Al-Ghazali`s socio-political ethics and its relevance to the Bangsamoro problem in the philippines

Abstract

The Bangsamoro (Moro Nation) of Mindanao, Philippines, has seen turmoil since the 1520s. In its history, the Philippines was colonized by 3 different countries, adversely affecting both its non-Muslim and Muslim natives, including the Sulu Sultanate. After the colonizers had left, the Muslim Filipinos continued to face threats, experiencing attacks, warfare, and annexation of their lands at the hands of their fellow countrymen. Lack of total support from the Philippine government and its own internal leadership problems have led the Moro nation to where it is now, with political feuds, poverty, instability, and skirmishes between the government and the Muslim separatists still existing in many of its areas in Mindanao today. A few leadership issues within the Moro communities (i.e., corruption, inaccessibility, responsibility (or lack thereof), and nepotism) were identified in this case study, which seeks to investigate whether the Nasihat al-Muluk (Counsel for Kings), an ancient text written by the great scholar, Muhammad Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), can help solve leadership woes of the Moro nation. Through the use of the documentary analysis method, it has been discovered that Al-Ghazali's work pertaining to leadership conduct or administrative ethics can indeed be useful in resolving present leadership challenges of the Moro people. As Muslims themselves, the Moro leaders of today should seek more knowledge on good governance, both in practice and in theory, especially from Islamic sources, past and present, which are value-based. Therefore, it was recommended in the study that more Muslim leaders should strive to learn from the stories and wise sayings of this historical text by Al-Ghazali, a text whose foundation is from the Qur'an, Hadith, and Persian literary works. Other recommendations for the Moro leaders and for future research were also given at the end of the study.