The first two verses of Surah Al-Qamar in the Holy Quran state:
“The Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two].
And if they see a miracle, they turn away and say, ‘Passing magic.'”
The incident of the splitting of the moon, witnessed by the beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is a miraculous event.
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) described it as follows: The people of Makkah requested the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to show them a miracle, and in response, Allah, the Most High, caused the moon to split into two halves in front of their eyes. They saw Mount Hera between the two parts of the moon. [Bukhari: 3868, Muslim: 2802]
Many of us know this phenomenon of the moon splitting. But the name of a Hindu king of India is associated with this phenomenon of lunar division, which may be unknown to many of us. The name of that king is ‘Chakravarti Cheraman Perumal’. He was a king of the state of Malabar in the southern part of India (present-day Kerala region) who saw the miracle of the moon splitting into two pieces in the sky. When he learned that the last Prophet had appeared in Arabia and that the Prophet (PBUH) had split the moon in two, he went to Makkah and embraced Islam. A mosque has been established in the Indian state of Kerala in the name of Cheraman.
Chakraborty Cheraman Perumal was a king of the ‘Chera’ dynasty of South India. The main story of the king is found in the historical manuscript written in Arabic called ‘Qissat Shakarwati Farmad‘. Qissat Shakarwati Farmad Arabic means ‘the story of a great Chera king’ The author of the manuscript is unknown. However, it was written in the Kerala or Malabar region of India and is currently preserved in the British Library.
This historical manuscript named Qissat Shakarwati Farmad is currently preserved in the British Library.
The incident written in the manuscript ‘Qissat Shakarwati Farmad’ is summarized as-
This incident of the splitting of the moon took place in Mecca before the migration of Muhammad (PBUH) to Madinah. Muhammad (pbuh) claimed to be a prophet, but most of the people of Quraysh did not want to accept it. Abu Jahel started threatening Muhammad (pbuh) to give up his call to Islam. The Quraysh of Makkah kept thinking about what to do with Muhammad (pbuh). Finally, they assigned Habib bin Malik, who was living in Madinah, to deal with the matter of Muhammad. Because Habib bin Malik was quite experienced in the books of various religions and quite rich and influential. Abu Jehal and the Quraysh of Makkah thought that only this Habib bin Malik could stop Muhammad. According to the plan, Habib bin Malik left for Makkah with horsemen and soldiers.
Meanwhile, Anjel Jibraeel (a.s.) informed Muhammad (s.a.w.) in advance of the plan of Quraysh and also said that by the will of Almighty Allah, Muhammad (s.a.w.) would be able to perform the miracle of splitting the moon in two as claimed by Habib bin Malik.
When Muhammad (pbuh) met Habib bin Malik, he told him that he had received information in the previous scriptures, that a prophet named Muhammad would come in the last days. But previously all the prophets have shown miracles in support of their claims. So he asked Muhammad to prove his claim of prophethood by splitting the moon in two. Then Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) showed the moon in two parts by the will of Allah in front of all the people.
A king of India saw this phenomenon of splitting the moon from the roof of his palace and was amazed. He wrote down on a piece of paper when the incident happened. He did not get any favorable response from the astrologers he consulted on this matter. He saw Muhammad (PBUH) in a dream one night and became interested in Islam.
The king was puzzled by the matter for a long time. At that time, when a group of Jews and Christians came to India from Mecca with their families, he learned from them that a man named Muhammad bin Abdullah in Mecca was claiming to be the prophet of the entire human race. Who is trying to convert people by showing magic. When the king asked what kind of magic the Prophet performed, they mentioned the splitting of the moon. But when the king realized that they were actually Muhammad’s enemies, he kept his word a secret.
A few years later, a group of people from Arabia came to Sri Lanka to see the footprints of Adam (as). On the way they arrived in India. The king invited them to the palace and showed them great honor and hospitality. Among that group of Arabs was one whose name was Sheikh Zahir al-Din. The king wants to go into this matter by referring to him separately the incident of the splitting of the moon.
Later, the king traveled to Arabia with this group of Muslims. But before the journey, he divided the responsibilities of his kingdom among a few. He took with him a large amount of precious stones, gold and silver as gifts.
Finally the king met the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and he recited the Shahada to the Prophet. The Prophet changed the name of the king to “Taj al Hindi al Malabari”. This incident spread in Arabia. Habib bin Malik and some of his family members met with the king and expressed interest in coming to India with him to do the work of calling to Islam. In the course of events, the king once set out to return to India. He was accompanied by Habib bin Malik and some Companions. But he falls ill on the way and realizes that he may not return to India. He requested his fellow travelers not to cancel their journey to India due to his death. It was decided that the Arab delegation would arrive at a place called ‘Kalankallur’ in India or some other place in the king’s kingdom. Before his death, the king wrote letters to the kings of his kingdom.
Later, Habib bin Malik, along with his brother and wife and children arrived in India and they handed over the letter written by the king to the ruler of Kalankallur, India. The then ruler of Kalankallur gave them houses and agricultural land to live in.
Gradually the Arab representatives built several mosques in different parts of Malabar. The story, written in a manuscript called ‘Qissat Shakarwati Farmad’, ends with the names of 10 cities in India where mosques were built.
This is where the story ends in the manuscript called Qissat Shakarwati Farmad’.
Interestingly, at The New York Museum of Art in America, there is a painting of a king from the Mughal Empire in India who is pointing toward a split moon. The image was painted during the Mughal period (15th to 18th century) and was taken from India during the East India Company or British rule. Two researchers named Scott Kugle and Roxani Margari have studied this image and identified it as Chakraborty Cheraman Perumal. They have shown that the arrival of Islam in India is linked to the incident of Chakraborty Cheraman Perumal.
King Chakraborty Cheraman Perumal gesturing towards the bisected moon, painted during the Mughal Empire in India at The New York Museum of Art.
Scott Kugle and Roxani Margari have made a video about their research work on this image of Raja Cheruman Parimal, which can be found here –
Several other Indian historical documents refer to the conversion of this Hindu king to Islam . Such as ‘ Tohfat Al Mujahideen ‘, ‘ Tarikhe Fereshta ‘ etc.
A ‘ Cheraman Perumal Mosque’ can be found in the name of a king in Kerala , India , probably built in 629 AD by the Arab representatives mentioned in the story at Mahodayapuram . The new mosque built in place of the old mosque is named ‘ Cheraman Juma Masjid ‘ .
Cheraman Perumal Mosque built in 629 AD
Through the events described in Qissat Shakarwati Farmad’, the arrival of Islam in India can be traced to the Hindu king’s conversion to Islam. If this incident of the manuscript is true, it also proves that Islam came to India during the time of the Holy Prophet himself. At least the existence of the mosque built in 629 AD proves that.
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