Amazing historical corroboration of a Miracle

There is an independent, and quite amazing, historical corroboration of the event from an Indian king of the time of the splitting of the moon miracle.

Kerala is a state of India. The state stretches for 360 miles (580 kilometers) along the Malabar Coast on the southwestern side of the Indian peninsula. King Chakrawati Farmas of Malabar was a Chera king, Cheraman perumal of Kodungallure. He is recorded to have seen the moon split. The incident is documented in a manuscript kept at the India Office Library, London, reference number: Arabic, 2807, 152-173.A group of Muslim merchant’s passing by Malabar on their way to China spoke to the king about how God had supported the Arabian prophet with the miracle of splitting of the moon. The shocked king said he had seen it with his own eyes as well, deputized his son, and left for Arabia to meet the Prophet in person. The Malabari king met the Prophet, bore the two testimonies of faith, learned the basics of faith, but passed away on his way back and was buried in the port city of Zafar, Yemen.

It is said that the contingent was led by a Muslim, Malik bin Dinar, and continued to Kodungallure, the Chera capital, and built the first, and India’s oldest, mosque in the area in 629 CE which exists today.

A pre-renovation picture of the Cheraman Juma Masjid, India’s oldest mosque dating back to 629 CE. Image courtesy of www.islamicvoice.com.

The news of his accepting Islam reached Kerala where people accepted Islam. The people of Lakshadweep and the Moplas (Mapillais) from the Calicut province of Kerala are converts from those days.

The Indian sighting and the meeting of the Indian king with Prophet Muhammad is also reported by Muslim sources. The famous Muslim historian, Ibn Kahtir, mentions the splitting of the moon was reported in parts of India. Also, the books of hadith have documented the arrival of the Indian king and his meeting the Prophet of Allah Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, a companion of Prophet Muhammad (saw), states:

“The Indian king gifted the Prophet with a jar of ginger. The companions ate it piece by piece. I took a bite as well.”

The king was thus considered a ‘companion’ – a term used for a person who met the Prophet and died as a Muslim – his name registered in the mega-compendiums chronicling the state of Prophet Muhammad ’s companions

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