e used to be known as
Father Stan among his
flock in parishes around
he goes by the name Muhammad,
after the great prophet of the faith
he now calls his own.
Three years ago, Estanislao Soria, a
priest in the Archdiocese of Manila,
made that great leap of faith from
Christianity to Islam. He became
Muhammad Soria, much to the
consternation of his devout
Catholic family.
"My family was so hurt they wouldn't
talk to me. Only the wife of my
cousin understands. My elder
brother respects me in theory, but
he just tolerates me," said the 64-
year-old academic and former
theologian.
Anger was also the reaction of
some of his former parishioners and
friends, he said.
It started with a challenge
But Soria said he never backed
down from his decision, knowing
that even the Devil could not stop
him from removing his priestly robes
and embracing Islam. It was a
decision that was political and
even intellectual,
he said, but it was also a matter
of faith. His change of faith began
when he challenged former
Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao Gov. Nur Misuari's
statement that everyone in
Mindanao was a Moro.
He argued that many groups other
than Muslims also lived in
Mindanao, among them the
Manobo and Sama tribes. At that
time, he was teaching theology at
the Ateneo de Manila University.
Soria, a native of Dipolog City, then
studied the history of Mindanao in
order to back his argument with
historical and sociological proofs.
While he did find evidence that not
all who lived in Mindanao were
Moros, he also discovered
something else. "I saw that the
negative things associated with
Muslims were not true, that they
were actually being oppressed by
the colonialists," he said."I thought
Muslims were stupid and not well-
informed, and I wanted to convert
them to Christianity," Soria said. But
the opposite happened, he said.
A different gospel
He came across the Gospel of
Barnabas, a work purporting to be
a depiction of the life of Jesus by his
disciple Barnabas, and was
"convinced" it held the truth.
The Gospel of Barnabas says Jesus
did not die from crucifixion but
actually ascended to heaven alive.
The man who was crucified was
actually Judas Iscariot, the traitor.
The gospel also foretells the coming
of Muhammad. Majority of
academics, including Christians
and some Muslims, dismiss the
Barnabas gospel as a pious fraud,
but some Muslim scholars believe it
to be genuine.
Doubts about Trinity
Soria said he had doubts about his
faith as early as the time he was
training to become a priest. He
questioned the Christian concept
of the Trinity and, when he was 21,
even had an argument about it
with his late father.
When a seminarian has doubts
about his faith, he leaves, said
Soria. But he did not want to do
that, so he continued his vocation
and became a priest in 1988. His
deeply Catholic upbringing had
somehow influenced him into the
religious life, he said. But that did
not stop him from raising questions
about his religion.He worked with
two parishes in Taguig and another
in Caloocan City. During this time,
he became more and more
outspoken about his doubts about
the Catholic faith. Soon, he was
transferred to the University of the
Philippines-Diliman parish as
assistant to "running priest" Fr.
Robert Reyes, a longtime friend.
Soria said his transfer to UP was
meant to give a safe sanctuary for
his views. But the liberal atmosphere
at the university actually
strengthened his resolve to make a
momentous decision: To convert to
Islam.
"My Arab Muslim friends told me I should not change my name…"

End to all doubts
Soria became a Muslim on Sept. 2,
2002, some 14 years after he was
ordained a priest.
Unlike his doubt-riddled career as a
diocesan priest, his conversion to
Islam was a decision he was very
sure of, he said. He is now used to
the Muslim way of life and has even
gone on five pilgrimages to Mecca,
through the Islamic Dawah
Movement, of which he is a
member. His family and some of his
friends could not understand his
choice, but some have been
supportive, he said. One of them is
his friend "through-thick-and-thin" --
Father Reyes.
Sex is human
Last year, Soria married Hannah, 24,
after a betrothal arranged by a
Baclaran imam (teacher). As a
priest, he led a "really celibate"
life, but since converting to Islam,
he said, he has adopted the
Koran's teaching that sex is human
and not to be disdained. An
activist during his teaching days at
Ateneo, Soria is currently working
with various groups to defuse
Muslim-Christian tensions,
particularly after the bloody
Camp Bagong Diwa prison siege
last week.
Tension between 2 faiths
He said tension already existed
between the two faiths in this
predominantly Catholic nation,
but it only worsened because of
the government's handling of the
attempted jailbreak. Historically,
terrorism has been committed by
those in power, he said. This was
true even during the Spanish rule
in the Philippines, except that it
was the colonizers who portrayed
the “indios” (natives) as the
terrorists. "[Jose] Rizal, [Andres]
Bonifacio were terrorists,
according to the Spaniards.
Today, they are national heroes,"
he said. Soria said he was not
ready to become an imam.
"I can be but I'd rather not. I don't
feel I'm well-versed enough with
the Muslim tradition," he said.
Father Stan, still
Even though he changed his
name to Muhammad, Soria said
his friends still call him Father Stan,
"including the Muslims."
"My Arab Muslim friends told me I
should not change my name, so
people would know I'm a Catholic
priest who converted to Islam," he
said.
"Pinagmamalaki nila yon (They are
proud of that)," he said.
(Publish in Daily Inquirer, March 23, 2005)

LUNGKOT
LUNGKOT AT LUMBAY
- Mikâl Sacramento –
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Tayo’y nilikha at sa mundo’y maglalakbay.

Malayo sa pamilya dulot nito’y lungkot at lumbay.
Sa tindi ng inip sa pagluha minsa’y walang humpay,
upang maibsan ang bigat sa dibdib kahit walang saysay.
Payo ko kaibigan sa halip na maghinagpis
at manlupaypay,.
magsumamo ka sa Allâ
Allâh na siyang pinagmulan ng buhay,
kapantay.
at iyong makakamtan ang tunay na kapayapaan na walang kapantay