Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma was a king who ruled the ancient Chera dynasty in the 8th century AD.
The present-day state of Kerala was under his rule. During that time, the Chera kingdom maintained trade and shipping links with the Arabs. European Christians and Jews were also visiting the Chera kingdom back then.
In Mecca, the Messenger Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had introduced the religion of Islam. At that time in Kerala, while Cheraman Perumal was admiring the full moon from his palace one night, he suddenly witnessed the moon splitting into two halves and joining back together.
He enquired with many people about this miraculous event, but he could not find the reason behind it. Under these circumstances, when a group of Arab merchants who had come to the Chera port for trade mentioned that they knew about it, the king summoned them to his palace to investigate.
They explained that a Messenger had appeared in their country (Mecca), whose name was Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and that he had performed this ‘miracle of splitting the moon’ to convince the disbelievers.
Deeply intrigued by this, Cheraman Perumal expressed his immense desire to meet Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked the Arabs to take him along to Mecca.
The Arabs agreed and took the Kerala King, Cheraman Perumal, with them. Before setting out on the journey, Cheraman Perumal divided his kingdom into various provinces and distributed them among his sons and relatives. (One lineage of these descendants still lives in Kerala today under the name of the ‘Cochin Royal Family’). Following this, Cheraman Perumal departed for Mecca with the Arab caravan.
Upon reaching the city of Mecca and meeting Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in person, Cheraman Perumal embraced Islam right there. He was renamed Tajuddin.
He presented the pickle he had brought along as a gift to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). An author named Hakim records this in his book Al-Mustadrak, as narrated by one of the Prophet’s companions, Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), as follows:
“A king from the region of Hind (India) came to visit Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and brought a jar full of pickles that contained ginger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed it among all his companions, and I received a piece of it as well.”
Afterward, in order to propagate the message of Islam to his family and relatives back in Kerala, he set out to return home via Oman, accompanied by a few people led by Malik bin Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him), one of the companions of the Prophet.
However, on his way back, he fell ill and passed away at the Salalah Port in Oman. His body was laid to rest there. The blessed grave (Qabr Shareef) of the son of Cheraman Perumal (Tajuddin) is also located there.
The group led by Malik bin Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) eventually reached the Chera kingdom. Meeting the royal family there, they delivered a letter written by Cheraman Perumal to his family before his death.
In that letter, Cheraman Perumal had instructed his family to assist Malik bin Dinar in spreading the faith of Islam and to build several mosques for that purpose. Honoring his wishes, the royal family supported Malik bin Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) in propagating Islam and constructing mosques.
Based on this, Malik bin Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) built India’s first mosque in Kodungallur, Kerala, in 612 AD. Following that, he built several more mosques across North Kerala and the Kasaragod regions.
Cheraman Perumal is considered the first Indian to embrace Islam. It was by his royal decree that the first Indian mosque was built in Kodungallur, Kerala state.
