Arab settlement in the Philippines
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Mindanao · Metro Manila · Visayas | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic · Filipino · English · other languages of the Philippines | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam · Greek Orthodox Christianity · Catholicism · Others | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arab diaspora |
Filpinos with Arab background comprise a tiny portion of the national population.
Arab traders have been visiting Philippines for nearly 2000 years for trade purposes, and traded extensively with local Malayan chiefs, datos and Rajahs that had various Rajahnates in the region. Arab and Persian traders passed by the Philippines, on their way to Guangzhou, China. These early Arab traders followed the pre-Islamic religions of Arabian Christianity, Paganism and Sabeanism. After the advent of Islam, in 1380, Karim ul’ Makhdum, the first Islamic missionary to reach the Sulu Archipelago, brought Islam to what is now the Philippines, first arriving in Jolo. Subsequent visits of Arab Muslim missionaries strengthened the Islamic faith in the Philippines, concentrating in the south and reaching as far north as Manila. Starting with the conquest of Malaysia by the Portuguese and Indonesia by the Dutch, the Philippines began to receive a number of Malaysian-Arab refugees including several Malaysian princes and displaced court advisors. Soon, vast sultanates were established overlapping the existing indigenous Filipino barangay (village) governing system and Indianized royalty. The two largest were the Sultanate of Maguindanao, which loosely governed most of southern Mindanao and the Sultanate of Sulu, which included Basilan, Jolo, and parts of Borneo. Several other smaller but famous sultanates were also established such as the sultanate of Lanao in Mindanao, which was later conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century. The ties between the sultanates in Mindanao remained economically and culturally close to Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia until the end of the 19th century when the sultanates were weakened by the Spanish and later the American militaries.
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Wikipedia