Alcoran is a rare word with limited usage due to its Moslem archaic origin. Yet in spite of this Islamic antiquity, not all Moslems all over the world know its sacredness. Alcoran means the Koran, the Quran Moslem Holy Book. It is the Holy Scripture of Mohammedanism which contains religions Islamic dogma written originally in old Arabic manuscript and is older than Holy Bible itself.

 

My interest which ironically was transformed into sublime dedication to unravel anything from mystery, truth, half truth or hearsay about Alcoran started when I was in grade school. Way back in a small quiet suburban City in Dumaguete City, Philippines, I was always teased by friends and classmates about my last name. In our dialect, it sounds like “kaguran” which means a coconut grater. I would always cry and relentless ask my father where he got such name, Alcoran. There are only a few of us in the entire Philippines and in this huge planet earth.

 

My father’s features as well as those of his siblings were different compared to those in the community where we lived. They had no Asian features. He had fair skin, hazel eyes and tilted nose. Way back in the 70’s, my father was always mistaken as a foreigner, a Spaniard or an Indian. In those days, if you look like an alien you will be tagged as a bastard. This has always been our dilemma. Had my father lived in the present time, his looks will never matter much in this growing multi-cultured world.

 

Friends would call my father “Bombay”, a local term for an Indian merchant. Although my father just dismisses this name calling with a smile, I didn’t like the way they tease him. It was not complementary on my part but an insult because it was indirectly telling him that he was an Indian bastard. He was an honorable man, with good breeding, schooled in the First American University in the Philippines , Silliman University established by Protestant Missionaries in 1901. Leodegario Farallon Alcoran speaks fluent English and Spanish as well. We were so proud of him.

 

My father was a great story teller. He would never tire telling as about his parent’s sojourns in various places just to survive the challenges of the times during the late 1700 to the early 1800. In between those tales, we always see the tears in his eyes. Even if I was very young then, I could feel the stabbing pain within him. So, I would ask more queries, sometimes funny and irrelevant ones. I could feel then his admiration over my enthusiasm to know more about his ancestry but sensed that something was more sentimental in the stories that have remained untold until his demise.

   

Theory has it that the Alcorans were among early Spanish Arabs before Spain was catholicized. How they became Spanish Arabs brings us back in time when Spain was under Moors control for more than 400 years. That is why; even the Spanish language itself has deep Arabic origin. So, Alcoran in Spanish means “al Koran” which in English is, “of the Koran”. Historically the Moors were of Middle Eastern origin. The Moors were Moslem warriors who invaded Spain and other African countries like Morocco . Just as how the Roman Crusaders brought their faith through their Holy Bible and converted pagan villages to Catholics, the Muslims too did the same with their Alcorans. Such that in the history of Europe, there are records and evidence of early Muslims before they were finally Catholicized ( Scotland and French History, World History).

 

The history of the Saracens or the Arab warrior border guards of Syria and Lebanon sometime during the Roman Crusade in the Middle East revealed how the Muslims tried in vain to guard their borders from the persistent attacked of Roman crusaders. However, many warriors were captured and turned into slaves by the Spanish Royalties. They were utilized as oarsmen for the Spanish Armada.

 

The Spanish Armada spread its might all throughout the corners of the world. Evidence to this is historical records of Spanish invasions, were Spanish colonies were established all over including that of the Philippines. It was not however invulnerable. Eventually in the later part of 1500, it was totally destroyed by British warships in the Battle of England. There were hazy records of survivors… and one may wonder where the none-Spanish oarsmen went. The presumption is that, they had assimilated with the inhabitants of the place where they were able to seek shelter or maybe they were given human treatment by the conquerors who defeated Spain and allowed to live… and perhaps these and other theories would lead me to start the ultimate search for the missing Alcoran.

 

Very recently, successful efforts have been done with the use of communication and the internet ancestry and genealogy sites to locate some Alcorans. And whether it was technology or God’s Divine intervention, I found Alcorans in Europe, Spain, Italy, Scotland, England of the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

 

My story does not end here… In fact it has just begun in Berwickshire, Scotland where an old cemetery in a village in Westfirth, we can find tombstones of Alcorans dated back as early as 1841.

 

(To be continued…)