The Bangsamoro 'moro' people are the native Muslim inhabitants of the Philippines. They are the descendants of the early Malay, Arab and Indian migrants into the Philippine archipelago from as early as the 14th century. The Moro people formed their own ethnic group in southwestern Mindanao, Sulu islands and Palawan.
As Muslim-majority ethnic groups, they form the largest non-Christian population in the Philippines, and comprise about 5% of the country's total population, or 5 million people. Most Moros are followers of Sunni Islam of the Shafiʽi school of fiqh.
It is said that Islam first came to our shores in Mindanao in the 13th century, making it the oldest recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam was reportedly brought by Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, Southern India, and from several sultanate governments in the Malay Archipelago.
Most Muslims live in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago – an area known as Bangsamoro or the Moro region. Some have migrated into urban and rural areas in different parts of the country. Most Muslim Filipinos practice Sunni Islam according to the Shafi'i school.
The Moro people of Mindanao and Sulu have been warlike from time immemorial. Islam was introduced about the year 1450 by Abu Bakr who claimed to be a direct descendant from Mohammed and who declared himself Sultan of the Moros.
The nature of religion in the pre-colonial Philippines is often unclear. Religions present include animism, indigenous religious beliefs and mythologies such as Anito and influences from Hinduism and Buddhism. The earliest pieces of evidence that exist are archaeological finds including Hindu–Buddhist gold statues.
Arab and Gujarati traders and missionaries introduced Islam to the Philippines in the 14th century.
Buddhism is a minor religion in the Philippines. The Buddhist population of the Philippines is 46,558 according to the 2010 census.
Among the cities in Mindanao, Zamboanga City from Region 9 tops the list of the most Muslim-populated area with 302,795 followers; this was trailed by Cotabato City (228,036 persons), City of Isabela (72,182 persons) Davao City (63,127 persons) and General Santos City (51,705 persons).
Christianity. The Philippines is the only country in Asia in which Christianity is the national religion. This is probably the result of the Spanish Catholic reign in The Philippines for more than 300 years. Religion still plays a central role in the lives of most Filipino Americans.
Rome has, for more than two millennia, been an important worldwide center for religion, particularly the Catholic strain of Christianity. The city is commonly regarded as the "home of the Catholic Church", owing to the ecclesiastical doctrine of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
The second most widely practiced religion is Islam, with an estimated 1.8 billion followers worldwide.
The Bangsamoro 'moro' people are the native Muslim inhabitants of the Philippines. They are the descendants of the early Malay, Arab and Indian migrants into the Philippine archipelago from as early as the 14th century. The Moro people formed their own ethnic group in southwestern Mindanao, Sulu islands and Palawan.
The spread of Islam to Mindanao between 1450 and 1500 was part of the political goal of the Sulu sultanate. A Maranao oral report revealed that the first Tausug preachers reached the Lanao lake before the arrival of foreign Muslim missionaries, possibly the Malay preachers.
The majority of Muslims live in the southern island of Mindanao as well as Palawan and the Sulu archipelago. Many self-identify as Bangsamoro or Moro Muslims, whose traditional territory is in Mindanao.
It is well known that Buddha expressly allowed his followers to eat most types of fish and meat provided the food was pure in the "three ways"-i. e., the person has not seen, nor heard, nor had the apprehension that the animal was killed especially for oneself-and that he refused to make vegetarianism compulsory.
One source estimated the size of the Indian community in the Philippines in 2008 at 150,000 people, most of whom are Hindus and Christians.
Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. Roughly 95 percent of the world's Hindus live in India.
The rise of Islam is intrinsically linked with the Prophet Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be the last in a long line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus.
Muslims are monotheistic and worship one, all-knowing God, who in Arabic is known as Allah. Followers of Islam aim to live a life of complete submission to Allah. They believe that nothing can happen without Allah's permission, but humans have free will.
The Sheikh Karimul Makhdum Mosque at Tubig Indangan, Simunul, Tawi-Tawi was constructed by an Arabian Missionary in 1380 A.D. Sometime in 1965, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos went to the site to install a historic marker giving it recognition as the first mosque in the Philippines.
The Japanese religious tradition is made up of several major components, including Shinto, Japan's earliest religion, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Christianity has been only a minor movement in Japan.
The Philippines' Catholic majority has its origins in the islands' long period as a Spanish colony, and popes have made the more than 6,000-mile trip from the Vatican a few times before. Pope Paul VI visited the country in 1970, and St. John Paul II traveled to the Philippines twice as pope (in 1981 and 1995).
The Spaniards introduced Christianity (the Roman Catholic faith) and succeeded in converting the overwhelming majority of Filipinos. At least 83% of the total population belongs to the Roman Catholic faith. The American occupation was responsible for teaching the Filipino people the English language.