Abd al-Aziz of Mogadishu

Abd al-Aziz Maqdshāvi (عبد العزيز) was a 14th-century island chief or katheeb of Kinolhas island of the Maldives. When Ibn Battuta came to the Maldives on his second visit, the chief of the island of Kanalus at that time was Abd Aziz-al Makdashawi.

Descent or Ancestry
According to Purnima Mehta Bhatt, the term Makdashawi originates from “Mogadishu”.  His name Abd al-Aziz Al-Makdashawi suggests a clear connection with the Somali coastal city of Mogadishu and a Somali ethnic origin.

Biography
Abd al-Aziz was a Somali island chief of Kinolhas island in the Maldives. After him is named the Abdul-Aziz Mosque in Mogadishu. However, according to the inscriptions carved inside the mosque, the mosque was built a century earlier in 636AH (1238CE) by Mohamed the son of Abdul Aziz and was referred to as Mohamed Al-Awal.

When Ibn Battuta's first arrived to the Maldives in 1344, he stayed in Kinolhas for 10 days at the house of a man named Muhammad of Dhofar (Zafr-ul-humuz). It is not known who held the post of island chief of Kinolhas during his first stay.

In 1346, Ibn Battuta returned to the Maldives to fetch his son who was born two years earlier when he was the Chief Judge. After 10 days of voyage, he reached the islands of Maldives and disembarked on the island of Kinolhas. Abd al-Aziz, who was the warden of this island welcomed him warmly with great honor and made him a guest at his home. He then fitted him a boat to continue his journey to the Male. His next stop before Male was on the island of Halali (Hulhulé Island) where he met Muhammad the orator, the Sultana's half-sister, her spouse and her mother who was also one of Ibn Battuta's former wife.