Those propogating against Muslims generally proclaim that Islam came to India during the invasions of Ghauri and Ghaznavi, while the truth is that Islam and Muslims came through merchants, scholars and ordinary Muslims.
As part of my endeavor to establish a Hindu Muslim unity, I have now come to a very important topic where in this section I will explain about the arrival of Muslims and the spread of Islam in India. You may have heard in a recent past that in a meeting in Mumbai, the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat stated that Islam came to India through invaders. However, this statement is factually incorrect devoid of any historical base. The people who are building a propaganda against the Muslims make similar statements that Islam came to India during the attacks of Ghauri and Ghaznavi, whereas in reality, Muslim merchants, Ulema and common Muslims started coming to India in the first year of Hijrat (The migration, known in Islamic History as Hijrat-e-Medina (Prophet’s migration from Makkah to Madinah) .
Many merchants who bought spices and gems from India and sold them to Arab countries used to sail on ships to Gujarat and Kerala port for centuries. This was at the time when Islam emerged in Arabia,where Arab traders embraced Islam and continued to travel to India.
How the First Mosque in India was Built
Sometimes, Arab merchants had to linger on in India for months due to stormy weather, due to which they needed a mosque to offer prayers. This has led the Indian rulers to allow them to build mosques. Thus, the first mosque was built on the soil of India at a time there was no mosque in many areas of Arabia.
A 1400-year-old mosque still exists in the Village of Ghogha in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, whose direction is not towards the Kaaba, but towards the mosque built in Jerusalem (Al-Aqsa Mosque), the direction towards which Muslims used to offer prayers with their faces in the early days, but in the second year of Hijrat, when the (divine) order through Prophet came to offer prayers facing the Kaaba, the mosques started turning towards Makkah. Since the oldest mosque in Bhavnagar is facing towards Jerusalem, it is easy to guess that this mosque was completed in 622 AD (during the lifetime of the Prophet). This mosque is so small that it has capacity of only 25 people who can offer prayers!
Apart from this mosque, there is another 1400 year old mosque located in Kodungallur Taluka of Thrissur district of Kerala, which is called Jama Masjid of Cheraman. A BBC report published on October 13, 2015 says that it was the first mosque in India to be built during the lifetime of Prophet Muhmmad (PBUH), and King Cheraman Perumal.
Some other sources state that Cheraman’s Jama Masjid was built on land given by King Cheraman Perumal after the arrival of Hazrat Malik bin Dinar, a Sahabi (friend) of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad, to India in 629 AD. Thus, this was the second mosque to be built in the coastal areas of India.
Hindu and Islamic Rich Interactions
The story of many Indian monks going to Medina to meet Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has also been written in many historical tales. These are the interesting stories of such meetings. Many historical sources suggest Baba Ratan Sen’s name which is considered one of these stories. He went to Medina after the Shaqq-ul-Qamar (the miraculous event of the split of the moon) and met the Prophet Muhammad when the Prophet and his companions were trying to save the city of Medina from the onslaught of anti-Muslim forces and a protective war had to be executed).
It is said that the Prophet blessed him with a long life, due to which Baba Ratan Sen lived for about 600 years, and his tomb is still located in Mohalla Haji Ratan Nagar of Bathinda City of Punjab. Intriguingly, according to some beliefs, the Samadhi of Baba Ratan Sen is located in Dhanaura Village of Amroha district. In the Islamic world, he is known and recognized as Baba Ratan ul Hindi.
Meanwhile, heavy travel and trade extended over India and Muslim religious leaders and businessmen continuously visited other states of India as well. Being an open free country immersed in prosperous trade, there were no restrictions on peacefully entering a country, no one was required to show a visa, nor was an immigrant asked their religion or ever faced discrimination based on it. In the spirit of liberty, any person could build their houses anywhere they chose to. Since Indian and Arabian borders meet, there was an abundant influx of tourists and trade in India.
Early Muslims Who Made India Their Home Forever
One of the first such visitors was Hazrat Ruqaiya Binte Ali, daughter of Hazrat Ali. These daughters of Hazrat Ali are known as ‘Bibi Pak Daman’. The shrines of Hazrat Ruqaiya Binte Ali and other women who
accompanied her are located in the city of Lahore in Pakistan (which was a part of undivided India until 1947).
In the next section, I will talk about Bibi Pak Daman and other Muslims who have made India their home forever.
(to be continued)