Cheraman Juma Masjid - History Of The First Mosque Of India

Cheraman Juma Masjid in Thrissur District of Kerala is the first mosque of India, the history of which dates to 1400 years back.

The History of Cheraman Juma Mosque.

It was Malik Bin Dinar who built the Cheraman Juma Mosque in 629 CE, i.e. during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Malik Bin Dinar was among the companions of our Prophet ﷺ.

This mosque has earned the recognition of being one of the oldest mosques of the world.

It was named after the Hindu king Cheraman Perumal upon whose instructions the masjid was built.

The famous story of the Hindu King Cheraman Perumal.

A well documentation of the history states that a Hindu Chera king of south India, Cheraman Perumal once had a dream of splitting of the moon.

This made him restless. He asked the scholars and astrologers in his court to explain him the meaning of it and what’s the reason behind it.

To his disappointment, no one could provide a satisfactory explanation of the incident to the king not even the astrologers and scholars in his court.

The king was unsatisfied with all the versions of explanation until he met some Muslim Arab traders who were on their way to Sri Lanka.

He heard about them talking about the same incidents that the king witnessed in his dream. The King called them in his palace and asked them about the same. They explained it to him that it was the miracle of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The glorious Qur’an describes this particular incident as “Shaqq Al-Qamar” in the Surah Al-Qamar, verse no. 1-2 which means splitting of the moon.

The Hindu King accepted Islam before Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Upon satisfaction, Cheraman Perumal then decided to travel to Saudi Arabia to meet the Prophet after abdicating his throne. He then accepted Islam before Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Malik Bin Dinar accompanied him when he was returning to India after reverting to Islam. But the King never reached his home as he died on the way due to deterioration of his health condition.

He was buried in Oman. Before his death, the Cheraman Perumal left a set of instructions in the form will for his successors. The will of the king contained instructions to provide all the possible help to Malik bin Dinar for the construction of a mosques and preaching the religion of Islam.

Then the first-ever mosque of India, Cheraman Juma Masjid named after the king was built by Malik bin Dinar under the patronage of his successor.

Testimonies of Cheraman Juma Mosque.

The history of Cheraman Juma Mosque testimonies two facts:

1. Islam reached the Indian subcontinent long before the timeline of the emergence of Indian Muslim rulers (Mughals).
2. Trade majorly contributed to the spread of Islam from the Arabian land.

Contradicting history of the first mosque of India.

Some argue that the Barwada Masjid in the Indian state of Gujarat is the oldest one. It was built before the Cheraman Juma Mosque.

They support their arguments with the fact that this mosque has its qibla directed towards the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Baitul Muqaddas; Qibla-e-awwal). This possibly predate the establishment of the mosque of this mosque of Kerala.

However, not much information about this mosque is available. Due to lack of factual documentation, legends have its say that it was the second mosque of India.

Contradictions aside, the beautiful Cheraman Juma Mosque is still existing and you should consider visiting it once to witness it's rich legacies.