By Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY, Philippines, October 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Filipino reverts are making use of the Ramadan spiritual atmosphere to further integrate among the Muslim community in this largely Christian city, through seeing to the preparation and paying the cost of daily iftar meals for the community.

Every afternoon since the advent of, a group of Filipino reverts here do not only observe the dawn-to-dusk fast but also bring in cooked or prepared food for everyone to partake in the daily iftar (fast-breaking meal) as a way to "strengthen our bond, our brotherhood with our fellow Muslims."

"We feel that we can do something new for our fellow Muslims this Ramadan. And so, we, Balik Islam [Muslim reverts], decided among ourselves to take care of the food for the iftar," Abdul Rahman told IslamOnline.net Friday, October 28, 2005. "It is meant to strengthen our bond, our brotherhood with our fellow Muslims."

Rahman said their group of around 50 reverts held an informal meeting and decided on taking charge of the food for the daily community iftar, which is joined in by around 100-150 Muslims in this largely Christian city.

This means the rest of the Muslims, or those who remain to be faithful to Islam since they were born until today, do not have to spend for the iftar. But they remain free to do so if they insist.

"What we do is we collect money from each of us Balik Islam and then we buy and cook or prepare the food. Others also bring in food ingredients or cooked food which we share with everyone her in Pioneer Mosque," the former Roman Catholic told IOL.

Gatherings

There is no fixed amount for the Balik Islam to shell out. "You can give 50 pesos, 100 pesos or more or even less. It really depends on how much you can afford to give. Others who are well-off give more but those who cannot afford so much give whatever amount they can," Yusuf Gamal, another Balik Islam, explained to IslamOnline.net.

"Our food would also depend on how much we can collect. Fortunately, we have not had some sort of financial problems. Everyone is provided for and gets enough share of the food in our iftar," he added.

Rahman, on the other hand, said by doing so "we feel we do not only share the fruit of our labor but also improve our bond, our friendship, our brotherhood, our belongingness to our brothers and sisters."

"You know when we exchange thoughts, ideas and even jokes at the banquet table we can feel that we really belong to the community. That we are not new to them or that we are new to the faith," he further told IOL.

Saadudin Maayo, Pioneer Mosque's imam, said the reverts' move "surprised us because it was not necessary nor was asked for" but "it touched us and showed to us that indeed they want to be considered true to Islam or true Muslims. That they are not just here with us for something else."

He said, "They might have felt that they need to do more to really express how true they are to us and to the whole ummah. Sometimes some supposedly return to Islam but in truth they only want to have more than one wife. And we realize this we get hurt, so the feeling of being wary to the Balik Islam is born.

"Plus, the eye of the greater number of people, particularly non-Muslims, is on them because they are supposed to be more fundamentalists and extremists than us who are Muslims. So I think this act of our Balik Islam brothers and sisters is a noble one which is very welcomed. It is to show aloud that they are one with us, with the whole ummah."

Appreciated

Maayo said the ideas, thoughts and feelings shared at the banquet table foster the community's oneness amid the stereotyping of Balik Islam as a source of terrorists and extremists in the Philippines, as claimed by the Philippine National Police for a number of instances.

"With this, they have proven to us once more that they are true to Islam. Speaking out loud in a manner such as this is so convincing. I can feel and I can see that they are true to us and our religion," he added.

In mid August, 2005, Filipino reverts to Islam decided to form a Council of Elders to guide them and raise their concerns and problems with the government.

"We have decided to come up with the Balik Islam Council of Elders," Ahmed Ricalde, spokesperson of Muslim reverts known in the Philippines as Balik Islam, told IOL then

Source : http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2005-10/28/article08.shtml