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BLURRED BORDERS AND SOCIAL INTEGRATIONS87EXPLORING ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS AMONG FILIPINO MUSLIMURBANITES IN THE QUIAPO AREA: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OFTHE IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION AND URBAN LIFEMokhammad YahyaIntroductionCenturies of struggle against foreign colonizers—Spain,Japan and the USA—account for the articulation of astrong desire for the union of religion and politics inthe discourses of Filipino Muslims (Moros 1 ) throughouthistory. Living as a sovereign and independent peopleunder a sultanate system of government without anyforeign powers to subordinate them have made Morosproud of their freedom.Unjust economic and political policies and treatmentof marginalized Muslims in Mindanao have driventhem to seek self-determination and an independentBangsamoro state. In the liberation movements that haveevolved, Filipino Muslims have inevitably used religion(Islam) as their motivation or even the underlyingideology of their struggle. This fact explains why at thelevel of rhetoric, political Islam or the union of religionand politics in an Islamic state figures significantly inthe consciousness of Muslims, even those now living inthe urbanized environment of Quiapo. It would seemfrom this study that the discourse and categories ofthe Muslim liberation movements in Mindanao havefiltered into the consciousness and rhetoric of ordinaryFilipino Muslims.The literature in the sociology of religion definesfundamentalism as a type of religiosity that is anamalgam of religion and politics (see, for example,Kurzman 2000 and Armstrong 2000). The MoroNational Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro IslamicLiberation Front (MILF), Abu Sayyaf, and other Muslimmovements in the Philippines all advocate the fusionof religion and politics in varying degrees. Since theidea of secularization remains alien among the FilipinoMuslims in this study, their religiosity at a discursiveor rhetorical level essentially shares the fundamentalistpremises of Muslims in other parts of the world. Theirvision of an ideal future society is of Islam and the stateas one, a theocracy where God’s laws govern and wherethe 3-D formula, Din-Dawlah-Dunya (Religion-TheState-The World), prevails.The economic problems in Mindanao have pushed someMoros to migrate to Metro Manila for a “better life.” Themove away from the Muslim heartland in Mindanao isexpected to result in a change of behavior among the ruralmigrants. Contact with strangers is seen as a potentialsource of cultural shock, as unfamiliar environmentsdisturb homogeneous ideals. The migrants learn notonly to tolerate the attitude and customs of otherpeople, but also to accept insecurity and instability asa normal state of the world. These characteristics couldpotentially work together to increase the incidence ofwhat Wirth (1938) called “the pathological condition,”including personal disorganization, mental breakdown,suicide, delinquency, crime, corruption, and disorder.The same contact could also eventually result insecularization or liberalization, as contact with peoplefrom different religious persuasions demands greaterreligious tolerance.Another factor that could mediate the way FilipinoMuslims in Metro Manila would think and act vis-àvisIslam is the loosening of kinship ties. Communalsolidarity is replaced by a more rational type ofsolidarity, the kind that Durkheim (1964) called“organic solidarity.” The close-knit community in ruralsurroundings is changed in an urban setting, tendingto individualize experiences. It is important to note,however, that these changes may be counteracted byprocesses that enhance primordial identities.The case of the Philippines and urban Muslims inQuiapo is a good example of how tensions betweenindividuation and secularization, on the one hand,and solidarity around religion and increasing religiousfundamentalism, on the other, are played out. This studyaims to describe the forms of Islamic fundamentalismamong selected urban-based Filipino Muslims and thefactors that have shaped them in the context of thehistorical and social evolution of the Muslim community.It probes the level of Islamic fundamentalism amongMuslim Filipinos in the Quiapo area and obtains awide range of information through in-depth interviews,direct observation, and secondary data collection.Key informants included Muslim clerics (imam andustadzs), Muslim scholars, MILF/MNLF members,Muslim youth organization representatives, members ofJama’ah Tabligh, Syabab, Syiah and Wahabism (whichare described later in the text), barangay captains,Asian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows