• Pre-Islamic Kedah-Arab Relations
• Arab Relations with Kedah After the Arrival of Islam
• Nusantara Goods Passed Through Kedah Port
• Kedah - Lankasuka Land Route
• "Kalah" or "Kalaha" was Found by Kurds from the Kalahar Tribe
• The Migration of Muslim Merchants from China to Kedah
• The 940 A.D. Kedah Visited by Abu Dulaf
• Observations made by Abu Zaid (916 A.D.) and Mas'udi (943 A.D.)
• Kedah had Embraced Islam Since 877 A.D.
• Traces of Early Islam in Kedah
• The War between Sri Rama and Andaman
• The First King of Pre-Islamic Kedah
• Details From "Al-Tarikh Salasilah"
• The Coming of Islam According to "Merong Maha Wanga"
• The Coming of Islam According to "Al-Tarikh Salasilah"
• How Sultan Muzaffar Shah Spread Islam
• How Islam Spread in Kedah
• Kedah's contribution to the Spread of Islam
• The Title Darul Aman
• Kedah and Samudera Pasai Relations Through Marriage
• Minye Stone Writing in North Acheh
• Early Writings in Kedah

Sultan Muzaffar Shah commanded that the temple at the top of Jerai Mountain be destroyed and a mosque, complete with a minaret was built in its place. He also appointed Sheikh Abdullah Yamani as the Stat's first Mufti. Sultan Muzaffar Shah died in 1179 A.D. after having embraced Islam 44 years before.

At the top of Jerai Mountain could be found "Padang (field) Tok Sheikh", i.e the site of the mosque built during the time of Sheikh Abdullah Yamani. The well, where he did his ablution called "Telaga (well) Tok Sheikh", and a flat stone, which looked like a table top, called "Sejadah (prayer mat) Tok Sheikh", could also be found. It was said that there was a cave called "Gua (cave) Tok Sheikh" in which he conducted mass prayers. It was also said that in the cave, could be found figures of people in various acts of prayer, such as standing straight, bowing and prostrating; all of stone and green with moss.

It would be interesting to know the fate of his 11 friends who had come down with him from Mecca to spread Islam in "The Land Below the Wind".

Making the year 1136 as the year Islam became the official religion in Kedah would not be too early or even doubtful. The close relations between Kedah and Muslim Middle Eastern States had begun long before the emergence of Islam. Some scholars put the date at 2nd century A.D. The relationship became more active during the Omayyad Caliphate, which was based in Damascus.

Based on the above arguments, it is clear that Merong Maha Wangsa or Maha Raja Durber was a Muslim. A theory, which was often forwarded, was that if a King embraced a particular religion, then his subjects would also embraced that religion. Therefore it could be assumed that at least his subjects living in or around his fort, had embraced Islam.

The theory that a King's subjects would follow his religion could be true in some cases, but not so in all cases. Islam spread in two ways: one through religious or holy wars and the other is by persuading other people that Islam is the best way of life for them. The second way was used in Kedah.

Muslim merchants had spread their religion along their trade routes, from Damscus to Peking and in the same way, Islam had been established along sea routes, from Jeddah to Palembang and on to the rest of the "Nusantara". Kedah was not too special to be excluded.

As a religion that was spread at the centers of trade and among civilized people and among those long exposed to the cultures of the Arabs and other Muslims, Kedah must have embraced Islam much longer than its own King; earlier than 1136 or the "Dum Makdum" era i.e. in the era of the Iranian makdums, who spread Islam here in the 9th century A.D.

Upon its conversion to Islam, Kedah acted by destroying all traces of Hunduism and Buddhism found in the State. Along with Patani, Kedah became a barrier to the spread of Buddhism into the Malay States. As a result Kedah and Patani became a target for Thailand.

Islam was absorbed into the Malay community in ports long before it made its appearance in the palace. The people spread the religion amongst themselves, using Malay as their medium of communication. In short, the rise of Islam in the Malay Archipelago (Nusantara), was in tandem with the rise of the Malay Language and Literature, as this language became a treasury of the spreading religion.

We accepted the roles played by Muslim missionaries from Arabia, Iran and India in spreading Islam here. We also accepted the fact that a large number of Malays had gone to the Middle East, to return and join the other missionaries in raising the quality of our cultures and in uniting the Malays under the banner of Islam. In fact, our own race was more adept in using Malay which had become the religion's lingua franca.

Even though Islam was accepted as the official religion of Kedah Darul Aman in 1136 A.D. and according to "Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah" the title of Darul Aman for the state was declared five years later in 1141, there was no concrete proof to support such claims.

The earliest known use of the word "Darul Aman", at found inscribed on a silver coin circulated during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Abidin Muazzam Shah dated 1741 A.D. The words "Darul Aman was also found on the seal of Sultan Muhammad Jiwa's letters. It could be said that the title was officially used during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Jiwa (r. 1710-1778).

Up to no known use of the title was found, prior to the one found on the coin, dated 1741 A.D. or 1154 Hegira. After the reign of Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Abidin Muzaffar Shah, the title of "Darul Aman" which followed after the name of the State was used in all official matters.

In Acheh, there was a "Hikayat" (Legend) called Hikayat Acheh. According to this Hikayat, Islam had arrived in Acheh on Friday, 1st Ramadan 601 Hegira, or 1204 A.D. (S.O.Fatimi, 1963: 12). A Sultan Johan Shah from the "Land Above the Wind" had arrived and converted all of Acheh into Islam.

It was not a wonder that when Merah Silu was asked to pronounced the confession of faith by Sheikh Muhammad who was escorting Sheikh Ismail on his mission to convert Pasai, (a territory in present Acheh) he not only could do so, but could recite the whole of the Koran, perfectly.

