Pope Francis, Friend of the Islamic Ummah; Philippine Muslims Condole with Catholic World

Macacua, who replaced Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee Chair Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim as interim chief minister in March this year, took note of the significance of the late Pope’s reign as the head of the Vatican and the Catholic world.

Macacua said as the representative of the Muslim-majority region in the country, the government of the BARMM extended its deepest condolences to the Catholic community and to all those mourning the Pope’s demise.

“The news of his passing brings profound sadness, as Pope Francis was a beacon of hope and a tireless advocate for peace, justice, and interfaith dialogue,” the chief minister, who is also the chief of staff of the MILF’s armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), says.

“Testament to this were his persistent and heartfelt appeals for peace in the Middle East, especially in the face of atrocities in Palestine.”

The Bangsamoro chief executive was obviously referencing Zionist Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scorched earth policy in the Gaza Strip that has so far — an increasing — killed over 50,000 Palestinians, including tens of thousands of children and women.

Israel and Netanyahu’s continuing attacks and bombing, campaign of starvation, among other inhuman acts, have led United Nations’s Francesca Albanese to describe these acts as having the characteristics of a “genocide”.

Macacua describes Pope Francis as “a source of moral clarity” for his sustained call on world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions instead of waging wars. “These were not mere pronouncements, but a call to action and a reminder of our shared humanity,” the BARMM official emphasizes.

“In this time of morning, we stand in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters, and we reaffirm our commit to fostering a society where peace and mutual respect are the cornerstones of our existence,” the chief minister of the Bangsamoro region assures.

One of the stalwarts of the country’s civil society organizations (CSOs), Amina Rasul, founder of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID), also sent a message to the mourning Catholic world.

“We, from The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, share the sadness and (grief) of our Catholic brothers and sisters over the passing of Pope Francis. He was a beacon of hope for peace in the world,” she affirms.

The PCID is one of the CSOs which are active in interreligious dialogues in the country, as it works for peace, understanding, brotherhood, and religious harmony among all peoples of faiths.

Prof. Ustadhz Abdulhadi Daguit, a Muslim religious leader, described Pope Francis as a good friend of the Islamic Ummah and the Muslims across the world, including in the Philippines.

A former instructor at the Institute of Islamic Studies of the University of the Philippines (UP-IIS) in Diliman, Quezon City, Daguit pointed out that the late Catholic leader’s interactions with Islamic religious leaders and his visits to Muslim-majority countries to continue his work for peace, mutual understanding, and religious harmony.

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“Children were bombed. This is cruelty, not war.”

“Pope Francis visited Turkiye’s historic Blue Mosque — the Sultan Ahmed Mosque — in the city of Istanbul and prayed at the 17th century Ottoman-period house of worship. The Pope also visited the Hagia Sophia across the Blue Mosque,” Daguit recalls. (Hagia Sophia was the Constantinople Cathedral of the former Byzantine Emperor.)

He added the Catholic leader prayed at the Blue Mosque with Istanbul Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran for closer ties between the world’s biggest religions as he showed respect for Islam. Daguit said Pope Francis was a huge loss to world peace, interreligious harmony, and brotherhood among humanity.

Over at the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), its head, Secretary Sabuddin Abdurahim, took note of the initiatives that Pope Francis put in place, including his strong position against Islamophobia.

The NCMF head said the Catholic leader has left behind a legacy of bringing closer Christianity and Islam, Catholics and Muslims, saying the Qur’an calls Christians “People of the Book”.

Abdurahim of Tawi-Tawi, BARMM, also recalled the Pope’s strong stance in 2023 against the burning of the Muslim Holy Book, which became a point of Islamophobic protests in European cities.

“We are all affected by the passing of Pope Francis, his works and initiatives on interreligious understanding will be strongly missed,” the NCMF secretary says.

It can be recalled further that Pope Francis made a landmark meeting in 2019 with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni learning in Islam in Cairo, Egypt.

Their meeting resulted in their co-signing of The Document of Human Fraternity, which was described as “one of the most significant interfaith milestones of the 21st century, setting a framework for dialogue and cooperation.”

The Catholic leader also visited Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country with over 200 million population, visiting Istiqlal Mosque, which was just a stone’s throw away from the Catholic Cathedral in Jakarta, the capital. He met with Istiqlal Grand Imam Nassarudin Umar.

In Gaza, Pope Francis had consistently championed the welfare of the embattled Palestinian people, slamming Israel’s indiscriminate bombings that killed and continues to kill thousands of children.

He also condemned Israel’s bombings of civilian infrastructure, saying, “Children were bombed. This is cruelty, not war.”

The Pope in his book titled Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Towards A Better World that came out in November 2024, he cited “legal experts who believe the (Israeli) military campaign (in Gaza) bears the hallmarks of genocide.”

Now, Pope Francis is gone, living behind a legacy of friendship and reaching out to the Islamic world. (✓)

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Sources: AlJazeera.com, BARMM, NCMF, Ustadhza Abdulhadi Daguit, Ms. Amina Rasul