Tau Maisug (brave people)

Readers as well are tempted to theorized that indeed, Tausug means "brave people" since then fought the Spaniards for more than three hundred years. They proved too strong for the Spaniards, and too disturbing for the Americans. The Tausug fought the Americans for more than 20 years, and the Japanese for more than 4 years. Thought the passing of time, as this was also handed down from generation to generation, the public finds convenience in the shortcut derivative of the term, and thereby call the Tausug instead of tau maisug whenever they refer to the courageous people of Sulu.

Taa Usug (man/leadership) theory- By and large, the Tausug society is patriarchal in character. A patriarchal system looks at man as the "Pillar of Society", a leader and a decision maker. In other words, it is a male dominated society.

Customarily, a man is always looked up to in the society to resolve conflicts like family feuds, wedding agreement, eloping and abducting cases and other societal concerns. A decision to consummate a wedding contract must be the decision of male relatives (Usbah) from the father side. If a male relative (waris) from the mother side is consulted, in a decision, it is a matter of formality, and a show of respect.

In a verbal altercation involving male and female for example, the male party will always require : "kawa’ kaw usug" (get me a male counterpart, to show pitiful respect for the woman) or'" hundung kaw, lumugay makapa usug na in parkala" (shot up, otherwise, this will become a male issue). Used in this sense that it will reach the attention of a leader. Hence, if one tends to be abusive, one is counseled: "hundung kaw, taa-usug ha hulah ini! (behave or your misdemeanor will reach the attention of a leader.)

Ahlus Suluk ( Followers of straight path)theory -Sulu has always been considered a hallowed ground, a holy place. The sufi schools and disciples of this path considered coming to Sulu as a holy venture and staying in the place for a religious retreat as a great personal accomplishment. Hence, we noticed, hordes of Sufi scholars came here, and by stroke of fate, they got married to the local women and raised a Muslim family.

Junaid Al-Bagdhadi - a scholar from Baghdad believed to have lived in Bualu, Maimbung,Sulu, though not a date of his coming was recorded. Another one was Tuan Masha'ika who came to Maimbung around 1310 A.D. and married to a member of a ruling family there. Sultan Awliya Abdulqadir Jailani- leader of all Awliya had also visited the place. Zain-al Abidin, the father of the First Sultan of Sulu, after living for sometime in Buansa, Indanan,Sulu, went to Maimbung, and from there, exited to Malacca. He was the one who brought to Sulu the so -called "Hidden Knowledge" in Islam. (Dr. Bara 2005)

Syeikh Abdulqadir Jailani

The Suq-Sug (Market) theory - in the 80's Dr. Ben Kadil argued that it must not be translated that way, instead, it must be translated to "People of the Market" and because not all people  pronounced, the original "Suq" eventually became sug, and hence, the tausug means "People of the Market. (Arsad 2003):

To be continued...

Dayang Naifah