Burial Site of Sheik Karimol Makhdum historical marker - NHCP

Sheikh Karimul Makhdum was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Sunni

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Muslim as well as a known missionary from Syria who came to

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

. Karimul Makhdum was born in Makdonia, a village near Damascus in Syria. Him and the Wali sanga were affiliated with the ''Kubrawi Hamadani'' missionaries in the late 14th century. He was a Sufi who brought

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

to the Philippines in 1380, 141 years before Portuguese explorer

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

arrived in the country. He established a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in Simunul Island, Tawi Tawi, Philippines, known as Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque which is the oldest mosque in the country.

Commemoration

On arrival to the Philippines, he built a mosque in Simunul island, Tawi-Tawi. The construction is celebrated annually in the southern Philippines as anniversary of the coming of Makhdum Karim. The celebration offers prayers that commemorate the propagation of

Islam in the Philippines Islam in the Philippines is the second largest religion in the country, and the faith was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Historically, Islam reached the Philippine archipelago in the 14th century, through contac ...

. In 2005, Governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Zaldy Ampatuan has appealed to the Philippine government, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries to rehabilitate the mosque and develop it as a religious tourist spot in southern Philippines.

References

Malaysian expatriates in the Philippines Filipino Muslims Muslim missionaries Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{Philippines-reli-bio-stub