by: Kristina Louise Yao and Leska Corinne Ferrer

1. TAUSUG BELIEFS
AND PRACTICES

2. TAUSUG
 Jolo is the home of
the Tausugs
 Tausug comes from
the word “tau” which
means “man” and
“sug” which means
“land”
 Tausugs are muslims
and practice the
tenets of Islam

3.  One characteristic of the Tausug is preservation of the family
reputation and will never commit an act of cowardice that will
blemish on the family’s name
 “You can never expect a Tausug to run from a good fight”
 They believe that running away is shameful especially when
other members of the family are involved

4. PAGGUNTING
 Tausug baptism
 The child clad in best garment is brought to the
group of Imams standing in circle
 A few strands of hair are dipped in a container of
the water of butong
 The child’s mouth is smeared with sugar
 Candle is lit at the beginning of the rite and is
then blown off after

5. THE BURIAL PRACTICE
 When the warmth is gone, the corpse is sponged
in cold water
 The bathing is done by religious persons
 The bathing is done in silence
 The water used is fresh and perfumed with betel
nut flowers, kamanyan or insence, and
sandalwood
 The corpse is wiped and then perfumed and
placed in a shroud

6.  The shroud is made of three pieces of white cloth in accordance
with the length of the corpse
 It is wrapped in a lying position with hands placed on its chest,
the right over the left
 The coffin is made of wood and has no lid
 Grave is dug in proportion to the length of the corpse
 It follows a north-south direction and is 6-9 feet deep and it is
closed with slabs of board about 2-inch thick, 1 foot wide and 3-4
feet long
 Grave markers for males are rounded and flat for females

7.  Burial is followed by a seven-day vigil. Depending on a family's
economic circumstances, commemorative feasts may be held on
the 7th, 20th, 40th, and 100th day, and on the first, second, and
third anniversaries of death.

8. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
 They are Sunni
Muslims, followers of the Shaft
school.
 the Five Pillars are
observed, although only the
elderly practice daily prayers
regularly. All
illness, accidents, and other
misfortunes are ultimately God's
will.
 The Five Pillars of Islam are
declaration of beheb in the
oneness of God and the prophet
hood of Muhammad and the four
obligations of
praying, almsgiving, fasting, an
d pilgrimage to Mecca at least
once in one's lifetime.

9.  However, the Tausug retain elements of pre-Islamic belief
and, additionally, see the world as inhabited by local spirits
capable of causing good or ill fortune.
 Females do not participate in daily prayer until after they are
married and males may pray only after they are circumcised.
 Touching an unmarried female (kublit-kublit), however, is in
theory a finable offense with the actual amount determined by
the datu according to time of day and part of body. Such rules
are made to be challenged particularly since the legal censure
does not carry over into the moral sphere. Thus, a young man
may be motivated to touch a particular girl for no other reason
than to see if he can get away with it.

10. SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS
 Aside from Allah or Tuhan, the Tausug are also
concerned with spirits inhabit nature, especially
rocks and trees, and who are believed to be the
cause of human suffering.
 The saytan (evil spirits) and jinn (unseen
creatures).
 believe in the four composites of the human soul:
the transcendental soul, the life-soul associated
with the blood, the breath or life essence, and the
spirit-soul who travels during dreams and who
causes the -shadow

11. HEALING PRACTICES
 The mangugubat (curer) who have direct access to
the spirit world.
 Traditional medical specialists, who obtain their
powers through dreams or by the instruction of
older curers, heal mainly by herbal remedies and
prayers.