Historians from Indonesia attracted our attention to the fact that a certain Sultan from Peninsular Malacca, meaning the Malay Peninsula, by the name of Sultan Muhammad Shah had lived in the same time as Sultan Makhdum Alauddin Malik Muhammad Amin Shah Johan Berdaulat (1225-163). Sultan Muhammad Shah had married the daughter of the Sultan of Perlak by the name of Princess Ratna Mala, while her younger sister was married to Sultan Malik us-Salih (1262-1289) the Sultan of Samudera Pasai.

Indonesian historians were of the opinion that sultan Muhammad Shah had played a very important role in developing Islam in Peninsular Malacca. To our knowledge, the only Muslim state in Peninsular Malacca or the Malaysian Peninsula at that particular time was Kedah. The Sultan of Kedah in that time zone was its third Sultan, Sultan Muhammad Shah (1201-1236) ibni Sultan Muazzam Shah ibni Sultan Muzaffar Shah.

There is a very good chance that it was this sultan Muhammad who was married to Princess Ratna Seri Gemalai. Kedah territory at that time was much bigger in size. Its southern border was said to have reached the "tip of Malacca and Bruas" (Moorhead, 1957: 49-50; Tom Pires, 'Suma Oriental' 1512). Relations between Kedah, Perlak and Samudera Pasai were very close.

In September 1982, a pottery jar filled with silver coins was found in Langkawi. On one side of the coins were inscribed with the name "Muhammad Shah", while on the reverse side was inscribed with the words, "al-Sultan al-Qadah". This was Kedah's currency, before 1236, during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Shah.

Sultan Malik al Zahir Thani (1236-1350), the ruler of the Islamic State of Samudera Pasai had conquered Kedah, and for a time, Kedah and Pasai was placed under the suzerainty of Samudera-Pasai. Ibn Battutah the Tunisian traveler and latter an envoy of Sultan Muhammad Tugluq of Delhi visited the palace of Samudera Pasai and reported that he found the sultan to be a devout Muslim of the Shafie Sect. He was fond of surrounding himself with Ulamas.

During the reign of Sultan Zainal Abidin (1360-1394), Samudera-Pasai was conquered by the Javanese Empire of Majapahit. For a time Samudera-Pasai came under the influence of Javanese cultures.

A headstone dated 1380, was found at a graveyard in Minye Tujuh, North Acheh. It was inscribed with two verses of "Sha'ir" written in Old Malay mixed with Sanskrit and Arabic, written in Kawi and Old Javanese script.

The Sha'ir reads:

Hijrah Nabi mungstapa yang prasaddha
Tujuh ratus asta puluh savarasaa
Haji catur dan dasa vara sukra
Raja iman varda rahmat Allah
Gutra bharu bhasa (ng) hak Kadah Pase
Ma tarukk kasih tanah samuhallahi ya rabbi tuhan samuha
Raja iman varda rahmat Allah.

The Sha'ir explained that on Friday 14 Zulhijjah 781 Hegira, a devout princess had died. She was said to belong to the "Gutra Bharu Bhasa" or "Tribe of New Language", meaning the followers of a new culture, that is Islam which had the rights and power over Kedah and Pasai; "that has the power over land and sea. O Allah, God of the Universe, have mercy and place her in Heaven."

At the end of the second half of the 14th century, Kedah and Pasai were among the States ruled by Samudera Pasai or the present Acheh. Amudera and Pasai were unified to become a state with Acheh after 1428 (Abdul Rahman Haji Abdullah, 1985: 68).

This grave belonged to Ratu Al-Alah, a daughter of Sultan Malik al-Zahir Thani. This was revealed after study was made on another headstone wngraved with Arabic writing on the same grave (Othman Mohd. Yatim, 1990: 25).

The grave of Princess Al-Alah denied the contention of some historians that Kedah embraced Islam only in 1474.

Islam encouraged the development of intellectuals among its folloers. Besides the writings on headstones, there were no other written works that could be highlighted as products of folk literature in Kedah, prior to the 17th century A.D., although in actual fact, the people of Kedah had declared their oath of faith, read the Koran and had mastered the Jawi script.

In 1622 a person by the name of Ahmad bin Aminuddin Kadi in Kota Siputih had written a book on Tauhid, called "the 20 characters of God" (Wan Mohd. Saghir, 1991: p. 186). Siputih was the capital of Kedah when Acheh attacked it in 1619.

Kedah Port Laws were written in 1625 when Sultan Rijaluddin Mohammad Shah (1625-16510 was the Sultan of Kedah, ruling from his capital of Kota Naga, Kubang Pasu. The laws were based on Malacca Laws but had been adapted to suit the local situation.

Another law book called "Tembera Dato' Seri Paduka Tuan" was written in 1667 by a committee headed by Tuan Sheikh Alauddin. Yet another old Kedah law book was simply called the "Laws of 1199 Hegira". This book was written in 1784 A.D. (Siti Hawa Salleh, 1991: LVIII).

All these books were handwritten in the Jawi script. The laws were based on Islamic laws as were those contained in the Malacca Laws. Among the special laws added were those pertaining to padi-planting, the rearing of buffaloes, and the duties of Tok Kewing, and so on.

It is believed that the "Hikayat Merong Maha Wangsa" was also written in the 17th century A.D. as it was considered a era of resurrection for writers and copiers who reestablished works on religion, laws and literature that were destroyed in the Acheh War of 1619. Perhaps, it was because of the irreplaceable losses that the Sultan commanded that all writers and copiers to be active again.