The paper examines the dating of writings on Islam originating in the Malay
world in the form of either treatise (risālah) or book (kitāb) as there are
disagreements on the date of the advent of Islam in the region. The researchers
revisit the polemic of the topic of the oldest known Malay manuscript between
the „Aqā‟id al-Nasafī by anonymous author dated 1590 A.D and the Baḥr alLāhūt of Shaykh ʿAbdullah ʿArif which was said to have been written in 12th
century A.D., is 400 years older than the former. In order to lit light on this
issue, the researchers employ the qualitative methodology in which the
linguistic, textual and comparative analysis are applied on the manuscripts and
material related to both treatises. Finding reveals that there are some
methodological issues that need to be resolved in comparing both treatises
