Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam

Muhammad Thakurufaanu was the son of Katheebu Hussain of Utheemu in Thiladhummathi Atoll and Lady Aiminaa Dhiye of Ihavandhoo.

An'dhiri An'dhirin was a regent of the (Sultan Hassan IX) who was the first Maldivian and the only member of its royalty to renounce Islam and convert to Christianity, later upon his deposition he took refuge in Goa, India.

[1] After the invasion, the Portuguese ruled over the Maldives for 15 years and forcefully imposed Christianity with the threat of death on the locals[2] in a period which the history describes as A time when intolerable enormities were committed by the invading infidels, a time when the sea grew red with Maldivian blood, a time when people were sunk in despair[1] Muhammad Thakurufaanu, left the Maldives with his brothers Ali and Hasan to Minicoy off the coast of India in the Laccadive Archipelago.

The island has the tree that grew from the Kaani Mudi (a raw wooden post) used to make the sail of Kalhuoffummi.

They reached the capital island Malé on the night before the day fixed by the Portuguese garrison of An'dhiri An'dhirin for the forcible conversion of the inhabitants to Christianity, on the penalty of death for non-compliance.

[4] Muhammad Thakurufaanu concluded a treaty with the King Dom Manoel who lived in Goa, in order to ward off the Ali Raja of Cannanore.

British author Royston Ellis's novel A Hero in Time is about the life and adventures of Muhammad Thakurufaanu.

[6] The Islamic Centre, the largest mosque in Maldives, Masjid as-Sultan Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam is named after him.