Mappila
Encyclopedia
Mappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim
community of Kerala
, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka
and western parts of Tamil Nadu
. A large portion of the community is scattered throughout the major cities of India
, the Gulf states
and Malaysia as diaspora groups.
Mappila Muslims of Malabar are known as "Malabaris" or "Malwari" in Middle East
, Pakistan
, Malaysia and Singapore
.
Muslims (including the Mappila Muslims of Malabar) make up the largest community in Kerala, 24.70% of the population. As a religious group they are the second largest after Hindus (56%). They share the common language Malayalam and the culture of the inhabitants of Kerala. Over the centuries, the strong relations of the Mappilas with the traders from Arabia have created a profound impact on their life and culture. This has resulted in the formation of a unique tradition in literature, art, music, and history of the Mappilas. They now form an integral part of the unique blend of the culture of the Malayali
.
Islam
reached Malabar as early as 7th century. It was assimilated with the culture and traditions of Keralites. Ultimately the Islahi movements of Kerala, part of the renaissance of the community, resulted in the division of Mappilas as orthodox Sunni
s and Salafi
s in 1925. Shia Islam is almost absent amongst the Muslims of Kerala.
/Malayalam Maha (great) or Ma (mother) and Pillai ("Son-in-law" or "Bridegroom"). It was referred to visitors and immigrants to Malabar, including the Muslims, Christians and the Jews, either in the sense of "bridegroom","son-in-law" or in a broader sense of "honoured ones". The former refers to the intermarriage of the visitors with the local women of the region. In time it became a distinctive term to refer to the Muslim community in North Kerala, although the Syrian Malabar Nasrani
community of South Kerala are also called "Nasrani Mappilas".
The word Mappila was derived from the Tamil word "mappilai" which means son in law in Tamil language. When a Tamil word adopted in Malayalam languager 'ai' sound is omitted and 'aa' sound replaced. Thus 'mappilai becomes Mappila'.
, Greek
, Persian
and later Portuguese
contact with the coastal areas of India
has left its permanent mark in the form of several communities. These communities came into existence through the large scale immigration of Arab
sailors and their families (The Muslim Mappilas) and traders and conversion of early Jews to Christianity
(Nasrani Christians). Malabar and Kochi were the most important states on the western coast of India where the Arabs and Persian
s found a fertile soil for their trade activities. The community, which arose in Malabar as a result of the contact, is called the Mappilas.
But the effect of Arabic immigration in Kerala should not be overestimated as compared to the local population; the immigrants were considerably small in numbers and have mixed with local natives. Mappilas are very much a racially uniform group. Indeed genetic studies have found identifiable genes from the Arab peninsula at about 0.1%.
Early history
Contrary to popular belief, Islam came to South Asia prior to Muslim invasions of Indian subcontinent
. Islamic influence first came to be felt in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders. Trade relations between Arabia and the subcontinent
are very ancient. Arab traders used to visit the Malabar region
, which was a link between them and ports of South East Asia, to trade even before Islam had been established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians
, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 CE. H.G. Rawlinson, in his book: Ancient and Medieval History of India claims the first Arab Muslims
settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century CE. Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum’s “Tuhfat al-Mujahidin” also is a reliable work. This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals, and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV. It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural force in the world. The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. The native Nair rulers (naduvazhis) especialy the Samuthiri of Calicut extended all facilities and protection to the Arab traders because their presence was needed for the economic prosperity of the naduvazhis.
The first Indian mosque is thought to have been built in 629 CE, purportedly at the behest of an unknown Chera dynasty ruler, who is considered the first Indian Muslim, during the lifetime of Muhammad
(c. 571–632) in Kodungallur
, in district of Thrissur
, Kerala by Malik Bin Deenar
.
The 12th century Muslim
traveler Ibn Battuta
was surprised to when he discovered that the Mappila communities near Calicut were the followers of Imam Shafi'i while the rest of the Indian Muslims were not, he was also impressed by their strong local cultural institutions and their voyages and influence in the Indian Ocean
especially in the Maldives
and coastal Sri Lanka
.
