Arab traders have been visiting the Philippines for about 2,000 years, playing a prominent role in the trade networks of the time.
[2] Since the 14th century, Arab travelers such as Makhdun Karim are known to have reached the Philippines and brought Islam to the region.
[3] They moved from the southern islands such as Mindanao and traveled towards the north and converted the Filipinos to Islam, many of these early Arabs married Filipina women.
Subsequent visits of Arab Muslim missionaries strengthened the Islamic faith in the Philippines, concentrating in the south and reaching as far north as Manila.
[citation needed] Filipino author Cesar Adib Majul, the son of a Greek Orthodox Christian immigrant from Syria, converted to Islam in his late adulthood.