Salamat Hashim (; Jawi: سلامت حاشم; July 07, 1939 - July 13, 2003), also known as Hashim Salamat, was a Filipino militant who served as leader of the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ) is an Islamist group based in Mindanao, Philippines, which sought an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro region of Mindanao, t ...

. He is the founder of the group.

Early life and education

Hashim was born in Midsayap,

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

(now Pagalungan,

Maguindanao Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Magindanaw''; Iranun: ''Perobinsia a Magindanao''; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2022, its provincial capital ...

) on July 7, 1939, to a religious family, one of seven siblings. At age six, he was taught by his mother how to read the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. In the 1950s, Hashim received formal elementary and high school education and was an honor student. In 1958, Hashim joined the Hajj and decided to stay in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

to be mentored by Sheikh Zawawi. He was a regular attendee of the ''halaqat'' at the Masjid al Haram. He also underwent studies at the Madrasat as-Sulatiyah ad-Diniyah. The following year, Hashim moved to Cairo to pursue further studies. He enrolled at

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in theology, majoring in Aqeedah and Philosophy in 1967, and a post-graduate masters degree from the same university in 1969. He also pursued a doctorate degree but was not able to finish writing his dissertation due to his decision to return to the Philippines to organize a Moro revolutionary movement.

Militant career

Hashim along with other militants including Nur Misuari founded the

Moro National Liberation Front The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF; ) is a political organization in the Philippines that was founded in 1972. It started as a splinter group of the Muslim Independence Movement. The MNLF was the organization most active in the Moro conf ...

(MNLF) in the 1970s. Hashim later left the group in the later part of the decade to form the

(MILF).

Death

Hashim died on July 13, 2003, while in one of the MILF's camps in Butig, Lanao del Sur, due to complications caused by a heart disease and acute ulcer. The MILF only publicly confirmed their leader's death days later on August 5.

Murad Ebrahim Ahod Balawag Ebrahim (; Jawi: احد بلاوݢ ابرهیم; born May 15, 1949), better known as Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, is a Moro Filipino politician and former rebel leader who served as the first chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous ...

succeeded Hashim as leader of the MILF.

Books

* ''The Bangsamoro Mujahid : his objectives and responsibilities'', 1985. * ''The Bangsamoro people's struggle against oppression and colonialism'', 2001. * ''Referendum : peaceful, civilized, democratic, and diplomatic means of solving the Mindanao conflict'', 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hashim, Salamat Filipino Muslims 2003 deaths Filipino Islamists Filipino activists Al-Azhar University alumni People from Maguindanao 1942 births Filipino expatriates in Egypt Filipino expatriates in Saudi Arabia Moro Islamic Liberation Front members