Detained Muslim leader, Prof. Nur Misuari, who was given a temporary liberty from his detention cell in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on the occasion of Eid’l Adha celebration, called on his fellow Muslims to continue the struggle for peace and unity.

"Islam means peace. The followers of Islam must always embrace peace. Peace in our homeland, in Mindanao, in the Islamic world and the entire world," said Misuari.

He said that peace is "indivisible, that whatever happens in any part of the world, it affects the rest," adding that "what happens in Mindanao reverberates in the other areas of the world."

The government granted the former chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) a reprieve to attend the Eid’l Adha or Hariraya Hajj celebration and prayers at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika Village, Taguig City.

Dr. Parouk S. Hussin, who like Misuari was a former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), cited the latter’s temporary freedom. "This is very significant. It means both sides have been working for reconciliation. I hope it will succeed," said Hussin, referring to the Arroyo administration and the camp of Misuari.

Hussin has been bringing Misuari’s long delayed trial to the attention of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), prompting the pan-Islamic group to appeal to the Philippine government to expedite the trial of Misuari.

"Brother Nur has been in detention for four years, he deserves to be freed, or at least his trial speeded up," said Hussin, also a senior MNLF official.

Misuari said it was his desire to achieve peace that prompted him to sign the covenant of peace on Sept. 2, 1996. "We appeal to President Arroyo to continue implementing the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF until we succeed in attaining peace and development," said Misuari.

The MNLF leader, in jail since Jan. 7, 2002 on rebellion charges, which he has repeatedly denied, professed support for his jailer, Mrs. Arroyo, whose presidency is still under siege from the opposition and the militants, and the communist rebels.

Misuari said he supports the government’s plans for Constitutional amendments, calls on the media to converge on the search for peace, says his conscience is clear on the rebellion accusations, claims that many projects in the ARMM were his, and refuses comment on the bid of the Philippine government to achieve an observer status in the OIC.

Eid’l Adha relives  Abraham’s obedience  to God

By EDD K. USMAN

Amid the turmoil in many parts of the Islamic ummah, Muslims all over the world, including an estimated 10 million Filipinos, yesterday commemorated Prophet Abraham’s unbounded obedience to God through Eid’l Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice.

Abraham’s ordeal and his that of his family is the inspiration of the hajj or pilgrimage, the fifth pillar of Islam; one of them is his near sacrifice of his son (Ishmael says the Qur’an and Isaac, the Bible maintains).

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim in Mindanao (ARMM), Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan noted the significance to the present day of the patriarch Abraham’s great act of unselfishness and duty to the Creator. "It should allow us to overcome worldly distractions which we might presume to be of utmost importance such as wealth and, at times, even our own offspring to have a wiser, more fitting discernment of the purpose of our existence," the ARMM chief executive said.

Ampatuan said the Eid’l Adha or Hariraya Hajj celebration was peaceful.

In Metro Manila as in other parts of the country such as in the ARMM, men, women and children trooped to mosques and in open areas for the early morning prayer that signalled the start of the Eid’l Adha celebration, which is at least three days in Muslim countries.

At the Silangan Elementary School in Maharlika Village, Taguig City, Center for Moderate Muslims (CMM) Chairman Prof. Taha Basman led the observance for the students and some dignitaries.

In nearby Blue Mosque, detained Muslim leader Prof. Nur Misuari joined the prayer and delivered a speech that called for continuing the struggle for peace and prosperity.

Dr. Parouk S. Hussin, former ARMM governor, hosted an Eid’l Adha reception for ambassadors from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), European Union, and Latin America, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) such as Ambassador Rafael Seguis and Ambassador Norberto Basilio, former ARMM officials and friends.

Libyan Ambassador Salem Adam, most senior of the OIC diplomats, led his fellow ambassadors in joining Hussin’s traditional reception. Also yesterday, the Iranian Embassy’s Cultural Section headed by Counsellor Mehdi Rokni distributed hundreds of kilos of goat meat for the worshippers. President Arroyo also donated lunch boxes for 35,000 people through the Office on Muslim Affairs as her offering for Eid’l Adha.