Islam in Kerala

Background

Prior to the independence of India, the present-day state of Kerala comprised the three areas known as Malabar District, Travancore and Cochin. There had been considerable trade relations between Arabia and Kerala even before the time of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Islam might have been introduced in the region by the Arab traders in the 7th or 8th century AD. Like the Jews and Christians, the Arabs also settled down at Cranganore and established a separate colony of their part of the town. According to a tradition, Cheraman Perumal, the last of the Chera kings, became a convert to Islam and traveled to Mecca and this event helped the spread of Islam.

The patronage of the Zamorins of Kozhikode was also an important factor in the spread of Islam in north Kerala. The Muslims were a major power to be reckoned with in the kingdom and had great influence in the court. The arrival of the Portuguese in 1498 checked the then well-established community's progress. However in the later Colonial period Muslims increased by conversion chiefly among the "outcaste" Hindu groups of southern interior Malabar as Muslim traders turned inland in search of alternative occupations to commerce. By the mid-18th century the majority of the Muslims of Kerala were landless laborers, poor fishermen and petty traders, and they were in a psychological retreat. This trend was reversed during the Mysore invasions of the late 18th century. For a little over a quarter of a century after 1766 the Muslims were a dominant community. The victory of the British and princely Hindu confederacy in 1792 placed the Muslims once again in economical and cultural subjection.

During invasion of North Kerala by Tipu Sultan, he forcefully converted many Hindus to Islam.

European era

The monopoly of overseas trade in Malabar was safe with the Arab-Mappila alliance until the arrival of Portuguese in Kerala. At the time, a good number of Mappilas were enlisted in the naval force of Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. The naval chiefs of the Zamorin were usually from the Mappila community; they were given the title of Marakkar. Initially, Portuguese traders were successful in reaching in an agreement with the Zamorin and hence got support from Mappilas. However, fearful of losing their monopoly in the trade-routes to Europe via the Indian ocean, the Mappila merchants persuaded the Zamorin to attack the Portuguese, killing the traders left behind by Vasco da Gama. This led to war between Calicut and the returning Portuguese fleets, who allied with their Hindu rival in Cochin. During this period, Portuguese forces tried to establish monopoly in spice trade using violent methods against the Arabs and other Muslim merchants from the Middle East. The possibility that a few Muslim traders from Basra, Damascus, Tunis and Egypt joined the Mappila community during this period can not be ruled out.

Portuguese-Zamorin relation deteriorated and the military of Zamorin, including Mappilas, engaged the Portuguese colonial forces in 1524 CE. The Portuguese attacked and looted the town of Calicut. They set the town to fire and, in the arson, many buildings including the Jami' Mosque of Mappilas were destroyed. Ships containing trading goods were drowned, along with thousands of merchants and their families; anyone who was an Arab was killed. All this resulted in the Mappila losing control of the spice trade they had dominated for more than a thousand years as well as losing more than half of their population at the hands of their enemy.

In the Mysorean invasion of Kerala, Mappilas gave support to the invading military of Hyder Ali in 1765. In the following Mysorean rule of Malabar, Mappilas were favoured against the Hindu landlords of the region and the most notable advantage for the community during this time is the grant of customary rights for the Mappila tenants over their land. However, such measures of the Muslim rulers widened the communal imbalance of Malabar and the British colonial forces taking advantage of the situation allied with the Hindu upper-caste communities to fight against the Mysore regime. The British won the Anglo-Mysore War against Tippu Sultan and, consequently, Malabar was organised as a district under Madras Presidency. The British repaid landlord communities with a slew of measures: The first one being the abolishing of tenant rights over land.

The partisan rule of British authorities brought the Mappila peasants of Malabar into a condition of destitution which led to a series of uprisings against the landlords and British. There was a recurrent form of violent protest known as the Moplah Outrages (1836-1919) and the Moplah Rising (1921–22). The Malabar rebellion was an armed uprising in 1921 against British authority and Hindu landlords in the Malabar region by Mappila Muslims and the culmination of a series of Mappila revolts that recurred throughout the 19th- and early 20th centuries. The 1921 rebellion began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement by the British authorities in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar. In the initial stages, a number of minor clashes took place between Khilafat volunteers and the police, but the violence soon spread across the region. The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries. The largely kudiyaan (tenant) Mappilas also attacked and killed jenmi (landlords). The Muslim community of Kerala was also influenced by "the wind of change" in the 20th century. Social and religious leaders worked hard for social uplift and moral regeneration in society, exhorting Muslims to give up all un-Islamic practices and to take to Islamic education. They also promoted education of women.

The Muslim community of Kerala was also influenced by "the wind of change" in the 20th century. Social and religious leaders worked hard for social uplift and moral regeneration in society, exhorting Muslims to give up all un-Islamic practices and to take to Islamic education. They also promoted education of women.

Communities and denominations

The modern theological orientations amongst the Muslims of Kerala are primarily divided into three; Sunnis, Mujahids (Salafis) and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, though all these belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The Sunnis referred here are identified by their conventional beliefs and practices and adherence to the Shafi'i madh'hab, while the other two theological orientations, the Mujahids and the Jama'ats, are seen as movements within the Sunni Islam. A minor group of followers may be found with Tablighi Jama'at. Both Sunnis and Salafis again have been split to sub-groups.

The Ahmadi community is severely persecuted in Pakistan. However Indian law regards Ahmadis as Muslims. A landmark ruling by the Kerala High Court on 8 December 1970 in the case of Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P. Ahammed Koya, citation A.I.R. 1971 Ker 206 upheld their legal status as Muslims. Ahmadis were not allowed to sit on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which is regarded in India as representative of Muslims in the country.

Oppana

It is a popular form of social entertainment among the Mappila community of Kerala, south India, prevalent all over Kerala. It is generally presented by females numbering about fifteen including musicians, as a part of wedding ceremonies a day before the wedding day. The bride, dressed in all finery, covered with gold ornaments, is the chief spectator; she sits on a peetam, around which the singing and dancing take place. While they sing, they clap their hands rhythmically and move around the bride using simple steps. Two or three girls begin the songs and the rest join the chorus.

Mappila Paattukal

Mappila Paattu or Mappila Song is a folklore Muslim devotional song genre rendered to lyrics in Arabic-laced Malayalam, by Muslims or Mappilas of the Malabar belt of Kerala in south India. Mappila songs have a distinct cultural identity, as they sound a mix of the ethos and culture of Kerala as well as West Asia. They deal with themes such as religion, love, satire and heroism. Most of the mapillapatu are mixed with Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Tamil etc. it keeps many 'ishals' (tunes), prasams (rhyming parts) and things like that. Moyinkutty Vaidyar is one of the oldest poets in mapilapattu.

Kolkali

Kolkkali is a popular dance form among the Mappila Muslims in Malabar. It is played in group of 12 people with two sticks, similar to the Dandiya dance of Gujarat.

Duff Muttu

Duff Muttu (also called Dubh Muttu) is an art form prevalent among Mappilas, using the traditional duff, or daf, also called Thappitta. Participants dance to the rhythm as they beat the duff.