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Malik Bin Deenar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malik bin Deenar or Malik Ibn Dinar was a Tabai. He is famous for being the first to bring Islam to India.
It is believed[citation needed] that in 644 AD [1] Malik bin Deenar and 12 of his trade associates landed in Kerala, a state at the southern tip of India and continued the trade between India and Arabia. Their way of trading however was distinctly different from that of earlier Arab traders and the populace was wooed to Islam.
The King of the time, Cheraman Perumal, came to know of the surprising trade practices of these Arabs and had them brought to his palace. On enquiry, Malik Bin Deenar and his comrades related the reason for their honest trade practices to be their recent conversion to Islam.
The king asked them to explain Islam. They discussed the tenets of Islam and talked about Muhammad. The king then wanted to know if there was any proof that Muhammad was a prophet. The traders said Muhammad had performed supernatural deeds, including the Shaqq Al Qamar or the splitting of the moon into two.
The King then summoned his Hindu Astrologers who consulted their almanacs and reported a similar phenomenon recorded by them. The King forthwith abdicated his throne and left with Malik Bin Deenar for Arabia where it is chronicled that he met the Prophet Muhammad and performed the famous Last Hajj with him. On his journey back, he was drowned in a tempest which destroyed his ship and his body came ashore at Salalah, Oman where his grave is a famous landmark today.
A mosque was built at Kodungalloor by Malik Ibn Deenar around 612 AD (although this period antedates the time when he is supposed to have first arrived in Kerala!). The mosque was provided by the Hindu population living in that place. A mosque at Madayi in Kannur District called the Malik Ibn Deenar Mosque is also believed to have been built by Malik Ibn Deenar. In addition to these two mosques, some other palaces were also granted by the local raja as places of worship for the Muslims. This explains the temple style of architecture for some of the earliest mosques in Kerala.