Sheikh Karimul Makhdum was an Arab Sunni Sufi Muslim as well as a known missionary from Syria who came to Malacca.[1] Karimul Makhdum was born in Makdonia, a village near Damascus in Syria.[2] Him and the Wali sanga were affiliated with the Kubrawi Hamadani missionaries in the late 14th century. [3] He was a Sufi who brought Islam to the Philippines in 1380, 141 years before Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the country. He established a mosque in Simunul Island, Tawi Tawi, Philippines, known as Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque which is the oldest mosque in the country.[4]