(This piece is partly culled from an earlier article.)

The Philippines was agog with festivities Monday as Christian Filipinos celebrated the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Even the dark clouds of turmoil hovering over the Middle East and Ukraine did not dampen the celebratory mood. Filipinos display glittering lanterns in their homes, crowded malls sparkle with neon lights and the airwaves echo with noels.

It is traditionally a season of joy for many except for a section of society of a different sect — the ultraconservative Muslims, especially disciples of the Salafi-Wahabbi school.

The jury is still out on the issue of whether Muslims could participate in the celebration of Christmas without being sacrilegious.

In fact, I had written past articles on this question and had drawn flak, some vitriolic from rabid devotees for my alleged irreverent and blasphemous, if not apostate, ideas.

I have described the unease and disquiet of Muslim students being invited to a Christmas party, exchanging gifts and listening to carols by their classmates and friends. The office Christmas party is also on the borderline of apostasy.

In the extreme, if you belt out or even hum a Christmas noel which praises Jesus Christ, are you committing a sin? What are the parameters?

I wrote of many other predicaments confronting minority Muslims living in a Christian environment. Not a few harangued me for my articles, but I took it as part of the territory of an opinion writer.

My legal orientation preponderates over my position on the issue.

I have always maintained that the culpability of a person is dependent largely upon his intention.

The general legal precept (with a few exceptions, like a felony resulting from culpa or negligence) that says, "There is no crime where there is no intention to commit it (mens rea)," weighed in very much on my position. We call intention among Maranaos "ni-at" and among Arabs "nia."