ABSTRACT
The relative neglect of the religious dimension in analyses of the separatist movement in the southern Philippines is mainly related to the formerly muted role which Islam as a creed played in the consciousness of Muslim Filipinos in general. The present-day Islamic insurgence in Mindanao is not a phenomenon, but can be traced back over 400 years to the arrival of the Spanish in 1521. The relative neglect of the religious dimension in analyses of the separatist movement in the southern Philippines is mainly related to the formerly muted role which Islam as a creed played in the consciousness of Muslim Filipinos in general. The situation of Muslims in the Philippines became an issue of concern to the international Islamic community in the late 1960s, following the infamous Jabidah massacre and other human rights violations against Muslims.
