MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS GATHER IN PHILIPPINES

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Hundreds of independent ulama (Muslim
religious leaders) and aleemat or women Islamic scholars, are attending the third
National Ulama Summit and the Regional Conference of the Aleemat, being held in
Davao City, Philippines from Jan 25-29.

Organised by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) the
summit is the largest gathering of independent ulama, an unprecedented assembly
of Muslim religious leaders rarely seen in the Philippines, PCID said in a
statement issued to Bernama here.

It said that the participants, who came not only from Mindanao but from all
over the Philippines, are members of the National Ulama Conference of the
Philippines (NUCP), the largest group of independent ulama organisations in the
country.

Its members include some of the most respected Muslim religious leaders and
imminent Islamic scholars coming from the five Muslim provinces and the various
Muslim communities throughout the nation.

PICD lead convenor Amina Rasul said that in today's world, society demanded
a wider and more participative role for the ulama and that they get involved
directly in the transformation or reformation process.

Dr. Aboulkhair Tarason, an imminent religious leader and NUCP interim
chairman, described the summit as a culmination of the NUCP's organisational
evolution into a national network of independent ulama leaders and
organisations.

Dr. Hamid Barra, NUCP vice chairman and programme officer of the "Empowering
the Ulama Project", initiated by PCID with the support of the British and Dutch
embassies, said that ulama had a traditional and religious ascendant role
of continuing to be the moral beacon for the Muslim faithful.

Muslim Mindanao has been in the media eye following the Maguindanao massacre
and the spate of kidnappings attributed to the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan and
Sulu and still reels from a decades-old secessionist conflict between the Moro
National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and government
troops.

The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians and has
killed thousands since it started in the 70s.

However, despite numbering in the thousands, the aleem, singular for ulama,
has never really been organised into a religious collective similar to the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), or at least into a
national network.

Although some ulama are enlisted in peace-building efforts these are mostly
through government-sponsored peace initiatives.

Tarason said that through the historic summit, the NUCP nears the goal of
organising a truly national network of independent ulama and aleemat
organisations.

The five-day summit is a culmination of a the "Empowering the Ulama
Project" which was initiated by PCID and the both the British and Dutch
embassies.

The project has led to the formation of the NUCP. The interim NUCP board
will likewise elect its regular members during the summit.

The event is also supported by the Asia Foundation and the Japan Foundation.

-- BERNAMA