The beginning of Islam in the Philippines
According to Dr. Cesar Majul (1973), the beginning of Islam in the Philippines can be traced in Mindanao since the location was used as a trading route used by Arab merchants from the Arabian Peninsula. The route serves as a passage from the Arabian Peninsula passing through Malaysia, Borneo, and Sulu, going up to the islands of the Visayas region, Luzon then eventually reaching China. The said trade route existed during the late part of the tenth century and known to historians as the second route since the first route was Malaysia passing through the coast of Indo-China then China.
The second route existed due to a conflict in China during the Tang Dynasty. During the event, Arab merchants were forced to…show more content… Also, Shariff Karim Ul-Makhdum was a trader according to Moro historians and began to preach the Islamic faith to Filipinos and built the first mosque in the Philippines in Tawi-Tawi. The mosque is now a National Landmark due to the passing of Republic Act 10573 in 2013 which declared the mosque known as Bohe Indangan as the Philippines’ oldest Islamic worship site. Ul-Makhdum was then followed by Rajah Baguinda in the year 1390 and was married to a native princess which led to the conversion of many natives to Islam.
In the year 1450, Abubakar arrived in the island of Sulu and continued the work started by Rajah Baguinda. Abubakar and Putri Paramisulu, his wife, became the first sultan and sultanate of Sulu. This event is considered as an important turning point of Islam in Mindanao. Other regions of Mindanao such as Zamboanga, Basilan, and others were converted to the faith during the time, and then Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan became the Sultan of Maguindanao in the year 1516 and that is when the faith reached the deepest parts of Zamboanga and