Islam in Kerala

File:The Red Mosque (5007903153).jpg

Syed Nagar Mosque, Taliparamba East

Religion in Kerala
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			54.2%
Islam			26.7%
Christianity			18.4%
Others			1.0%
Source:2011 Census of India

Islam is the second-most practiced religion in the Indian state of Kerala with 24.7% of the population according to the 2001 Census of India figures. The religion reached Kerala by the Arabs merchants and immigrants in coastal regions, prior to the arrival of Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans in India.

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.

Historians also believe that during invasion of North Kerala by Tipu Sultan, he forcefully converted many Hindus to Islam. In a letter Tipu sent to one of his generals he claims to have converted over four lakh Hindus.

These conditions found expression in a recurrent form of violent protests known as the Moplah Outrages (1836-1919) and the Moplah Rising (1921–22). 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

Quvvathul Islam Madhrassah in Taliparamba

Kerala has Muslims from many sects including Shia, Bohra, the Shafi`i school of the Sunni sect, Mujahids also under that sect, and Ahmadi. Sunnis predominate.

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. A legal case resulted in a court ruling that Ahmadis are Muslims and that they cannot be declared apostates by other Muslim sects because they hold true to the two fundamental beliefs of Islam: that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad was a servant and messenger of God.

See also

• Caste system in Kerala

Further reading

• Dr. S. Sharaf-ud-din, Religion: Islam, Malayala Manorama Yearbook 2006, Kottayam (India), 2006 ISSN 0970-9096