In Malabar, the Mappilas may have been the first community to convert to Islam because they were more closely connected with the Arabs than others. Intensive missionary activities were carried out along the coast and a number of natives also embraced Islam. These new converts were now added to the Mappila community. Thus among the Mapilas, we find, both the descendants of the Arabs through local women and the converts from among the local people.
In the Gazetteer
of Bombay Presidency
, Khan Bahadur Fazlullah Faridi, mentions the settlement of pre-Islamic Arabs in Chaul
, Kalyan Supara and Malabar Coast and Arab merchants passing along the Coromandel Coast
on their way to China
.
One Uppukutan Mappila appears in the legend of Parayi Petta Pandiru Kulam, (The Twelve Tribes Born to a Paryai) and he is said to have lived during the reign of Vikramaditya
in north India, in the Gupta
period. Ouwayi, who through extreme devotion made the goddess of Kozhikode
appear before him, was a Jonaka Mappila.
It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural race in the world. The Arab merchants and traders now became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. When Islam spread among the Arabs, the Arab traders brought it to Malabar during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Francis Day
’s assumption that the first settlement of the Muslims on the western coast took place sometime in the seventh century strengthens this view. George Sarton
says in his Introduction to the History of Science that the most outstanding event of the seventh century was, of course, the explosion of Islam throughout Arabia and parts of Africa
and that it might have reached the Malabar Coast during those early days. But all of this is only speculation.
merchants propagated their faith along the Malabar Coast.
It is a common practice among the Sunni Mappilas to visit the Muslim saints and their shrines to invoke blessings inorder to solve their problems. The shrine at Mambram is one such centre where even now a number of low castes among with Mappilas come with their grievances.
Most present day Mappilla Muslims are Shafi'i
Muslims and the Muslims in coastal Karnataka
(Beary
)s also share a similar history and culture. However, a large number of traders and immigrants had also come from Basra, Damascus, Tunis and Egypt. They are remembered for their support in the fight against Portuguese inquisition and conversion to Christianity of native people of Malabar coast in the 16th and 17th centuries. Portuguese atrocities at this time were ruthless, resulting in entire coastal villages and populations being wiped out and almost all Muslim properties being destroyed. The Portuguese did not show any mercy as they were just coming from Portugal, where they had successfully driven the Moors out and harbored lingering, intense hatred and jealousy for them. Ships containing trading goods were drowned, along with thousands of merchants and their families and 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 thousand years as well as losing more than half of their population at the hands of the enemy. The Portuguese were religiously intolerant, and Mappilas were forced to convert to Christianity or die. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Mappilas were known for active attacks against the British
, including the 1921 Moplah rebellion where many Mappilas lost their lives, and many were taken as prisoners, mostly to Port Blair. In the same Moplah rebellion, Mappilas murdered and forcibly converted thousands of Hindus. Mohommed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph
of the Moplah Khilafat (Caliphate
) and flags of "Islamic Caliphate" were flown. Ernad and Valluvanad were declared Khalifat kingdoms. Like the Beary
s of Tulunadu, most Mappila Muslims follow the Shafi'i
school of Muslim jurisprudence (in contrast to the Hanafi
school followed by most South Asian Muslims).
The great majority of Mappilas of Malabar supported the independence of Pakistan
, though few Mappilas migrated to Pakistan
following partition
. Today, the vast majority of Malabari Mappilas in Pakistan are Muhajirs
from Karachi
; many are descendants of the Malabari community who left India after the Mappila revolt in 1921 to settle in Pakistan. There is also a Muslim Malabari colony in Karachi. Their numbers are predicted to be anywhere around 6,000; however, the vast majority have lost their cultural identity and assimilated with locals as constituents of the Muhajir
community. The Malabaris in Karachi are famous as hoteliers, fast food and paan
shop owners. Malabari cuisine is known for its masala dosa, banana-sag, coconut-kari, hot spices, small-fish fry, daal chawal and a delicious variety of vegetable dishes, which have added to Karachi’s culinary scene.
The modern theological orientations amongst the Muslims of Kerala are primarily divided into three, 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.
