15/03/2026
Still strong at 90 years.
May Allah grant him long life filled with barakah, good health, and ease. Allahumma Ameen.
🕌 Meet the Man Who Gave Shariah a Home in Philippine Law.
📖 Read the full article here:
👉 https://wiki.maranaw.com/index.php/Saaduddin_A._Alauya,_Sr.
Most Filipinos have already heard his name. If you're a Muslim living in this country — if you've ever had a marriage, an inheritance, or a family dispute resolved under Islamic law — then his work has touched your life.
His name is Alim Atty. Saaduddin A. Alauya Sr (حفظه الله). And scholars, lawyers, and judges across the Bangsamoro know him by one title:
🏛️ The Father of Shariah in the Philippines.
He wasn't just a lawyer. He wasn't just a scholar. He was both — at the same time, in the same person — and that combination turned out to be exactly what the Bangsamoro needed at exactly the right moment in history.
Here's his story in brief:
📌 He started on the ground — ten years as a Municipal Trial Court judge in Bubong, Lanao del Sur, watching daily how the Philippine Civil Code failed Muslim families in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. That experience lit a fire in him that never went out.
📌 He moved into the classroom — teaching Islamic law at Mindanao State University, mentoring the young lawyers who would eventually staff Shariah courts across Mindanao, and writing the textbooks they would carry with them.
📌 He stepped into politics — serving as Vice-Governor and Acting Governor of Lanao del Sur, and then as Chairman of the Code Commission on Muslim Laws in the ARMM, where he didn't just advocate for a Shariah court system — he actually designed it.
📌 He reached the pinnacle — appointed by President Fidel V. Ramos in 1996 as the Philippines' first Jurisconsult in Islamic Law, the highest state-recognized authority on Shariah in the entire country. The nation's M***i, in effect, serving a fixed seven-year term.
📌 He fought for dignity — even in retirement. When the government denied him a judicial pension, he challenged the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in his favor, declaring that shortchanging him would amount to "compartmentalized justice" that discriminated against Muslims. That ruling is now part of Philippine legal history.
And his legacy? It didn't stop with him.
His daughter Dr. Aslama Alauya-Lamping trained at Harvard Medical School and brought those lessons back to Amai Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi. His son, Atty. Saaduddin Alauya Jr., works at MSU, Marawi City as Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. He has two other younger daughters, namely Atty/CPA Arifa who now works as Senior Assistant Governor of the Bangko Sental ng Pilipinas (BSP) who finished her master degree at Harvard, and Atty. Asma who also works at the BSP as deputy General Counsel, and lately serves on temporary basis as the chief of staff of the Governor of the BSP.
One man. One mission. Generations of impact.
We've just published the full encyclopedia article on Alim Atty. Saaduddin A. Alauya Sr. on BangsamoroPedia — covering his judicial career, academic contributions, political leadership, landmark Supreme Court case, and the books that remain the backbone of Shariah practice in the Philippines today.
📖 Read the full article here:
👉 https://wiki.maranaw.com/index.php/Saaduddin_A._Alauya,_Sr.
If you believe the stories of our ulama, our scholars, and our trailblazers deserve to be told — share this post. Help us keep the Bangsamoro story alive.
