THE IMAMS OF THE MOSQUE – CORRUPT OR UPRIGHT?

One of the teachings of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, as shown by his deeds, is the perfection of morality. Muslims who seriously follow such morality as set by Muhammad, indeed, stand on a higher plane of character and behavior. Such are the Imams of the mosques who in reality are representatives of the Prophet. These Imams not only lead in the daily worship in the mosque but also in other aspects of the muslims' life like marriage, death burial, honesty in business, education of the muslims, and politics. In any problem arising in the daily affairs of the muslims, the Imam is consulted. To be effective, the Imam should be models of wisdom and morality. But the Imam of Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Philippines is an exception!

Commonly known as Omar Betita, a former christian who newly embraced Islam. Before his conversion his name was Bebot Tanis, a Christian who worked in Mindanao.

But because he was involved in some sort of financial malversation in his company he escaped to Negros Occidental where he converted to Islam in one of the Islamic Organizations in Bacolod City, Philippines in order to work in Saudi Arabia as an auto painter. In order to learn Islam while he was working in Saudi Arabia, he would take clippings about Islam from The Arab News every Friday. And this became his only Islamic education.


Muslims in the Philippines always looked up to Muslims who worked in Saudi Arabia thinking that these Muslims are learned in Islam. So after a few years stint in Saudi Arabia, when he abruptly returned to Bacolod City, some Muslims requested him to be their Imam which he readily accepted despite his meager knowledge of Islam and zero knowledge of Arabic.

What kind of a man is Omar Betita? Did he really absorbed the morality of Islam? To say, yes, is hypocrisy, why? First of all he was involved in financial malversation, that is why from Tanis, he changed his family name to Betita in order to hide his identity. While in Saudi Arabia, he caused his wife to write a letter that she needed to be operated of her goiter and she needed cash. Of course that was a lie; there was no goiter. Betita needed the letter to solicit for cash donations, and the gimmick was successful. As Imam, he required cash payment from people who accepted Islam and for officiating in marriages.
Worst of all, he called muslims who do not belong to his group as non-muslims; only they are the true muslims, so says Omar Betita.

Is this Islam? Is Omar Betita a true muslim? Does he deserve to be an Imam? We cannot really open what's in his heart; but his un-Islamic deeds
reveal it. Action speaks louder than words, so the saying goes.

This is not a personal vendetta against Omar, rather an eye-opener, a warning to all.