Both political as well as philosophical grounds were raised as a reason for the splits which is still a matter of disagreement among the factions. The differences between the sects manifest in minor practical differences, as most Sunnis consider them all fundamentally the same. Sunnis generally do not identify themselves with a particular sect.
Of this, each major faction has its own mosque
s and madrassas. Women are strictly prohibited from entering traditional Sunni (both AP and EK) mosques. According to Sunni view, women are better to perform prayer
s at their own homes. Mujahids and Jama‘ats have no such discrimination but their women are prohibited from entering through main door. Separate entry gate is built for them in all Mujahid and Jama‘at mosques in Kerala. There will be a wall to separate men and women inside the mosque. A Sunni (AP and EK) imam
(khatib
) will deliver his Jumu'ah
sermon in Classical Arabic
with a model of an scimitar
in his hand while swordless Mujahid and Jama‘at khatib
s will chose Malayalam. The birth anniversary of Muhammad
is only celebrated by various Sunni faction mahal committees and madrasas in Kerala. A mass ziyarat
to the graves of martyrs and Syeds will be held. Even when majority Sunnis are celebrating Milad
, Salafi groups have been critical of the celebrations. According to Salafi scholars, celebrating Muhammad
's birth is un-Islamic and against the tenets of the Quran and Hadith
.
This factionalism has caused hurdles in social life of Kerala Muslims in many rural areas. Clashes are not uncommon among the rival factions mostly for the control of mosque
s and madrasah
s. In such an incident early in the year 2011, at least 10 persons were injured. The clash involving activists of the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) and the Samastha Sunni Federation (SSF) was over madrasa curricula at Chinnamugar, near Bandiyode, close to Kumbla town. The SSF activists alleged that on Tuesday night, a group of persons armed with deadly weapons barged into a madrasa classroom at Chinnamugar and tried to attack the teacher, leading to the clash.
Differences between the factions make effect in social institutions like marriage
and funeral
s. Sunnis oppose intra-factional marriages while Mujahids stick to their practice of so-called ‘wedding sermon’ (Khutbah) which is totally unknown to Sunni texts. Often Mujahid or Jama‘at followers were denied of burial
at Sunni cemeteries. Sometimes, families of the deceased will have to call local police and revenue officials to complete the funeral. There were incidences in which local parish
(mahallah
) authorities out casting those violating its rules.
Muslims in Kerala enjoy greater social and financial security when compared to the Muslims living in other parts of India.
– were forced by Portuguese brutal attacks on their villages in the 16th century to flee into the rural interior. They began migrating to the villages near Tirunelveli
in Tamil Nadu. Many of the present-day Tirulnelveli Muslims claim to be descended from the Kerala Mappilas and follow Malabari
religious teachers and social culture.
, Bangalore
, Coimbatore
) etc. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Mappilas numbering between 3 and 4 million people have left Kerala to seek employment in the Middle East
, especially in Saudi Arabia
and United Arab Emirates
. Many of the prominent businessmen in these countries like the founder of Oman based Galfar, P Mohammed Ali, M.A. Yusuf Ali founder of the Abu Dhabi
based Lulu Group of companies are Mappilas. Also Minister of State for Railways
E. Ahamed and State Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem
. Remittances from these expatriate communities makes Kerala one of the main contributors of foreign exchange to Indian economy.
, offering salat
five times daily, visiting the mosque every Friday (for men), refraining from alcohol and eating only halal
foods. They maintained their original Kodava clan names and dress habits and spoke Kodava thakk although, now they do follow some Mappila-Beary customs also. Many original Malabar Mappilas have settled in Kodagu and now outnumber the Kodava Mappilas in Kodagu.
, prevalent all over Kerala. It is generally presented by females, numbering about fifteen including musicians, a day before a wedding. 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.
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.
, also called Thappitta. Participants dance to the rhythm as they beat the duff.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and western parts of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. A large portion of the community is scattered throughout the major cities of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the Gulf states
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf....
and Malaysia as diaspora groups.
