The Philippines is part of the bigger cultural crucible of Southeast Asia, composed of continental and archipelagic Southeast Asia. Both areas have been the melting pot of various cultures and faith traditions creating culturally symbiotic and multicultural communities and tribes. This is manifested in the different tribal customs and social norms exhibited in different places in the Philippines. Among them is the culture of the circumcision which, although a predominantly Southeast Asian Muslim tradition, is also practiced as a rite of passage for Filipino males. Islam in the Philippines, like in other countries, has developed a level of indigenization, and this has resulted in a clash between indigenization and Arabization of Islam in the public sphere, where because of a globalized culture and easier access to information through technology, there has been social friction between cultural and religious institutions that form Muslim communities in the Philippines. It is important to highlight that Islam is a mosaic and not a monolith. As such, different schools of thought are manifested in the practice of Islam in the Philippines and in the religious educational institutions that enforce their respective practices through religious education (tarbiyah). As multiple schools of Islamic thought have embedded themselves into Filipino Muslim culture, this paper will try to differentiate and clarify unique distinctions in each school of thought and how they have influenced Filipino Muslim culture and spirituality. This discussion aims to present the roles and influences that cultural and religious institutions provide in the context of cultural and religious education and their role in strengthening multiculturalism and religious pluralism in the Philippines. This paper is part of a bigger research in understanding the cultural and religious education of Muslims in the Philippines and aims to provide a clearer perspective in understanding the role of Muslim culture.