The mental image most of us have of the Maldives is that they are beautiful, tranquil, and remote islands, representing a lovely place to spend an enjoyable time hopping between islands. However, perhaps some of us do not know that the vast majority of the inhabitants of these islands are Muslims. And if you know this information, dear reader, do you know the story of Islam‘s entry into the Maldives?
It’s an exciting and beautiful story at the same time, beginning with the Moroccan traveller Abu Barakat al-Barbari. In this report, we will take you on a journey through history, specifically around the eleventh century AD.
Islam’s Entry into the Maldives
The Egyptian writer and historian Mahmoud Shakir mentions in his book “Islamic History” that Islam began to enter the Maldives in 85 AH, i.e., in the seventh century AD. It entered through Muslim traders who reached those areas during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
However, Islam did not spread there in this way; the influence of the traders was limited. Their influence did not exceed a few individuals embracing Islam at that time, but the significant impact came through a Muslim traveller from Morocco, and it is said from Somalia to those countries, and thus, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, narrates another story to us in his book “Rihla”.
Ibn Battuta in the Maldives
Ibn Battuta travelled to all the countries of the East, starting from his hometown of Tangier in Morocco, to India, which was then under the rule of the Muslim Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Ibn Battuta worked as a judge for the Sultan and lived there for several years, but he felt anxious because the Sultan was constantly changing and quick to anger. He feared that staying in his service would bring him harm.
In 1341, the Sultan chose him to be his envoy to the Mongol Sultan in China, so he set out on his journey to escape his anxiety and fear of the Sultan. During his journey, Ibn Battuta was kidnapped and robbed of everything he owned, leaving him only in his undergarments!
Later, Ibn Battuta managed and travelled to the southern Indian Ocean to reach the Maldives. He narrates to us the story of Islam’s entry into these beautiful islands. Ibn Battuta stayed there for a year before continuing his journey to China.
Abu Barakat al-Barbari.. The Sheikh Who Overcame the “Jinn”
When Ibn Battuta arrived in the Maldives, they were ruled by a queen named Khadija. One day during his presence there, he found himself amidst what looked like a festival. People were gathered on the coast chanting praises and takbirs, children had Qurans on their heads, and women were beating on brass pots.
Ibn Battuta was surprised and asked them about their condition and its cause, so they asked him to look at the sea. When he looked, he saw what resembled a large ship, so they said to him: “This is the ‘Jinn‘, and its habit is to appear once a month. If we do what you see us doing now, it will leave us alone and not harm us.” Thus, they aroused the curiosity of the traveller, who investigated the matter until it was narrated to him by “the trustworthy”, according to what he tells us in his travels.
So Ibn Battuta went and asked some scholars and judges, and they answered him with the story. In ancient times, there used to appear to the people of these islands a “Jinn” from the sea at a specified time every month. When it appeared, they would take one of the virgin girls, adorn her, and place her in the idol house erected on the coast, leaving her there overnight. When morning came, they found her dead.
Thus, the people used to draw lots every month, and whoever was chosen by the lot among the people had to sacrifice his daughter to this “Jinn”. After many years, this Muslim traveler Abu Barakat al-Barbari came to them.
When Abu Barakat arrived, he found them in that condition, living in the house of an old woman on one of the islands. One day during his stay, he found her relatives gathered, crying bitterly. When he asked them, he learned that the lot had fallen on the old woman, and thus she had to sacrifice her only daughter. Here Abu Barakat al-Barbari decided to save the girl. He told the old woman that he would enter as a substitute for her daughter.
So Abu Barakat al-Barbari undertook this adventure, entered the idol house, and began reciting the Quran. When the “Jinn” appeared and heard the Quran, it immediately returned to the sea. The next morning when the old woman and her people arrived, they found Abu Barakat alive as he was, untouched by anything.
Thus Abu Barakat al-Barbari reached their king, whose name was Shanuraza. He heard the story from them, and then Abu Barakat offered Islam to him, so Shanuraza decided to test Abu Barakat. He said to him: “Stay with us until next month, and if you do the same thing with the ‘Jinn’, you will convert to Islam.”
So, the month passed, and the king and his family, along with the people of the island, converted to Islam, and they lived according to the Maliki school of thought as Abu Barakat al-Barbari did. They built a mosque in his name.
The story may seem legendary, and it seems that Abu Barakat al-Barbari did nothing but confront this legend, and because of this position, the people of the Maldives became Muslims until now.