Mappila Muslims of Malabar are known as "Malabaris" or "Malwari" in Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Malaysia and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Muslims (including the Mappila Muslims of Malabar) make up the largest community in Kerala, 24.70% of the population. As a religious group they are the second largest after Hindus (56%). They share the common language Malayalam and the culture of the inhabitants of Kerala. Over the centuries, the strong relations of the Mappilas with the traders from Arabia have created a profound impact on their life and culture. This has resulted in the formation of a unique tradition in literature, art, music, and history of the Mappilas. They now form an integral part of the unique blend of the culture of the Malayali
Malayali
Malayali is the term used to refer to the native speakers of Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala...
.
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
reached Malabar as early as 7th century. It was assimilated with the culture and traditions of Keralites. Ultimately the Islahi movements of Kerala, part of the renaissance of the community, resulted in the division of Mappilas as orthodox Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
s and Salafi
Salafi
A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
s in 1925. Shia Islam is almost absent amongst the Muslims of Kerala.
Etymology
There's a difference of opinion on the exact origin of the word Mappila (Moplah), but by and large it is considered to be derived from a combination of ancient TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
/Malayalam Maha (great) or Ma (mother) and Pillai ("Son-in-law" or "Bridegroom"). It was referred to visitors and immigrants to Malabar, including the Muslims, Christians and the Jews, either in the sense of "bridegroom","son-in-law" or in a broader sense of "honoured ones". The former refers to the intermarriage of the visitors with the local women of the region. In time it became a distinctive term to refer to the Muslim community in North Kerala, although the Syrian Malabar Nasrani
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
community of South Kerala are also called "Nasrani Mappilas".
The word Mappila was derived from the Tamil word "mappilai" which means son in law in Tamil language. When a Tamil word adopted in Malayalam languager 'ai' sound is omitted and 'aa' sound replaced. Thus 'mappilai becomes Mappila'.
History
The long-standing ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
and later Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
contact with the coastal areas of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
has left its permanent mark in the form of several communities. These communities came into existence through the large scale immigration of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
sailors and their families (The Muslim Mappilas) and traders and conversion of early Jews to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
(Nasrani Christians). Malabar and Kochi were the most important states on the western coast of India where the Arabs and Persian
Persian
Persian means of, from, or related to Persia , or the Persian-speaking world. See:* Persian people, the majority ethnic group of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan* Persian language, an Iranian language of the Indo-European family...
s found a fertile soil for their trade activities. The community, which arose in Malabar as a result of the contact, is called the Mappilas.
But the effect of Arabic immigration in Kerala should not be overestimated as compared to the local population; the immigrants were considerably small in numbers and have mixed with local natives. Mappilas are very much a racially uniform group. Indeed genetic studies have found identifiable genes from the Arab peninsula at about 0.1%.
Early history
Contrary to popular belief, Islam came to South Asia prior to Muslim invasions of Indian subcontinent
Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent
Muslim conquest in South Asia mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the Rajput Kingdoms in North India, from the 7th century onwards.However, the Himalayan...
. Islamic influence first came to be felt in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders. Trade relations between Arabia and the subcontinent
Subcontinent
A subcontinent is a large, relatively self-contained landmass forming a subdivision of a continent. By dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent, or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision...
are very ancient. Arab traders used to visit the Malabar region
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
, which was a link between them and ports of South East Asia, to trade even before Islam had been established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians
The History of India as told by its own Historians
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period is a book with eight volumes written by H. M. Elliot and edited by John Dowson. The book was published in 1867-1877 in London. It is a well-known and reputed reference work for the history of medieval India. Despite being...
, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 CE. H.G. Rawlinson, in his book: Ancient and Medieval History of India claims the first Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims are adherents of the religion of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, or genealogically as Arabs. They greatly outnumber other ethnic groups in the Middle East. Muslims who are not Arabs are called mawali by Arab Muslims....
settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century CE. Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum’s “Tuhfat al-Mujahidin” also is a reliable work. This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals, and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV. It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural force in the world. The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. The native Nair rulers (naduvazhis) especialy the Samuthiri of Calicut extended all facilities and protection to the Arab traders because their presence was needed for the economic prosperity of the naduvazhis.
