Arrival of Islam in Philippines

Arabic influence and the spread of Islam in the Philippines starts from Sulu brought by a sheikh who later married the daughter of the King of Sulu in the early 8th or 14th century.

It was also cited that a descendant of the Arab sheikh named Maldhum Karim or Tuan Sharif 'Awliya ' arrived in Sulu in the mid-14th century. He established Islam in the country through trade in several regions of the island.

After that came an Arab preacher named Sheikh Abu Bakr or sharif al-Hashim from Makkah. He was known as knowledgeable in theology and shari’ah. His mission was to spread out the doctrines of one Abu Ishaq embodied in the book Darul Madlum (The House of Oppressed) within Malay world.

The Sheikh Abu Bakr initiated attempts to convert the inhabitants of the interior of Sulu (Buranuns) and is believed to have been successful. The coastal peoples and those of the interior of Sulu became slowly integrated into a political community under a central authority.

Sheikh Abu Bakr belongs to a sharif lineage, which is one of the descendants of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Later, he was inducted as the Sulu sultanate and ruled for 30 years in 1450-1480. The establishment of the sultanate assumes that a great number of the coastal inhabitants of Sulu had become Moslems and therefore responsive to such as Islamic institution.

Another sultanate had emerged in Mindanao by 1520 established by Sharif Kabungsuwan. Islam spread to Mindanao brought by 'Ali Zainal Abidin who was also known as "Kabungsuwan" which was a descendant of Syed' Awlawiyyah who have family ties with relatives king in Johor. 'Ali Zainal Abidin arrived in Cotabato in 1475.

All these sultanates from Sulu and Mindanao eventually lost their powers upon the establishment of a modern republican government set up by the Americans, and upon the birth of the Philippine state in 1946.
Arrival of Islam in Philippines

Islam in Brunei

Old Brunei was a nation of Malay Hindu-Buddhists, according to a Chinese account of Puli, believed to be an early Chinese reference to Brute Old Brunei was said to have similar Malay-Hindu Buddhist traditions and customs as Funan or Kumlum in Malay state of Indochina.

Islam is believed to have existed ever since the fourteenth century with the Islamization of Awang Alak Betatar, with the adapted Muslim name Sultan Muhammad Shah, as the first sultan to rule Brunei.(1363-1402).

Hence, Islamic law is assumed to have been practiced by Bruneian society. With Islam, Brunei asserted and expanded its role as an independent and dominant trading power in the region. Its trade and territories grew with the spread of Islam to encompass existing Malay kingdoms in Borneo and the Philippines.

Brunei participated in the intellectual network of Islamic South-East Asia and beyond through different channels Tariqahs, educational centers, political ties, trading network, religious figures and personal ties formed important nodes of networks.

Today, Islam, primarily of the Shafiite School of Jurisprudence, is alive and thriving in Brunei. Birth, marriage, divorce, burial and other social ceremonies in Brunei are generally done according to the Islamic law.
Islam in Brunei

Syeikh Daud al-Fatani

Syeikh Daud b. Abdullah b. Idris al-Fatani was born in Krue Se in 1769 and died in Ta’if in 1847. It was said that Daud al-Fatani had ancestral relations with Wali Songo Malik Ibrahim. Krue se is an old harbor in Pattani where Maulana Malik Ibrahim, reportedly preached Islam before he proceeded to East Java.

His grandfather Syeikh Wan Idris al-Fatani and father, Syeikh Wan Abdullah al-Fatani are both known to have been involved in his early religious education.

Following his early education in Pattani, Daud al-Fatani spent time in a pondok or madrasah before travelling to Aceh where he studied for two years with Muhammad Zayn bin Faqih Jalal al-Din al-Ashi, a leading Acehnese scholar during the period of Sultan ‘Ala’ al-Din Mahmud Shah.

Syeikh Daud reached the Hijaz via Aceh in his late twenties. In the Haramain, Syeikh Daud studied for many years under many well-known scholars from Middle East. It is commonly accepted that he resided in Mecca for 30 years and in Medina for five year.

His earliest dated work was completed in Mecca in 1809 when he was 69 years old and had established himself as a learned scholar. The date of his last work is 1843.

Among his writings:
Hi­dayah al-Muta’allim wa ‘Umdatul Mu’al­lim (1828 M)
Bughyah ath-Thullab
Furu’ al-Masa‘il wa Ushul al-Wa­sa‘il (1841 M)
Sullam al-Mubtadi fi Ma’rifah Thariqah al-Muhtadi (1836)
Nahj ar-Raghibin wa Subul al-Muttaqin (1811 M)
Bugh­yah ath-Thullab
Kitab Al-Bahjah as-Saniyah
Syeikh Daud al-Fatani

Hamzah Fansuri

Hamzah Fansuri is a famous Sufi proponent and poet. Hamzah Fansuri was born in Barus, a town on the west coast of North Sumatra between Singkel and Sibolga. Barus was an important and prosperous trading port in the early 16th century.

The name ‘Fansuri’ had been long used to seamen or traders who were associated with that town. Fansuri was fluent in Persian, Malay and Arabic. He traveled widely both east and west.

In addition to having studied in the Middle East, he also spent time in Ayutthaya; which was known to its sizable Persian population as ‘Shahr-i Nav’ Persian for ‘city of boats and canals’.

After his travels to Siam and Arabia, Hamzah returned to Aceh and taught in that location as well as in Barus.

Most of Hamzah Fansuri’s works were written in syair verse forms. In fact, his syairs were among those first written in Malay.

As is well-known Hamzah Fansuri was the first scholar writing in Malay to have articulated the monist doctrine of Wahdat al-wujud, associated with Ibn Arabi.

Though Hamzah’s greatest legacy rests in his poetry, he also wrote various prose works:
*Sharab al-'ashiqin ("The Lovers' Beverage")
*Asrar al-'arifin ("The Secrets of the Gnostics")
*Muntahi ("The Adept")
Hamzah Fansuri