A LETTER OF RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

NATIONAL ULAMA CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES


A LETTER OF RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

June 5, 2009

HIS EXCELLENCY
PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
Washington, D.C.
United States of America

Dear Mr. President:

Greetings of peace and goodwill!

We, the Muslim religious leaders from the southern Mindanao island of the Philippines, would like to express our deep appreciation for offering “a hand of friendship to Islam and addressing an array of quandaries and conflicts dividing the two cultures” made during a speech on American and Muslim relations in Cairo.

We commend you for seeking “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.” And while we realize the critical role of your country’s relations with the Arab world, it is our hope that you would also place equal focus on the Muslims from Southeast Asia. Contrary to the misconceptions of some, not all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, of the estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, 60% live in Asia (with almost one-third of them living in Southeast Asia) and only 15% are Arabs. Parenthetically, the four nations with the largest Muslim populations, Indonesia (194 million), India (150 million), Pakistan (145 million), and Bangladesh (130 million), are in Asia. This also includes the minority Muslim populations in the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. In fact, as you courageously addressed the issue of democracy in the Middle East, our region is home to some of the more vibrant democratic Muslim communities.

As you made clear that your country “is not and never will be at war with Islam” but that the United States “will relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to (y)our (nation’s) security, we express the hope that you would pay particular attention to empowering the moderate sections of the Muslim population as a means to counter radicalization. We, the Muslims in Southeast Asia, are known for being moderate.

While we praise your bold efforts to address the root cause of the problem in the Middle East by recognizing the right of the Palestinians to their homeland and a state of their own, we wish to reiterate the declaration that we made when we congratulated you last January 2009 on your election as the first African-American President of the United States:

1. To engage the Muslim world, particularly the Southeast Asian Muslims and the ulama sector, through dialogue and cooperation that will benefit our communities and humanity.

2. To vigorously support the peace process in Mindanao to end the40-year armed conflict which has resulted in 600,000 displaced and hundreds killed since August 2008, and work to bring the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) back to the negotiating table as soon as possible;

3. To support the legitimate and inherent right of the Bangsamoro people to self-determination.

4. To support the full implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Philippine government.

5. To extend massive relief and rehabilitation assistance to internally displaced persons in Mindanao, particularly in conflict-affected areas, through socio-economic development programs that will bring prosperity and dignity to our people;

Finally, we commend your efforts to forge closer ties and understanding with Muslims from all over the world. We join you in condemning acts of violence and we unite with you in deploring war and the evils that it produces. We hope you can come and visit us in the Philippines, should you visit Indonesia and South East Asia.

Peace, we sincerely believe, is the only war worth fighting for.


Thank you, Mr. President, and Godspeed.

Sincerely,

Dr. Aboulkhair Tarason
Chair, Basilan Ulama Supreme Council and the
National Ulama Conference of the Philippines

Dr. Santanina T. Rasul
Chair, Magbassa Kita Foundation Inc
Advisor, National Ulama Conference of the Philippines

Amina Rasul
Lead Convenor
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy
Magbassa Kita Foundation Inc

Nasser Marohomsalic
Co-Convenor
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy

Dr. Hamid Barra
Vice-Chair
National Ulama Conference of the Philippines
Co-Convenor, Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy

Ismael Abubakar
Co-Convenor
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy

Abdullah Hamza Uttoh
Mufti, Basilan Darul Ifta

Ping Kasim
Deputy Vice Chair,
Basilan Ulama Supreme Council

Esmael Ebrahim
Deputy Secretary General
National Ulama Conference of the Philippines
Co-convenor
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy

And other Ulama from Sulu, TawiTawi, Basilan, and Zamboanga City,
attending the Regional Consultations of the National Ulama Conference
of the Philippines, June 3-5, 2009
Marcian Garden Hotel, Zamboanga City