The first Indian mosque is thought to have been built in 629 CE, purportedly at the behest of an unknown Chera dynasty ruler, who is considered the first Indian Muslim, during the lifetime of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
(c. 571–632) in Kodungallur
Kodungallur
Kodungallur is a municipality in Thrissur District, in the state of Kerala, India on the Malabar Coast. Kodungallur is located about 29 km northwest of Kochi city and 38 km Southwest of Thrissur, on National Highway 17 . Muziris the ancient seaport at the mouth of the Periyar River was...
, in district of Thrissur
Thrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
, Kerala by Malik Bin Deenar
Malik Bin Deenar
Mālik bin Dīnār was a Tabi‘in. He is mentioned as a reliable traditionist, transmitting from such authorities as Malik ibn Anas and Ibn Sirin. He was the son of a Persian slave from Kabul who became a disciple of Hasan al-Basri...
.
The 12th century Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
traveler Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
was surprised to when he discovered that the Mappila communities near Calicut were the followers of Imam Shafi'i while the rest of the Indian Muslims were not, he was also impressed by their strong local cultural institutions and their voyages and influence in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
especially in the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
and coastal Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
In Malabar, the Mappilas may have been the first community to convert to Islam because they were more closely connected with the Arabs than others. Intensive missionary activities were carried out along the coast and a number of natives also embraced Islam. These new converts were now added to the Mappila community. Thus among the Mapilas, we find, both the descendants of the Arabs through local women and the converts from among the local people.
In the Gazetteer
Gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...
of Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
, Khan Bahadur Fazlullah Faridi, mentions the settlement of pre-Islamic Arabs in Chaul
Chaul
Chaul is a former city of Portuguese India, now in ruins. It is located 60 km south of Mumbai, in Raigad District of Maharashtra state in western India....
, Kalyan Supara and Malabar Coast and Arab merchants passing along the Coromandel Coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
on their way to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
One Uppukutan Mappila appears in the legend of Parayi Petta Pandiru Kulam, (The Twelve Tribes Born to a Paryai) and he is said to have lived during the reign of Vikramaditya
Vikramaditya
Vikramaditya was a legendary emperor of Ujjain, India, famed for his wisdom, valour and magnanimity. The title "Vikramaditya" was later assumed by many other kings in Indian history, notably the Gupta King Chandragupta II and Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya .The name King Vikramaditya is a...
in north India, in the Gupta
Gupta
Gupta is a common surname of Indian origin.According to some academicians, the name Gupta is derived from Sanskrit goptri, meaning military governor. A more direct translation of the Sanskrit word gupta is 'secret' or 'hidden'. According to prominent historian R. C...
period. Ouwayi, who through extreme devotion made the goddess of Kozhikode
Kozhikode
Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
appear before him, was a Jonaka Mappila.
It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural race in the world. The Arab merchants and traders now became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. When Islam spread among the Arabs, the Arab traders brought it to Malabar during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Francis Day
Francis Day
Francis Day CIE was Inspector-General of Fisheries in India and Burma and an ichthyologist.He was born on 2 March 1829 Maresfield, Sussex, UK third son of William and Ann Day. He became the medical officer in the Madras Presidency, East India Company services in 1852.Francis Day was created a...
’s assumption that the first settlement of the Muslims on the western coast took place sometime in the seventh century strengthens this view. George Sarton
George Sarton
George Sarton was a Belgian chemist and historian who is considered the founder of the discipline of history of science. He left Belgium because of the First World War and settled in the United States where he spent the rest of his life researching and writing about the history of science...
says in his Introduction to the History of Science that the most outstanding event of the seventh century was, of course, the explosion of Islam throughout Arabia and parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and that it might have reached the Malabar Coast during those early days. But all of this is only speculation.
Malabar Mappilas
ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
merchants propagated their faith along the Malabar Coast.
It is a common practice among the Sunni Mappilas to visit the Muslim saints and their shrines to invoke blessings inorder to solve their problems. The shrine at Mambram is one such centre where even now a number of low castes among with Mappilas come with their grievances.
