Shariff Muhammed Kabungsuwan''Ang Bayan Sa Labas Ng Maynila'' (2008), pg 195 ( Maguindanaon: ''Muhammad Kabunsuan'', Jawi: شريف کبوڠسوان; Malay: ''Muhammad Kebungsuwan'', Jawi: شريف کبوڠسووان) was the first Sultan of Maguindanao in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. A native of

Johore Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore to the south and Indonesia to the east and ...

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 ...

, Kabungsuwan re-settled in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the Philippines where he preached

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 native tribes around the region.

Origin

Maguindanao genealogy records state that Kabungsuwan's father 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 ...

and a

sharif Sharīf or Sherif (, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the fami ...

or a descendant of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

while his mother was Malay. His recorded name "Kabungsuwan" in Maguindanao tradition means "youngest" and is said to be the youngest among three children. His eldest brother, Ahmad is said to have established the Bruneian Sultanate while his other brother Alawi is said to have set up the Sulu Sultanate.

Mission work in Mindanao

The Sunni scholar Kabungsuwan is generally regarded as the one who introduced Islam in the Lanao and Maguindanao areas in

arriving in the area in the early 16th century. There are several ''tarsilas'' or written genealogy on Kabungsuwan though most of these state that he brought in men when he landed in Mindanao, his group are composed of seafarers, there was initial force with his group's interaction with the locals and that there were already Muslims in Mindanao when his Kangungsuwan and his men landed near the mouth of the Pulangi River. Kabungsuwan formed alliances with influential royal families of

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, and

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

. This led to Islam becoming the dominant religion around

Lake Lanao Lake Lanao ( Maranao: ''Ranao'' or ''Ranaw'') is a large ancient lake in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake in Mindanao, the deepest and second largest lake in the Philippines, and counte ...

by the 19th century.

Personal life

Kabungsuwan traded in T'buk, old name of

Malabang Malabang, officially the Municipality of Malabang ( Maranao: ''Inged a Malabang''; ), is a municipality in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 49,088 people. The town is one of the t ...

, Lanao. Kabungsuwan was of

- Malay ethnicity. He married a local princess and established the

Sultanate of Maguindanao The Sultanate of Maguindanao ( Maguindanaon: ''Kasultanan nu Magindanaw'', Jawi: كسولتانن نو مڬیندنو; Filipino: ''Kasultanan ng Mangindánaw'') was a Sunni Muslim sultanate that ruled parts of the island of Mindanao, in th ...

in the 16th century. The sultanate was usually centered in the valley of

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

Legacy

The former

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Shariff Kabunsuan Shariff Kabunsuan was a short-lived province of the Philippines within the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that existed from 2006 to 2008. Its designated seat of government was Datu Odin Sinsuat. Initially comprising ten municipal ...

in the Philippines was named after him.

Notes

References

* ''Ang Bayan Sa Labas Ng Maynila'', by Rosario Cruz Lucero, published by

Ateneo de Manila University Press The Ateneo de Manila University Press is a university press and the official publishing house of Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archi ...

, 2008, {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabungsuwan, Mohammed 1543 deaths Filipino datus, rajas and sultans Filipino Muslims Filipino people of Malay descent Filipino people of Arab descent Filipino people of Malaysian descent Muslim missionaries Muslim monarchs People from Johor Year of birth unknown