The Story
A history carried by the sea.
Long before visitors arrived looking for places to explore, Simunul was already home.
Its history is closely connected to the sea and to the movement of people, ideas, trade and faith across the islands of the Sulu Archipelago.
One of the most important chapters in that history is associated with Sheikh Karim ul-Makhdum, an Arab missionary whose name has become inseparable from the early history of Islam in the Philippines.
Philippine historical records place his arrival at Tubig Indangan, Simunul, around 1380. The site became associated with the establishment of a mosque, now recognized as the Sheik Makhdum Mosque.
Today, the mosque is recognized by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines as a Level I National Historical Landmark. Among the elements preserved from its early history are its original ipil pillars.
But Simunul's history is not only the history of a mosque.
It is also the history of communities shaped by the sea, traditions carried across generations, and people whose faith, families and everyday lives continue to give meaning to the island.
The story of Simunul is not something that belongs only to the past.
It is a story still being lived.