Ustadj Salamat Hashim

Ameerol Mujahideen

our beloved leader

" Even if i die, the next generation will continue the struggle. I have planted the seed of jihad in the heart of the Bangsamoro".

Hashim, who died of natural causes on July 13 at age 61, had been the reclusive chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“More than any other Moro leader, Hashim reawakened the Islamic consciousness of the people. He made us proud of our identity. He gave us a vision,”. And stuck with that vision through the end.

Pragmatic leader

Born in 1942 to an upper middle-class family in Maguindanao, Hashim was educated in Islamic studies and philosophy in Egypt. It was there that he became politicized, ending up forming, along with Nur Misuari, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Both also came from the same career they chose to lead before they went full-time as revolutionaries: Hashim as a teacher and Misuari, who taught political science at the University of the Philippines.
While Hashim was deeply religious, he was also pragmatic. When, in 1976, the MNLF was negotiating with the Marcos regime, Hashim had reservations. That year, Misuari signed the Tripoli Agreement drafted by the Marcos regime. By signing the agreement, Misuari basically allowed the subordination of the Moro revolution by the Philippine Constitution, which was what the Moro revolutionaries were rebelling against to begin with. Hashim thought signing the agreement was foolish.

Passion for freedom

“The death of Mr. Salamat Hashim, a great and praiseworthy leader of the Bangsamoro people, is indeed a great loss to their struggle for self-determination. Despite his firm belief in the armed revolutionary struggle as the only solution to the Moro peoples’ quest for genuine freedom, he has shown sincerity in pursuing their goal through peaceful means by participating earnestly in the peace negotiations.”

It is this “passionate yearning for freedom that compelled him to stay with the oppressed, share their sufferings, and court death in the hands of the oppressors and enemies of peace. Many times he was offered the security and comfort of a sanctuary in friendly Muslim countries. But he gracefully spurned these offers, preferring instead to live with the impoverished Bangsamoro masses, seek refuge and comfort in prayers to his Creator, and patiently endure the spartan life of a mujahid in the harsh jungles, mountains and marshes of the Bangsamoro homeland.”
In short, Hashim was a revolutionary to the very end – and, perhaps, beyond. It is said that Hashim once uttered these words: “Even if I die, the next generation will continue the struggle. I have planted the seed of jihad in the heart of the Bangsamoro.”