Karimul Makhdum

Sheikh Karimul Makhdum was a Syrian Arab and Sufi Muslim as well as an early missionary who traveled to Maritime Southeast Asia. Karimul Makhdum was born in Makdonia, a village near Damascus in Syria. Him and the Wali Sanga were affiliated with the Kubrawi Hamadani missionaries in the late 14th century. 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 Sheikh Karimul Makhdum Mosque which is the oldest mosque in the country.