In an evacuation center in Iligan City, two hours away from the war-torn Marawi City, bibles were discovered inserted into hygiene kits distributed to Muslim survivors of the armed conflict.
According to a report in SunStar yesterday, Muslim leaders were not happy with the discovery.
“This [The bible distribution] transgresses some cultural and religious sensibilities,” Abelardo Moya of the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute was quoted in SunStar.
“This must be dealt with soonest. Now that this has happened, it is best seen as an opportunity to dialogue,” he added.
Islamic teacher Abdulharim Ambor of the Mahad Al Nor in Ceanuri Village, the same place where the bibles were distributed, asked humanitarian workers to refrain from attempts to preach Christianity to the Muslim evacuees.
“Of course, the people want help and they need help, but what they don’t need today is an insult to their sensibilities,” Ambor was quoted in Inquirer.net.
He added that the bibles, entitled “Su Sindaw” or “The Light”, were written in the Maranao language, the dominant language in the province.
Ambor said the evacuees told him they wanted to burn them, but he advised them to give the bibles to him instead.
Hadji Amir Ali, an evacuee, told Inquirer.net that the workers told them that the bibles were “history books.”
They then took turns speaking about Christianity and allowed a man who claimed to be Maranao who converted to Christianity to talk to evacuees.
“I held my cool and let them do their thing. I know my faith will not change just because they gave us something we really need, such as hygiene kits,” Ali said.
Fred Dimamay admitted to a reporter of Inquirer.net that his group included the bibles in the distribution, but “did not mean any harm or offense.”
“When we were distributing the kits and bible, no one spoke against us,” he said. And clarified they did not force anyone to convert.
Ambor’s greatest worry is that such acts would be used as justifcation for extremist groups to fight the government.
“Don’t mix evangelization with your attempts to help the needy Maranao,” Ambor added.
This week marks the seventh week of fighting between government troops and Maute terrorists in Marawi City. Over 400,000 have been displaced in the crisis, while more than 400 people have been killed in the fighting.
