Sheikh Karimul Makhdum

Sheikh Karimul Makhdum was an Arab Sunni Sufi Muslim as well as a known missionary from Syria who came to Maritime Southeast Asia.^[1] Karimul Makhdum was born in Makdonia, a village near Damascus in Syria.^[2] Him and the Wali sanga were affiliated with the Kubrawi Hamadani missionaries in the late 14th century.^[3] He was a Sufi who brought Islam to the Philippines in 1380, 141 years before Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the country. He established a mosque in Simunul Island, Tawi Tawi, Philippines, known as Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque which is the oldest mosque in the country.^[4]

Historical marker installed in 2023 stating that the burial site of Makhdum had been declared as a National Historial Shrine by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines

Commemoration

On arrival to the Philippines, he built a mosque in Simunul island, Tawi-Tawi. The construction is celebrated annually in the southern Philippines as anniversary of the coming of Makhdum Karim. The celebration offers prayers that commemorate the propagation of Islam in the Philippines.

In 2005, Governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Zaldy Ampatuan has appealed to the Philippine government, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries to rehabilitate the mosque and develop it as a religious tourist spot in southern Philippines.

In his honor and to commemorate the introduction of Islam, "Sheikh Karim'ul Makhdum Day" has been observed throughout the Bangsamoro region as a special public holiday, every November 7 annually.^[5] It was first declared by the government of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 1991 through Muslim Mindanao Act No. 17 and Executive Order No. 40 (dated November 4).^[6] On July 9, 2025, President Bongbong Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12228, designating the same date a special national working holiday.^[7]