Most present day Mappilla Muslims are Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
Muslims and the Muslims in coastal Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
(Beary
Beary
The Beary is a small Muslim community concentrated mostly in coastal South Kanara , in the district of Karnataka, a south Indian state. It is an ethnic society, having its own unique traditions and distinct cultural identity...
)s also share a similar history and culture. However, a large number of traders and immigrants had also come from Basra, Damascus, Tunis and Egypt. They are remembered for their support in the fight against Portuguese inquisition and conversion to Christianity of native people of Malabar coast in the 16th and 17th centuries. Portuguese atrocities at this time were ruthless, resulting in entire coastal villages and populations being wiped out and almost all Muslim properties being destroyed. The Portuguese did not show any mercy as they were just coming from Portugal, where they had successfully driven the Moors out and harbored lingering, intense hatred and jealousy for them. Ships containing trading goods were drowned, along with thousands of merchants and their families and 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 thousand years as well as losing more than half of their population at the hands of the enemy. The Portuguese were religiously intolerant, and Mappilas were forced to convert to Christianity or die. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Mappilas were known for active attacks against the British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, including the 1921 Moplah rebellion where many Mappilas lost their lives, and many were taken as prisoners, mostly to Port Blair. In the same Moplah rebellion, Mappilas murdered and forcibly converted thousands of Hindus. Mohommed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the Moplah Khilafat (Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
) and flags of "Islamic Caliphate" were flown. Ernad and Valluvanad were declared Khalifat kingdoms. Like the Beary
Beary
The Beary is a small Muslim community concentrated mostly in coastal South Kanara , in the district of Karnataka, a south Indian state. It is an ethnic society, having its own unique traditions and distinct cultural identity...
s of Tulunadu, most Mappila Muslims follow the Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
school of Muslim jurisprudence (in contrast to the Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
school followed by most South Asian Muslims).
The great majority of Mappilas of Malabar supported the independence of Pakistan
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
, though few Mappilas migrated to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
following partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. Today, the vast majority of Malabari Mappilas in Pakistan are Muhajirs
Muhajir people
Muhajir [literally – migrants] is a term commonly used especially by Pakistanis to describe the Muslim immigrants who chose to settle in Pakistan and shifted their domicile after partition of British India into Pakistan and India. Some had participated in the movement for creation of Pakistan in...
from Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
; many are descendants of the Malabari community who left India after the Mappila revolt in 1921 to settle in Pakistan. There is also a Muslim Malabari colony in Karachi. Their numbers are predicted to be anywhere around 6,000; however, the vast majority have lost their cultural identity and assimilated with locals as constituents of the Muhajir
Muhajir people
Muhajir [literally – migrants] is a term commonly used especially by Pakistanis to describe the Muslim immigrants who chose to settle in Pakistan and shifted their domicile after partition of British India into Pakistan and India. Some had participated in the movement for creation of Pakistan in...
community. The Malabaris in Karachi are famous as hoteliers, fast food and paan
Paan
Paan, from the word pān is an Indian, Pakistani, Uttarvarshi and Southeast Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf with areca nut and slaked lime paste, and katha brown powder paste, with many regional and local variations...
shop owners. Malabari cuisine is known for its masala dosa, banana-sag, coconut-kari, hot spices, small-fish fry, daal chawal and a delicious variety of vegetable dishes, which have added to Karachi’s culinary scene.
Modern theological Mappila sects of Kerala
- Sunnis (E. K. SunniE. K. SunniE. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...
, A. P. SunniA. P. SunniA. P. Sunni is one of the powerful and influential traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Karanthur Markaz. They belong to the Sunni-Shafi branch of Islam. It was named after the cleric Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, general secretary of All-India Jamiyyathul...
etc.) - Kerala Nadvathul MujahideenKerala Nadvathul MujahideenKerala Nadwathul Mujahideen is a Salafi Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in Kerala, India. One faction of the organization is working in co-operation with Ahl al-Hadith , an all-Subcontinental Islahi outfit...
(AP faction, Madavur faction) - Jamaat-e-Islami HindJamaat-e-Islami HindJamaat-e-Islami Hind is one of the influential and hardline Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in India...
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.
