WOMEN’s contribution in shaping world history is incalculable, but their mention in literature has been a grudgingly token one, their achievements treated as afterthoughts in a male-dominated world of adventure and empire-building.

In the Philippines, the situation is not much different from most parts of Southeast Asia. Among the Iranun, women did the thankless chore of mending whole villages, the upkeep of orchards, not to mention the hordes of growing children while their men plied the high seas on country trading or on raiding expeditions. But to talk about the achievements of Muslim women in the Southern Philippines borders on the censorious.