Sharif ul-Hāshim of Sulu


Sharif ul-Hashim was the regal name of Sayyed walShareef Abubakar Abirin AlHashmi. He was an Arab-Muslim explorer and the founder of the Sultanate of Sulu. He assumed the political and spiritual leadership of the realm, and was given the title Sultan, and was also the first Sultan of Sulu.
During his reigning era, he promulgated the first Sulu code of laws called Diwan that were based on Quran. He introduced Islamic political institutions and the consolidation of Islam as the state religion.

Origins and personal life

Very little is known about Sharif ul-Hashim's early life. Born in Johore, his proper name was known to be Sayyid Abu Bakr bin Abirin AlHashmi, while his regal name was known as Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Sharif ul- Hashim, or "The Master His Majesty, Protector and Sultan, Sharif of Hashim ". His regnal name is often shortened to Sharif ul-Hashim.
Abubakar bin Abirin bore the titles Sayyid and Shareef an honorific that denotes he was an accepted descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through both the Imams Hassan and Hussain. His name is also alternatively spelled Sayyid walShareef Abu Bakr ibn Abirin AlHashmi. He was a Najeeb AlTarfayn Sayyid.
The genealogy of Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim describes him as a descendant of Muhammad, through his maternal bloodline, Sayyed Zainul Abidin of Hadhramaut, Yemen, who belongs to the fourteenth generation of Hussain, the grandson of Muhammad.

Descendants

Sultan Sharif Ul-Hashim's offspring include his eldest son Sharif Kamal ud-Din who was also his successor as sultan, reigning in 1480–1505. Sultan Sharif Ala ud-Din, not proclaimed as sultan of Sulu. Sultan Sharif Mu-izz ul-Mutawadi-in, reigning 1527–1548, was a grandson of Sultan Sharif, who succeeded to the throne upon the death of Kamal ud-Din.