Both political as well as philosophical grounds were raised as a reason for the splits which is still a matter of disagreement among the factions. The differences between the sects manifest in minor practical differences, as most Sunnis consider them all fundamentally the same. Sunnis generally do not identify themselves with a particular sect.
Of this, each major faction has its own mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and madrassas. Women are strictly prohibited from entering traditional Sunni (both AP and EK) mosques. According to Sunni view, women are better to perform prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s at their own homes. Mujahids and Jama‘ats have no such discrimination but their women are prohibited from entering through main door. Separate entry gate is built for them in all Mujahid and Jama‘at mosques in Kerala. There will be a wall to separate men and women inside the mosque. A Sunni (AP and EK) imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
(khatib
Khatib
Khatib or khateeb is an Arabic term used to describe a person who delivers the sermon , during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers....
) will deliver his Jumu'ah
Jumu'ah
Jumu'ah is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon in lieu of dhuhr...
sermon in Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
with a model of an scimitar
Scimitar
A scimitar is a backsword or sabre with a curved blade, originating in Southwest Asia .The Arabic term saif translates to "sword" in general, but is normally taken to refer to the scimitar type of curved backsword in particular.The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Muslim...
in his hand while swordless Mujahid and Jama‘at khatib
Khatib
Khatib or khateeb is an Arabic term used to describe a person who delivers the sermon , during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers....
s will chose Malayalam. The birth anniversary of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
is only celebrated by various Sunni faction mahal committees and madrasas in Kerala. A mass ziyarat
Ziyarat
Ziyārah is an Arabic term literally means "visit", used to refer to a pilgrimage to sites associated with Muhammad, his family members and descendants , his companions, or other venerated figures in Islām, such as the Prophets, Sufi saints and Islāmic scholars...
to the graves of martyrs and Syeds will be held. Even when majority Sunnis are celebrating Milad
Milad
-People:* Milad Akbari, Iranian footballer* Milad Esrafili, French footballer* Milad Fakhreddini, Iranian footballer* Milad Soleiman Fallah, Iranian footballer* Milad Farahani, Iranian footballer* Milad Gharibi, Iranian footballer...
, Salafi groups have been critical of the celebrations. According to Salafi scholars, celebrating Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's birth is un-Islamic and against the tenets of the Quran and Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
.
This factionalism has caused hurdles in social life of Kerala Muslims in many rural areas. Clashes are not uncommon among the rival factions mostly for the control of mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
s. In such an incident early in the year 2011, at least 10 persons were injured. The clash involving activists of the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) and the Samastha Sunni Federation (SSF) was over madrasa curricula at Chinnamugar, near Bandiyode, close to Kumbla town. The SSF activists alleged that on Tuesday night, a group of persons armed with deadly weapons barged into a madrasa classroom at Chinnamugar and tried to attack the teacher, leading to the clash.
Differences between the factions make effect in social institutions like marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
s. Sunnis oppose intra-factional marriages while Mujahids stick to their practice of so-called ‘wedding sermon’ (Khutbah) which is totally unknown to Sunni texts. Often Mujahid or Jama‘at followers were denied of burial
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
at Sunni cemeteries. Sometimes, families of the deceased will have to call local police and revenue officials to complete the funeral. There were incidences in which local parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
(mahallah
Mahallah
Mahalla or Mahallya or Mohalla is an Arabic language country subdivision or neighbourhood term. Used in the South Asia as Mohalla.* Mahalla * Mahalla * Mahalle * El-Mahalla El-Kubra...
) authorities out casting those violating its rules.
Muslims in Kerala enjoy greater social and financial security when compared to the Muslims living in other parts of India.
Mappilas of Tirunelveli
Indian Muslims who followed Shafi'i from the coastal state of Kerala – which borders Tamil NaduTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
– were forced by Portuguese brutal attacks on their villages in the 16th century to flee into the rural interior. They began migrating to the villages near Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...
in Tamil Nadu. Many of the present-day Tirulnelveli Muslims claim to be descended from the Kerala Mappilas and follow Malabari
Malabars
Malabars is an appellation originating from the colonial era that was used by Westerners to refer to all the people of South India...
religious teachers and social culture.
