who was sultan kudarat? why is he a hero for the filipinos?
Renowl
By Datu Amir Baraguir
THE mention of "Sultan Kudarat" invariably brings to mind the image of a
scantily clad warrior bearing a two-handed sword, cold and unsmiling.
Indeed, that is the seemingly indelible imprint that has stayed in the Filipino
consciousness, thanks to some historians and lore-mongers.
Christian Filipinos use this image to extol their compatriots toward acts of
heroism. To them, Kudarat was Filipino, too. Wasn't he? Muslim Filipinos who
rebel against the government use the same image to invite their kindred toward
terrorism and violence.
Is the use of that symbol justified? Is Sultan Kudarat no more than a
fashion-challenged sword-wielder ready to cut down an enemy at the first
opportunity?
These questions must be asked in the light of the present outcry over Islamist
extremism, terrorism, President Bush's war on terror and allied issues which
also affect Muslim (and also non-Muslim) Filipinos.
Undeniably, a people or nation's behavior is partly, if not enormously,
determined by the models and symbols that they hold sacred. Their wrong
perception or interpretation can lead to values, feelings or actions that bear
no kinship, or are even contrary to what those symbols or models supposedly
exemplify. Maguindanaons and other Muslim Filipinos who consider Sultan
Muhammad Dipatuan Qudratullah (his full name) as their hero, may be surprised
to know that the man whom the Spaniards call Cachil Corralat was neither
unsmiling, nor fashion-challenged.
Later (and more conscientious) writers like Cesar Majul ("Muslims in the
Philippines") and Ruurdje Laarhoven ("Triumph of Moro Diplomacy") took care to
project the man's personality as someone much larger and more complex than the
warrior-image preserved in stone in the heart of Makati City in Metro Manila
and other minor localities in Southern Philippines.
The two writers give us a glimpse of Sultan Kudarat as a fashionable
aristocrat, astute diplomat, dependable statesman, friendly politician,
broad-minded scholar, efficient trader, ecumenical cleric, practical mystic,
etc. And man, we can only surmise, he also smiled. He could have smiled as he
held a friendly discussion with Jesuit priests in his court. He could have
smiled as he signed the treaties of amity with Spain. He could have smiled even
as he negotiated for better terms when he unloaded his wares in the port of
Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia).
But smiling or not, the total Kudarat is very far from the partial picture of
him that now resides in the consciousness of the Filipino, Muslim or not.
Especially his fellow Maguindanaons.
Was Sultan Kudarat perpetually battle-bound?
For the cumulative period of a few days he spent in battle, there were tens of
thousands of days he spent trading, holding conferences, working for his and
his nation's education and edification, and other positive undertakings.
Did Sultan Kudarat call for the annihilation of Spain and other nations so that
Maguindanao alone will exist as an island in a vast ocean of death?
No evidence to bear this out has been recorded.
Did he expound a narrow, jingoistic interpretation of the Qur'an, calling
everybody to Jihad al-Asghar till some utopian Islamic state is established?
Records do not show anything akin to this. Even the famous address that he
delivered before the datus of Lanao was but a manifesto of commitment to what
is now known in diplomatic language as basic human rights, right to
self-determination, defense of national sovereignty-values that are perfectly
compatible with all civilized human ideologies and creeds including Islam.
The warrior is only a small parcel of Kudarat's persona. Why should he be
depicted as nothing more than that?
A more careful study of Sultan Kudarat may yet yield a very different picture
--a model for Maguindanaons and other Muslim Filipinos: A smiling Kudarat
--epitome of the perfect man (insan ul-kamil) through whom God's mercy flows
and from whom everyone else is safe, except the social cancers that need to be
expunged as painlessly as possible.This would be only to the benefit of
Maguindanaons, Filipinos and mankind.
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Renowl
descendant of Sharif kabungsuan, was born in 1580 in Lanao del Sur.
Succeeding his father in 1619, he conquered several datus and made himself the
master of the Pulangui area. He controlled the present day Cagayan de Oro and
Caraga territories and made Misamis and Bukidnon his tributaries. He was able
to negotiate with the Dutch and the Spaniards so that they recognize his
sovereignty over these lands. The Spaniards tried but failed to conquer him in
all battles. Spaniards were systematically defeated and forced to ransom their
soldiers from the sultan. Finally, Governor Fajardo signed a treaty with
Kudarat on June 25, 1645 which allowed Spanish missionaries to minister to the
needs of the Christians in Mindanao, even allowed a church built, and trade was
allowed in the sultan’s territories.
War once more flared in 1658 when Mindoro, Bohol and Leyte were sacked. Spain
was unable to dominate the Muslims of the south.