Sheikh Karim ul Makhdum Day

Excerpt from the Speech of OIC-Regional Governor Hon. Mujiv S. Hataman during the 632^nd Founding Anniversary of Sheikh Karimul Mahkdum Mosque 
@ Boheh Indangan, Simunul, Tawi-Tawi.

November 7, 2012

“ I would not be here as your Regional Governor had it not been because of the Bangsamoro Struggle; there would be NO Bangsamoro Struggle without the Muslims in the Philippines; there would be NO Muslims in the Philippines without the coming of Islam centuries ago and; there would be NO coming of Islam to the Philippines without an Arab Missionary named Shiekh Karimul Mahkdum who planted the seeds of Islam in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi which now spread all over the country.” 

Karim ul-Makhdum (Sayyid un-Nikab Aminullah)

In the fouteenth century (about 1380), Karim ul-Makhdum built the Philippines' oldest mosque which still exists in Tubig Indangan, Simunul Tawi-Tawi.

More prominently, the earliest period that Islam was introduced in the southern islands has been associated with this religious landmark, if not attributed to Karm ul-Makhdum, whose proper name was Aminullah and was entitled Sayyid un-Nikab. (The country's oldest Masjid in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi has undergone reconstruction in various times). In Maguindanao and Lanao, the genealogical  personality of early missionary Shariff Awliya is sometimes associated to the reverence of a "Makhdum."

Dr. Cesar Adib Majul, and eminent Muslim scholar, hinted of earlier Muslim settlement in Sulu, first with the information about the coming of a certain Tuan Mashaika to Sulu. According to the Sulu Genealogy, Tuan Mashaika (probably from South Arabia) married a daughter of the "younger" Rajah Sipad (Sripada or Sripaduka), this ruler being a descendant of an earlier Sipad. The Sulu Genealogy does not specifically mention that Mashaika was a Muslim. But by the names of his children (Tuan Ilakim and Aisha) and of his grandchildren, Mashaika must have been a Muslim (Najeeb Saleeby, Sulu Historical Notes 1905).

Sometime after the arrival of Tuan Mashaika, the Badjaos were reported to have arrived in Sulu. This was supposed to be the fourth major group to have arrived in Sulu. The oldest groupd, the Buranuns (the mountaineers) settled in Maimbung and their chiefs were surnamed Siripada. The second group was of the Tagimahas from Basilan, who came and lived in the area near Buansa; and the third group the Baklayas, settled in nearby area of jolo. The Sulu Genealogy (preserved at the Sulu Museum) narrates:

"Sometimes after that there came Karimul Makhdum. He crossed the sea in a vase or pot of iron and was called sarip. He settled at Bwansa, the place where the nobles of Tagimaha (from Basilan) lived. There the people flocked to him from all directions, and he built a house for religious worship."

According to this source of local tradition, Makhdum did some conversion of the natives. That he was later call Tuan Shariff Aulia suggests that he was a missionary and preacher, since the term "aulia" sometimes carried this connotation in Malaysia. However, Majul creduts Shariful Hashim, the first sultan of Sulu, for the development of Islam's "foothold in Sulu", more that Makhdum efforts in building mosques and his conversion of the natives in both Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. This is because Hashim had estabished madaris (schools) as the center of learning of the teachings of the Qur'an.

Many legend have been woven around the personality of Makhdum. Among these are those which tell of how he walked on water and save people from drowning, and communicated by the paper flown in the air. These traditions, although pious in nature, suggest that the Makhdum was a sufi, and as well known, a great deal of magical powers had been attributed to the sufis, especially those in Bengal.   The Jesuit Francisco Combes, also reported about this attribution of "magical" powers to those who first brought Islam to the Philippines.

Indeed people in different parts of Sulu (and even in Maguindanao and Lanao) Genealogically trace descent from Shariff Aulia. The Karimul Mahkdum Sayyid un-Nikab Aminullah had been buried in Bud Agad in Sulu.

Majul wrote: "it is to the Makhdum Aminullah that stories about Chinese companions and the trading activities with them properly belong." Near his tomb is that of a Chinese, called by the caretakers as "Ho-Hoy", probably an altered local version of "Hue-Hue", the Chinese term for Muslim and which was used to refer to Chinese Muslim who constituted the groups of people in the Celestial Empire.

However, more problematical to Muslim Historians is the fact that different places claim the honor of having his grave.

In Tapul Island, there lies buries also a certain Abdu ur-Rahman, sometimes called Makhdum but distinguished from the one who was supposed to have left.

In Tandu Banak, there is the tomb of another Makhdum and thus, the tendency to associate this burial place with Karim ul-Makhdum. It is further asserted that the famous mosque still standing in Tubig Indangan was built by him. If tradition are to be relied upon, there were at least two Makhdumin.(A compilation of Philippine Muslim History by Nash Maulana, BPI-ARMM Executive Director).

References:
-Muslim in the Philippines, 1973 Dr. Cesar Adib Majul
-The History of the Sulu Sultanate, 1905 Dr. Najeeb Saleeby
-The Sulu Genealogy
-The Maguindanao Genealogy
-The Chronicles of Spanish Expeditions by Francisco Combes