Doc Ahmad Hajiri

  There’s this Facebook Page called “Sulu Cultural and Historical Society” that I really like. (You can check it out here ) They usually upload old images of Sulu, or any old artifacts related to Sulu that are found around the world (usually in Museums). What I really like about this is the fact that they do their research and provide the readers the necessary and factual information regarding those places, items, etc. One of those series that I enjoyed in their page is the old photos of Jolo, Sulu. I saved a couple of those images (screenshot), and then I went on a bike ride a few days back and decided to take a picture of the same exact place in the present time. Kudos to the admins of the FB Page mentioned for all of these! So here they are, I hope you’ll enjoy this as I did! Plaza Rizal  Photo by William "Bill" Fabianic circa 1961     This is the screenshot of the post in the FB Page. It says, “Rizal Park, Jolo, Sulu, circa 1961. Jolo’s Plaza Rizal in...

Bismillah (Originally posted Sept 8, 2013 on my FB Page) It has been some time since I wrote about my beloved hometown, Sulu. So I decided to fill-up the holes of long absence with some fun facts about my place. In this post we will be talking about one of the grandest landmarks in Sulu: Bud Tumantangis (Bud or Buwd means Mountain). This is going to be a bit long, so kindly bear with me until the end. I will make sure that this post is worth your time reading.  Bud Tumantangis, is the highest peak in the Sulu mainland. It is located in the Indanan-Patikul boundary, Sulu. It is surrounded by green forests and farmlands. Aside from just being a magnificent sight in the place, it also served as an icon, a “unique landmark” among the Tausugs which they identified with their homeland: Sulu. Every single settler, visitor or traveler in Sulu would know which and where is Bud Tumantangis. If a common seafarer comes home from a long journey at the sea, simply looking for this familiar mo...

Subtitle: : A (rather disappointing) visit to the National Museum. October 6, 2013 Bismillah. I always enjoy visiting Museums. I always cherish the experience and the feeling of seeing what happened before I even existed. It was like travelling through time and experience what the people in the past experienced. See what they saw. Learn what they knew then. Among the few Museums I went into were those that are close and easily accessible to me: The National Museums in Sulu (oh I love that place!) and Zamboanga in Port Pilar (I hope it was not affected by the recent crisis -_-), the lauded Aga Khan Museum in MSU Marawi, and some Museum I cannot name somewhere in this planet. And now Alhamdulillah being fortunate that I am in Manila since May 2012, visiting the National Museum has long been placed on my priority list. But I have to wait for a year and a half then before I can finally visit it, as what finally happened last Saturday. A good friend of mine told me in FB ...

From an American-built lighthouse to a Tausug-built Masjid. The search for the missing “Eye-Fall tower” did not take me long to finish for three reasons:  I already know where to look for it (the wharf in Jolo);  The people in that community are pretty friendly; and  The Sulu National Museum gave me all the answers.  What I just did then is visit the place and confirm the site where it still stands now, talk with the people around, link the stories and tadaa! Mission accomplished! And so, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you all, the Sulu Parula (Parola), then and now… The Sulu Parula (Parola) and the  Block House This is one of the oldest photos linked to our missing structure: the Sulu lighthouse, commonly known to the locals as the “Parula”. This photo of a building IS NOT the actual parula, but actually the "office" of the coast guards known to most as the “Block House”. This photo can also be found in one of th...

Bismillah Years back when I was still in High school and studying in one of the Madáris ( Madrasah : Islamic Schools) in Jolo, Sulu, there was this peculiar masjid nearby. When our morning classes ends at 11 AM, me and my classmates would go to a nearby kadday (small Tausug restaurants), eat our lunch together then hastily come to this masjid called Masjid Shariful Hashim in Jambatan (Sea Port) to pray Zhuhur. The masjid itself is just a simple building that you see in most masjids in Jolo, no intricate designs outside, with metal roofs and wooden domes (and the usual moon-and-star). A set of wooden stairs lead to the second storey reserved for women who wanted to pray in the masjid. What I meant when I said this masjid is “peculiar” or “odd”, is this octagonal room inside the masjid.  At first I thought that room was just a separate room designed by the architect of the masjid, or something like a storage room. But what really made me scratch my head is its loc...

Sulu had always been the "War Zone" in Southern Philippines. In fact, the name of the province itself was linked with the thoughts of the common people as "Conflict-ridden", "Unstable", "filled with fear and poverty", and worst "Terror". Yet nevertheless, Sulu had also given birth to enumerable and unrecorded histories. Sulu may be the 'poorest of the poor' provinces, but still, it had remained to be one of the riches provinces in terms of culture, history and natural resources as well.    This Photo Documentation by the author of this blog aims on showing the world what the other side of the coin: Sulu's Hidden Beauty.   Masjid Tulay: This is the Largest Masjid in the Province. Situated at the center of the Capital Town of Jolo (Barangay Tulay), this single building marked the "Dawn of new Hope" for the Tausug People. Amidst all the instabilities, there lies a new hope that unites the Tausugs...

By Ahmad Musahari Free lance Writer anakiluhmd@gmail.com What is the use of knowing the history of other countries if you don't know your own country's? This is my sole impetus of studying little by little the almost-forgotten history of one of the magnificent Sultanate of all seas: the Sulu Sultanate, my homeland of course! But even though my few researches have only reached few results as well, I am still nevertheless excited to share what I have discovered; small pieces of puzzles are parts of a big picture. This blog is about one of my great adventures in finding the remaining historical landmarks in Sulu (even us Tausugs never knew it was there!) Join me, lets explore once more and find out where the smallest WALLED CITY is! (PS: as you can remember, I have blogged about the "Moro Consciousness week" wherein I promised to fill in the entry about the 'walled City' in Sulu. And here it is: a promise is still a promise ;-) link ==================...