taroon so pamikiran tano, bapiya manga ribat. O dingka isurat so lalag ka, na lagid ka o miyamanipanik a p'ngao.

Opportunities

MAGUINDANAO SPEAKER is needed immediately. This is a contract job for a project with Federal government so you have to be U.S. legal resident. Please contact Arata Wata as soon as possible (with in 7 days from this posting, 3/11/08). You can work from home.

Commercial advertisement by Pilandok entrepreneurs is free in this space. Just send your ad messages to Arata Wata.

Because listening to music is considered haram by some Islamic scholars, I call my album, "Kini.Kini.Rock: Miyatimo Rka."

Download the song and play the mp3 file if you don't have faster internet connection. You can request Kini.Kini.Rock music on radio stations in Ranao.

Kini.Kini.Ring.Tone is available for download.

Watch.And.Chat

To post your video, send email to Arata.Wata@ArataWata.Com or using your webcam, you can broadcast yourself live. Just post advance notice of your schedule so other Pilandoks can log and watch you odi na lagid ka i Tomaroy ago si Alandag a ditarotaro na daa pamakin'g on, daa pagilay ron.

Schedule of Live Broadcast: NONE

If you can't view ArataWataTV and you're on Linux platform, please install the missing plug-ins for your browser's video player.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Kalilang in America



Salam rukano!

The Maranaos in America for Peace, Integration & Advancement will be holding its launching celebration and induction of officers on Sunday, September 2, 2007 at the Cabrini Villas Social Hall in Burbank, California. We would like to invite you to join us on this special occasion.

Maranaos in America for Peace, Integration & Advancement was formed to help build lasting relationships among the American Maranao community and work for their overall advancement through social/cultural activities, educational seminars, job placement, networking, and outreach. The organization is primarily focused on individuals/families who have come to America to establish or re-establish that sense of community for themselves. These goals can only be achieved by the continued support of our cooperating members, generous sponsors and caring friends.

May we ask for your support by becoming a member, celebrating with us and/or placing an advertisement in our 2007 launching program. The program will be distributed to all members and other related American Filipino organizations not only in California but also in other states as well.

Thank you for making our event a success!

For more information, please contact:

Alex Amer @ (951) 634-1834, Omar Ombra @ (213) 447-6254, Arbie Ala @ (818) 203-4474, Aminah Goling @ (310) 940-5777 & Miki Macasimbar @ (323) 868-0993.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

The End of an Era

Perhaps because of the chaos and presence of newspaper reporters and foreign monitors in May, 2007 election, Pilandok did not notice the passing of an important era in Ranao politics.

The era of Political Ulama is now history. It’s gone the way of the dinosaurs and hopefully, it will remain politically dead until the return of Nabi-u-Allah Isah (Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him).

Alhamdulillah! That is what a practicing Muslim would say when good things happen. The word can be roughly translated to mean, “Thanks be to God”.

No one can tell as yet how much damage Political Ulama has done to Islam as a religion. But one thing is for sure: Political Ulama has ruined the role of the Islamic religious establishment as a positive contributor to the social and political development of our society. The gross, and sometimes comical, misconduct of the so-called Islamic leaders have not only lessened the relevance of the Islamic institutions but has made a mockery of the whole religion in the eyes of the public.

Thankfully, Islam is a religion with strong and uncompromising foundation based on truth, practicality and moderation. Though these characteristics have been hardly displayed by both politicians and ordinary Muslims, they are the undeniable allure of the Islamic way of life. Even with all of the bad press that Islam and Muslims are getting, it is the fastest growing religion in the world. Ironically, many of the new Muslims are from the educated population of the Western hemisphere. So while “born” Muslims are destroying the name of Islam in the East, Westerners are discovering the beauty and truth of this faith. The “war on terror”, which many people says, is a war on Islam, has made people read and find the real Islam.

I suppose this predicament could be explained by Muslims being uneducated about Islam. The mark of a society can be determined by the level of sophistication exhibited by its scholars and leaders. How can we expect ordinary Pilandok to know and practice Islam, if the Muslim leaders themselves do not seem to either know or care, nor practice Islam in their lives? The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was placed first out of 100 on a list of most influential people in history of mankind. It was because he was not only a religious leader but a statesman as well. Like Spider Man said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In Islam, to be a leader is to assume an enormous responsibility of following the examples and teachings of the Prophet. And a big chunk of that is dealing honestly with yourself and with people around you. Could it be that many of these ulama were absent the day this lesson was taught?

