“The words are not good for the secret meaning, everything always becomes a bit different, as soon as it is put into words, gets distorted a bit, a bit silly—yes, and this is also very good, and I like it a lot, I also very much agree with this, that this what is one man’s treasure and wisdom always sounds like foolishness to another person.” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
On February 12, 2000, my article on harems and polygamy in Islam was published at The Philippine Post. I wrote it for the Valentine season. The year after, I was informed that two of my articles Of Sheikhs and Harems: Polygamy in Islam and Once Upon A Time: Sarangany Island were two of the 7… Continue reading Of Sheikhs and Harems: Polygamy in Islam
I made a new website to showcase my upcoming book, Blogging the Bangsa Moro. The site includes links to a number of my blogposts as well as to my eldest brother's last essay published at the Ateneo Law Journal, which I also blogged. But I don't want to post the website itself because I haven't… Continue reading Bangsa Moro Files
Sitti Rahma, my mother My mother was born in Malita, Davao del Sur in 1918 to Sheikh Ismail Yahya, a Mranao Arab and Bai Rosa, a Buayanen/Maguindanaon princess and coconut plantation heiress. As my mother used to say, she was “born with a silver spoon in her mouth.” By the age of 12, my… Continue reading Hadja Sitti Rahma Yahya Abbas
Here is a newspaper article I wrote on the Torogan, the Mranao royal house. I had posted this before in my websites and in my blogs. I stopped maintaining my websites while some of my blogs just vanished for whatever reasons. This is a snapshot of my lost blog with its Torogan post: Now, it's… Continue reading Torogan, the Mranao royal house
This is another of my lost blogposts which was saved by the Internet. Thanks to humans or Internet bots, I can put this back in the blogosphere. These free webhosts should at least warn their users that their closing shop. I maintained that particular blog for several years, including designing the site. I chose a… Continue reading Mranaos and the Bicolanos
Below is an old newspaper feature I did for the Philippine Post. I am re-posting it here as I have already abandoned my websites while my blog at Blogger.com, which contained this article, had been removed. This is quite an interesting historical incident, unknown to most Filipinos. Today, industrialized countries are attracted to China for… Continue reading Basilan: almost became a French colony
The Mindanao problem is ultimately a POWER problem – the power of one group over another. It is a problem of colonization. The fact that there was a law called the Legislative Act 4197 or Quirino-Recto Colonization of Mindanao Act, which was enacted on 12 February 1935 is very telling. The Commonwealth considered the Act… Continue reading Federalism for All: Chance for lasting Peace
A few days ago, while I was browsing the web, I found a tumblr blog that re-published my magazine article on Ramadhan. I had uploaded that article in one of my blogs. I tried looking for my blog that had that article but I couldn't find it. It was from my blogsome.com blog. Blogsome had… Continue reading Ramadhan – A Time for Fasting and Praying
Remember, remember! The fifth of November, the Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot! - English Folk Verse (c.1870) The world entered a new epoch in 2008, one that is changing socio-political reality as we know it. Pluto, that… Continue reading Pluto in Capricorn : The Coming World Financial Collapse
April 4 is the birthday of my late mother, Hadja Sitti Rahma Yahya - Abbas. Sometime ago, one of the news talk shows of ANC (ABSCBN News Channel) featured young Moros and labeled them as “Modern Muslims.” For some people, modern means young. Yet the young could be very old-fashioned, dogmatic and narrow-minded. There are… Continue reading My Mother and The First “Modern” Moro Women