Demographics
According to the 2001 census, about one-quarter of Kerala's population (or 7,863,842 people) were Muslims. Some have settled in other states within India. There are substantial numbers of Mappilas in nearby districts of Kodagu, MangaloreMangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, Coimbatore
Coimbatore
Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
) etc. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Mappilas numbering between 3 and 4 million people have left Kerala to seek employment in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, especially in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. Many of the prominent businessmen in these countries like the founder of Oman based Galfar, P Mohammed Ali, M.A. Yusuf Ali founder of the Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
based Lulu Group of companies are Mappilas. Also Minister of State for Railways
Railway Minister of India
The Minister of Railways is the head of the Ministry of Railways and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India.-List of railway ministers:...
E. Ahamed and State Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem
Elamaram Kareem
Elamaram Kareem is an Indian politician, trade unionist, and a member of Communist Party of India . He was the Minister for Industries & Commerce in the Left Democratic Front government under V. S. Achuthanandan from 2006-2011...
. Remittances from these expatriate communities makes Kerala one of the main contributors of foreign exchange to Indian economy.
Kodava Mappilas
They are a very small population found in Kodagu. They are descendants of Kodavas who were converted to Islam under the Mysore Sultans. The Yemmemad mosque in Coorg is their main place of worship. They devoutly observe requirements of Islam, including observance of RamadanRamadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
, offering salat
Salat
Salah is the practice of formal prayer in Islam. Its importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam, of the Ten Practices of the Religion of Twelver Islam and of the 7 pillars of Musta'lī Ismailis...
five times daily, visiting the mosque every Friday (for men), refraining from alcohol and eating only halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
foods. They maintained their original Kodava clan names and dress habits and spoke Kodava thakk although, now they do follow some Mappila-Beary customs also. Many original Malabar Mappilas have settled in Kodagu and now outnumber the Kodava Mappilas in Kodagu.
Oppana
It is a popular form of social entertainment among the Mappila community of Kerala, south IndiaSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, prevalent all over Kerala. It is generally presented by females, numbering about fifteen including musicians, a day before a wedding. 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 folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
Muslim devotional song genre rendered to lyrics in Arabic-laced Malayalam, by Muslims or Mappilas of the Malabar
Malabar
Malabar and puram derived or westernised into bar. This part of India was a part of the British East India Company-controlled Madras State, when it was designated as Malabar District. It included the northern half of the state of Kerala and some coastal regions of present day Karnataka...
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.
Duff Muttu
Duff Muttu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WcJ7kNsdrA&feature=channel (also called Dubh Muttu) is an art form prevalent among Mappilas, using the traditional duff, or dafDaf
A daf is a frame drum used as a musical instrument in popular and classical music. The term daf is used in Iran / Kurdistan for a large drum that has a series of four interlinked rings in the frame. Daf is mostly used in Middle East, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and ...
, also called Thappitta. Participants dance to the rhythm as they beat the duff.
See also
- Cheraman Juma MasjidCheraman Juma MasjidCheraman Juma Masjid is a mosque in Methala, Kodungallur Taluk in the Indian state of Kerala. The Cheraman Masjid is said to be the very first mosque in India, built in 629 AD by Malik lbn Dinar. But, according to Nathan Katz, the accuracy of these claims is uncertain. It is believed that this...
- Mappila Malayalam
- Mappila Rebellion
- Islahi Movement in KeralaIslahi Movement in KeralaThe renaissance of the ancient Sunni Muslim community in the Kerala state, South India mostly owes to the rise of Salafi ideas and scholars in the early 20th century, referred as Islahi movements of Kerala. Salafism is a puritanical and legalistic Islamic movement under the Sunni umbrella, and is...
- List of Mappilas
- Kuthu RatheebKuthu RatheebVettum Kuthum Ratheeb or simply Kuthu Ratheeb is a ritual performed by a section of the Muslim population of the state of Kerala in India. Kuthu Ratheeb is performed at ritual festivals, mosques and homes. At homes they are done to escape from incurable diseases and to fulfil the aspirations of...
- Ambalangadan
- Kodagu Mappila
- E. K. SunniE. K. SunniE. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...