Pious Predicaments and Pathways for Engagement: Ulama and Risks in Post-Conflict Milieu

Abstract

This is an exploratory paper that seeks to explicate the viewpoints of ulama or guardians of Islamic faith on risks and insecurities in the southern Philippines. The signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2018 by President Rodrigo Duterte is likely to immediately facilitate democratic transition in conflict-ridden Mindanao, particularly the establishment of the Bangsamoro government and decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and its transformation into a political organisation. Since the onset of insurgency in the 1970s, different religious denominations have been a source of civil society leaders who are playing a key role in the peace operations in the region. These religious leaders are important peacebuilding players because in the Bangsamoro context, religion encompasses all aspects of lives of people in the conflict zone. This paper argues that understanding the ontological and epistemic perspectives on risk and violence of the ulama is an imperative to enhance strategies in mitigating risk and governing insecurities in post-BOL Mindanao. Using ethnographic evidence from the conflict zone, this paper aims to contribute to the literature on risk, securitisation and local or cultural turn in peacebuilding.