Glossary

A

ADAT— Customary law

AGIMAT— An amulet worn or carried to provide supernatural protection against blades or bullets or to otherwise protect an individual from his or her enemies

ALIM (Plural, ulama )—An Islamic scholar; an individual qualified to teach Islamic law

B

BANGSA— Nation, ethnic group, descent group

BANGSAMORO— The Philippine Muslim nation

BANTINGAN— Bridewealth

BANYAGA— Chattel slave

BARABANGSA— Royal lineage; the high nobility

BARANGAY— A political subunit of a municipality. Originally a precolonial political institution in the Philippines, the barangay was a unit of thirty to one hundred houses under the authority of an autocratic headman (datu). The institution was adapted by Spanish colonial administrators to suit their needs (with the name barangay eventually changed to barrio ). The term and institution were resurrected by the martial law regime as part of its attempt to equate nationalism with autocratic leadership.

BAYUK— A ballad or chanted poem that relates a story, usually a love story

D

DATU— Ruler, leader, male member of the nobility

DA'WAH— Call to faith; the calling of people to the religion of Islam

DAYUNDAY— A romantic song duel between a man and woman, characterized by bayuk phrasings and incorporating extemporaneous verses

DUMATUS— The descendants of Tabunaway, a legendary Magindanaon chieftain who welcomed Sarip Kabungsuwan to Cotabato. The dumatus formed a special status group in the Magindanao Sultanate and were not obliged to pay tribute to any datu.

E

ENDATUAN— Those who are ruled; the subjects of datus

H

HADJI (in Arabic, hajji )—One who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca

I

ILAGA— Literally, "Rats." A term used to refer to armed bands of Christians, usually Ilonggos, that terrorized Cotabato Muslims in the late 1970s.

ILMU— Esoteric knowledge related to the acquisition of supernatural abilities

IMAM— A prayer leader; one who leads Muslims in a prayer service at a mosque

INGED— Community, locality, homeland

J

JIHAD— Struggle in defense of Islam

K

KAMAL— Power; supernatural power

KANDULI— A ritual feast held at funerals, weddings, or other special occasions

KARGADOR (in Spanish, cargador )—A waterfront laborer or cargo handler

KRIS— A finely made curved sword

KULINTANG— A musical instrument composed of seven small gongs arranged by size and played by beating

KUMPIT— A large motorized boat with a loading capacity of thirty tons

L

LIDER— A political broker; an individual who buys and sells votes in an election

LUWARAN— A set of written legal codes employed in the Cotabato sultanates that consisted of selections from the Shafi'i school of Islamic law combined with customary law

M

MADRASAH (Plural, madari )—An Islamic school

MARATABAT— Rank, or the honor due to rank

MORO— A term of Spanish origin used to refer to Philippine Muslims

P

PULNA— A social status designation for those individuals able to trace direct descent through both parents from Sarip Kabungsuwan, the founder of the Cotabato sultanates

PUSAKA— Heirlooms; pusaka usually have ritual as well as sentimental and intrinsic value

S

SABIL— A martyr; one sworn to fight to the death in defense of Islam

SHARIA— Islamic law, literally the "Way" or "Path" of Islam

T

TARITIB— The protocol governing relations between the sultan, datus, and sub-ordinate classes

TARSILA— Written genealogy

TAU SA ILUD— Downriver People; a dialect of the Magindanaon language

TAU SA LAYA— Upriver People; a dialect of the Magindanaon language

TUPU— Descendant; local descent line

U

ULAMA (Singular, alim )—Islamic scholars; those qualified to teach Islamic law

ULIPUN— Debt-bondsmen

USTADZ (in Arabic, ustadh )—An Islamic teacher