Muslim Travellers in a Time of Globalization: Studying Islam in Cairo Among the Maranaos in the Philippines

Abstract

Let us start with a modest review of how the characteristics of globalization are experienced in the Muslim community in the Philippines. The first factor is the shrinking world. The improvement of communications technology, the emergence of trans-border political actors and easier movement between countries have allowed people to transcend time and space more easily than ever before. Such a development of rapid, close communication is also experienced by the Muslims in the Philippines. For example, in the case of Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao, the site of this author’s field survey, the tools for obtaining information have diversified: wireless communication, the permeation of mobile phones, radio and cable TV and so forth. An expansion in networks of supranational entities is also observed on a global scale, such as NGOs, with aid from the United States and Gulf countries reaching (or at least targeting) even the rural villages. Nevertheless, the reach does not necessarily mean that the people can enjoy the fruits of globalization. For example, the Philippine Human Development Report of 2008 shows that all provinces of Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) rank bottom in the 2006 Human Development Indices (Human Development Network 2009, p. 10).