Haji Ratan - who was he ?

perhaps a more sound account of an Indian to see the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم is this one

CHAKRAWATI FARMAS KING OF MALABAR, INDIA

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 was quoted in the book "Muhammad Rasulullah," by M. Hamidullah:

"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 (صلى الله عليه وسلم) at Mecca, and learning on inquiry that there was a prediction of the coming of a Messanger of God from Arabia (Detail given bellow), 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 old manuscript in the 'India Office Library' contains several other details about King Chakrawati Farmas and his travel[1].

The king spent weeks in seclusion. In the midst of his quiet life, he set out on the journey along with the Arab travelers who'd promised him earlier. On the way, they stopped by Koylandi and from there to Dharmapatnam where they halted for 3 days. Then they set out to Shehr Muqalla. On reaching there, they set for the Hajj pilgrimage and thereafter returned to Malabar. He aspired to spread the message of Islam. But on the way, he fell sick and breathed his last.

A tradition of the Holy Prophet has also been reported from one of the companions, Abu Saeed al Qudri, regarding the arrival of Cheraman Perumel. "A king from India presented the Messenger of Allah with a bottle of pickle that had ginger in it. The Holy Prophet distributed it among his companions. I also received a piece to eat ". (Hakim reports in 'Al Mustadrak )

Umar Qazi's poem on Cheraman Perumal.
Umar Qazi was well aware of the story of Cheraman Perumal - the first Indian to accept Islam. He narrates it thus in one of his poems inscribed on the walls of Ponnani Juma Masjid.

Kodungallur was a center of festivals established by the great Emperor Cheraman Perumal .....
The major part of all the minor kingdoms were under his rule ...
As such, one day he saw he saw the moon split into two (a miracle of Holy Prophet performed in Arabia) on a clear cloudless night ....
As a result the love for Holy Prophet grew in his heart and he became the earliest Muslim of this nation....[2]

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I am intentionally not quoting the source as it has dim references to the Hindu scriptures
with regards to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

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A private art collection by a couple ; Jagdish & Kamla Mittal Collection, Hyderabad India also has a medevial minature painting depicting the King see the moon split.

 

Re: Haji Ratan - an Indian Sahabi?

http://www.the-south-asian.com/April2005/Sacred_Spaces_Yoginder_Sikand.htm

According to one legend he was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and lived for over 700 years. The first references to Haji Ratan in Islamic literature date back to twelfth century. Several Hadith collectors travelled from as far as Andalusia and Central Asia to collect the supposed traditions from him. Abu Marwan Andalusi, a Spanish Muslim chronicler, visited Haji Ratan and penned an interesting sketch of him. 'When he arrived at the Baba's monastery, he was taken aback to see an ancient, wrinkled man, his cheeks covered with hair 'as white as cotton'. The Baba addressed him in a language he could not understand, claiming, as was later translated for him, that he was present in Medina during the famed Battle of the Trench. At that time, he said, he was just fourteen years old. When the Prophet saw him labouring at the trenches, he blessed him with a long life.'

Obviously, most medieval scholars including Allama Shamsuddin declared Haji Ratan to be a fraud and liar for making preposterous claims but his cult continues to prosper with hundreds of devotees of all faiths beseeching him for help.

--an