A mystic, moralist and excellent calligrapher of the Quran, Malik bin Dinar was the earliest Sufi saint in South India. He was reportedly among Prophet Muhammad’s noble companions who reached the coastal areas of Malabar. The advent of Islam in South India is attributed to these early Muslim mystic’s arrival in the region in the Prophet’s lifetime. It is believed that the first mosque in India known as “Malik Dinar Masjid” was built by Malik bin Dinar in 603 AD. Notably, this first Islamic structure in India beautifully incorporated a pure Keralite style of architecture.
The 12th century Sufi theoretician and poet Sheikh Fariddun Attar who had a lasting influence on Persian Sufi poets like Rumi writes in the famous book Tazkirah-e-Awliya (memoir of the saints): A person asked Malik bin Dinar: what is the thing you consider the most destructive? Malik replied: It is the death of a heart, which is borne out of a baser instinct or mundane desire.
He is also reported to have said that, an alim (scholar) remains a knowledgeable person as long as s/he believes that over every possessor of knowledge, there is always one more knowledgeable. The day s/he harbours a feeling of being the most knowledgeable himself/herself, s/he turns a jahil (ignoramus).
