Malik bin Deenar or
Malik Ibn Dinar was a
Tabi‘inThe Tābi‘ūn are the generation of Muslims who were born after the death of Muhammad but who were contemporary of the Sahaba "Companions". As such they played an important part in the development of Islamic thought and philosophy, and in the political development of the early Caliphate...
. He is famous for being the first to bring
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
to
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
In 624 AD, Malik bin Deenar and 12 of his trade associates landed in
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
, and continued the trade between
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and Arabia. Their way of trading however was distinctly different from that of earlier
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
traders and the populace was wooed to
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
The King of the time,
Cheraman PerumalCheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma was a king of the ancient Tamil-speaking Chera Dynasty in the late eighth Century CE...
, came to know of the surprising trade practices of these Arabs and had them brought to his palace.
Malik bin Deenar or
Malik Ibn Dinar was a
Tabi‘inThe Tābi‘ūn are the generation of Muslims who were born after the death of Muhammad but who were contemporary of the Sahaba "Companions". As such they played an important part in the development of Islamic thought and philosophy, and in the political development of the early Caliphate...
. He is famous for being the first to bring
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
to
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
In 624 AD, Malik bin Deenar and 12 of his trade associates landed in
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
, and continued the trade between
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and Arabia. Their way of trading however was distinctly different from that of earlier
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
traders and the populace was wooed to
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
The King of the time,
Cheraman PerumalCheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma was a king of the ancient Tamil-speaking Chera Dynasty in the late eighth Century CE...
, 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
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
The king asked them to explain
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. They discussed the tenets of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and talked about
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
. The king then wanted to know if there was any proof that Muhammad was a prophet. The traders said Muhammad had performed
supernatural deedsMiracle in the Qur'an can be defined as a supernatural intervention in the life of human beings. According to this definition, miracles are present "in a threefold sense: in sacred history, in connection with Muhammad himself and in relation to revelation." The Qur'an does not use the technical...
, including the
Shaqq Al QamarThe splitting of the moon is a claimed miracle done by the prophet Muhammad in Islamic tradition. The incident is mentioned in many early Muslim traditions as the context of revelation for the Qur'anic verse and virtually all Muslim commentators accept the historicity of the miracle...
or the splitting of the moon into two.
The King then summoned his
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
AstrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
s who consulted their
almanacAn almanac is an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar...
s 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 HajjThe Farewell Pilgrimage was the last pilgrimage Muhammad participated in, in 632 CE .-Preparations:The angel Gabriel came to Muhammad every year to read the Qur'an with him, but this year he came twice...
with him. On his journey back, he was drowned in a tempest which destroyed his ship and his body came ashore at
SalalahSalalah , is the capital and seat of the governor or Wali of the southern Omani province of Dhofar. The population of Salalah is 178,469 as of 2005. Salalah is located at...
,
OmanOman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
where his grave is a famous landmark today.
Mosque
A mosque was built at Kodungalloor by Malik Ibn Deenar around
629-Persian and Byzantine Empires:*September – Jerusalem is reconquered by the Byzantine Empire from the Persian Empire.* The Battle of Mu'tah, the first Muslim expedition outside Arabia, fails to take the lands east of the Jordan River....
AD. The mosque was provided by the
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
population living in that place. A mosque at
MadayiMadayi is a small place in Kannur district, Kerala, South India. It is located near Payangadi.Madayi is also the site of the famous Madayi Kavu where devotees worship Mother Kali, Shakthi. The Goddess is known for Her blessings on devotees, and the temple is also famous for the Koyikalasham...
in
Kannur DistrictKannur District கண்ணூர் is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. The town of Kannur is the district headquarters, and gives the district its name. The old name Cannanore is the anglicised form of the Malayalam name Kannur. Kannur District is bounded by Kasaragod District to the...
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.