The conversion of First Hindu King : King Chakrawati Farmas (of Malabar, located on the southwest coast of India) converted to Islam soon after the arrival of Muslims in India (around 711 CE). The incident relating to King Chakrawati Farmas is documented in an old manuscript in the India Office Library, London, which has reference number: Arabic, 2807, 152-173. It is quoted in the book “Muhammad Rasulullah,” by M. Hamidullah:

Nn: www.cyberistan.org/islamic/farmas.html

“There is a very old tradition in Malabar, South-West Coast of India, that Chakrawati Farmas, one of their kings, had observed the splitting of the moon, the celebrated miracle of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) at Mecca, and learning on inquiry that there was a prediction of the coming of a Messenger of God from Arabia, he appointed his son as regent and set out to meet him. He embraced Islam at the hand of the Prophet, and when returning home, at the direction of the Prophet, died at the port of Zafar, Yemen, where the tomb of the “Indian king” was piously visited for many centuries.”

The 87-year-old Raja Valiyathampuram of  Kodungallur in Central Kerala is a descendant of King Cheraman Perumal [also known as King Chakrawati Farmas ], the first Indian to embrace Islam in the early 7th century. Talking to him is like talking with history. In the following interview taken by A U Asif in Ernakulam, he dwells in detail upon his great early ancestor and the oldest mosque (above) of the sub-continent. He also asks North Indians to come to Kerala and see how people of different religions are living there for centuries in an atmosphere of harmony, fraternity and peace. How do you take your great great grandfather Cheraman Perumal?    Cheraman Perumal was not only a king and my ancestor, but the first Indian to come into the fold of Islam. He was actually the person who gifted Islam and the first ever mosque to the Indian sub-continent. This happened much before the advents of Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmood Ghaznavi. This shows that Islam didn't come to India with the sword.

See below the  pre-renovation and post-renovation pictures of the Cheraman Juma Masjid (Mosque), Kodungallur, Kerala. Cheraman Juma Masjid  (Mosque) is named after India’s first Muslim convert, King Cheraman perumal Chakrawati Farmas. It was built in 629 AD by Malik Ibn Dinar who led the contingent that arrived in India. And it is a well established fact that there was no use of force for the first conversions to Islam in India.

A pre-renovation picture of the Cheraman Juma Masjid (Mosque), Kodungallur, Kerala.

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 Post renovation image of Cheraman Juma Masjid, named after India’s first Muslim convert, King Cheraman perumal Chakrawati Farmas.

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