RIYADH, 6 November 2003 — Forty-four Filipinos so far have embraced Islam since the start of Ramadan, Arab News learned yesterday.
Of the number, 12 are women, according to records of the Muslim center in Bat’ha District.
Benjamin Meron was among the latest converts who formally took his vows on Monday.
“Most of my colleagues at Al-Bader Factory had already embraced Islam a long time ago. I followed suit after reading all the Islamic pamphlets and other reading materials available in the company,” said Meron, who has chosen the name “Ali.”
He said he took his Muslim name after an Egyptian friend, whom he has known to be “a very nice person.”
A native of Botolan town in Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Meron has been working in the Kingdom for the past five years. He said he still has to explain to members of his family about his decision, but he expected them to understand his decision. After all, he said, two of his brothers have embraced Islam years earlier.
Nelson Lebrun of Butuan, a city in northeastern Mindanao, said that before a friend convinced him to convert, he had been reading the Qur’an and other Islamic literature and listening to tapes available about Islam.
“I did research for almost a year to compare different religions before I finally decided to embrace Islam,” said Lebrun, who formally took his vows on Friday. Lebrun, now called “Nasser,” has been working in the Kingdom for 15 years.
Jerald Mendoza, who has been in the Kingdom for just a year, joined the world’s fastest growing religion six months ago, and has performed umrah.
He said he was challenged by how Islam is “being pictured by the Western media.”
“I wanted to know the truth, and I did not see anything wrong about the religion,” said Mendoza, who is now known as “Yousef.”
During Sha’aban, the month before Ramadan, Ahmad Fernandez, a staff of the center, confirmed that the center had recorded a total of 92 Filipinos who converted to Islam.
Sheikh Nuh Bin Nasser Al-Qorain, who manages the center, showed to Arab News figures since the center was established in 1996. A total of 9,510 expatriates of mixed nationalities, including Americans, had so far registered as new Muslims. Last year, 250 Filipinos were among the new members.
Al-Qorain said that the center was put up to gather Muslims and help them increase their knowledge about Islam by asking questions, especially on the Sha’riah law.
The Filipinos who convert to Islam call themselves “reverts” because, they said, they are “just going back to Islam, their original religion.”
According to other “reverts,” Islam was a growing religion in the Philippines until it was halted by the coming of the Spaniards, who forced much of the still-disorganized communities of the archipelago into embracing Christianity.
Historians have noted that when the first Spaniards reached Manila more than 400 years ago, they found Muslim communities in the coastal areas of Manila Bay, from Manila proper to the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga in the north. What is now Manila was then considered an outpost of the Sultanate of Brunei.
It was these Muslim communities, led by such notables as Rajahs Sulaiman and Lakandula, who offered the resistance to the intruders. They eventually succumbed to the superior arms of the Spaniards and the spread of Islam in Luzon was effectively halted.
The seemingly easy conquest, say some historians, was due to the fact that the religion had yet to fully take root.
In contrast to Luzon, however, Islam had already gained foothold down south in Mindanao and the island groups of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, so that when the Spaniards came to introduce Christianity, they were met with fierce resistance.
Mohammed dela Pe?a, a native of Bacolod in the central Philippines and a regular staff of the center, said he was fortunate that to have found the chance to join what should have been the religion of his forefathers.
He said he was also glad that those who are joining now come from different parts of the Philippines.
“Some just walked in and after confirming their certainty on their decisions, we “embrace” them as our Muslim brothers,” said dela Pe?a who converted 13 years ago.
Dela Pe?a urged their new Muslim brothers, who are planning for their umrah, and those who intend to do their pilgrimage in Makkah for the coming Hajj, to visit the center in Bat’ha for assistance.
In the entire duration of Ramadan, the center serves food for those who partake of the Iftar (breaking the fast) immediately after the start of the Maghreb prayer. Last year, the center had served 46,400 meals.