The Sulu Archipelago and its people, by Sixto Y. Orosa ...

CUSTOMS, MUSIC, AND SPORTS

89

penter once remarked that the danger from street cars
and automobiles in Manila was far greater than that
from outlaws, juramentados, and amoks in Sulu.
Distinction should be made between a juramentado
and an amok. An amok was not really a juramentado.
He was simply a man gone murder mad.
The custom of juramentado had its origin in the
jihad, the holy war of Islam against Christians. A
juramentado was a frenzy-driven religious fanatic. He
expected immediate translation to Paradise if he carried out his purpose. He was prepared and purified as
for entering the mosque, a priest attending him, and his
scalp and eyebrows were shaved. He put on a white
gown (sarong) and took an oath before the Koran. Then
he set out to kill the first Christian that he met and to
keep on killing till he himself was killed. There are
records of women having become juramentados.
Interference with their religion was the most frequent
cause of Moros' becoming juramentado. When the
priests believed that their faith had been treated with
indignity, they would call for volunteers to become
juramentado. Often there were volunteers in waiting.
Sometimes a Moro wanted to become juramentado because he thought he had committed so many sins that
he could enter heaven only by this means.
It is advisable for newcomers in Sulu, as elsewhere,
not to engage in conversations about religion.
FORMS OF GREETING
When social equals meet, one places his right hand
flat over the right hand of the other, the palmar surfaces coming in contact. Next, each places his left hand
over the right hand of the other. Then each draws his
hands back and applies his right hand to his chest or