The rise of Political Ulama started in the late 1980s when the Marawi City mayoral race was won by an ulama. In those times of innocence, Pilandok was happy and believed in the ulama. The ulama were so different from traditional politicians with their training in Islamic jurisprudence and theology in some of the world’s best Islamic institutions; the public’s expectations were exceedingly high. People thought that the ulama would follow the examples of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and rule with the uncompromising integrity like that of the Caliph Omar. Arata Wata remember half-way through that Mayor’s incumbency, there was a people power movement to save him from his legal troubles and people from all walks of life contributed money for his legal expenses.

But as years passed it became painfully obvious that the line that once separated traditional politicians from Political Ulama was vanishing into thin air. Leaving Pilandok to wonder if he had only conjured up the distinction when he realized that Political Ulama were just as corrupt and in some cases, were worse than the traditional politicians. Their ignorance of western democratic processes could have been one of culprits, not surprising having not been exposed to this concept since the countries they spent most of their adult lives obtaining Islamic education didn’t practice democracy.

The last “Caliph” could have done better because he assumed his office in a clean and honest way: the incumbent died. He did not spend tons of money to buy people’s vote when he run for his original position so he had no “investment” to recover. He could have salvaged whatever is left of Pilandok’s respect for the ulama, help restore social morality and made history for his leadership. Sadly, he lost sight on the bigger picture and became just another politician.

You can cast your fishing net in Lake Lanao and ask your Pilandok “Catch of the Day” and he will tell you what a disappointment the ulama has been. It is not difficult to understand why Pilandok has stopped listening to the ulama a long time ago. The only advice that the ulama are all very consistent and insistent with, is asking wives to let their husbands marry three more times.

In summary, the only lasting legacy of the Political Ulama is the proclamation of Marawi as the only Islamic City in the Philippines but the more appropriate title is “Slum-ic City”. Yes, it’s not an exhaggeration. The city is the dirtiest in the country. It seems like dirty politics have contaminated the physical environment as well.

So can the Political Ulama redeem themselves? Politically, I don’t think they can ever do. They have zero credibility. “Nada” is how a Mexican Amigo would say it. But I could be wrong. We are infamous for our short-term memory.

There is one area the ulama can be useful: as foreign language specialists. They can teach how to read, write and speak the Arabic language and help Pilandok understand the Holy Qur’an. And maybe, Pilandok can work as a Call Center Representative for Middle Eastern Companies.

If they can also teach Korean and Chinese languages, that would be wonderful too. Then Pilandok can fully enjoy watching all those Korean soap operas in native language and he can be prepared for the soon-to-be Chinese take-over of the world.

The ulama should now be confined to madrasas and never venture out into the Provincial Capitol, Municipal or City Hall.

Having said all of that and in fairness to the Political Ulama, we need to put the problem in perspective. A Political Ulama has dual personality: politician and ulama (a high-ranking religious scholar).

As a politician, I totally understand why he do what he does. I am cool with it. It is Pilandok who should be blamed for corrupting the system by extorting money from the politicians in exchange for his vote. In other words, Pilandok’s biggest enemy is himself. He is infected with a social disease, I call, “The Pilandok Syndrome”. This will be the topic of my next post.

During the incumbency of the Political Ulama, there really hasn’t been that much preaching about honesty in government. So perhaps, Political Ulama weren’t that hypocritical at all.

The problem is with his credential as an ulama. He is supposedly the guardian of our social morality instead, he become the worst delinquent. What he does is morally unforgivable. How can someone who supposedly knows the truth sprout the lies? That’s the reason why I talk about the ulama dilemma.

I wonder if Pilandok had the same experiences as the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran or the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Arata Wata also wonders what would it be like if the MNLF, MILF and all those other LFs have won the war of secession and we had our separate independent country ruled by Political Ulama. And the Slum-ic City of Marawi became the capital of the new Bangsa Muslim Republic. A dream or nightmare?

Panabiya ako ko manga ulama a di ron ki ola ola. Aya a pantag a giya a surat ak'n na para kambibitiyaraian tano so manga awid a akal tano sa Ranao na go tano maka pangiloba sa okit a ka ompiya i ron.