Again, one thing sort of fortified in my mind about how South Indian Muslims particularly in Kerala are different from their Northern counterparts. The Islamization of Kerala mainly happened through the trade router as Arabs right through the Roman times had been travelling to the coast as part of the Indian ocean spice route. The doctrine to which Keralites would have been exposed would have been an unadulterated form which would have been closest to Prophet's time. The Cheraman Juma masjid "supposedly" to have been built in 629 AD predates even the first Arab conquest which took place of Sindh around AD 712.
The later Islamic incursions which happened in from of Turkic invasion which heralded the Islamization in North India was far from a doctrinal or missionary conquest. There was various form of resistance put forward right through the time of Suheldev , Bappa Rawal, Prithviraj Chauhan Rajput against the Turkic horde, Vijayanagar against the Bahmans, the Rajput and Marathas again against the Mughals.
The way of Kerala coast getting Islamized through trading relations could also be seen in Indonesia and Malaysia were coastal kings started embracing Islam initially. It was not until Tipu Sultan when things actually changed for the worst. His violent repression and forced conversion in Kodagu and Malabar (North Kerala), altered the demography significantly. This also may have left a bitter taste for the non-converts and the recent converts as well, as the story of violence got engraved in lived memory. Coupled with that the fact Islam proselytizer in Kerala got introduced to a new flavor of spreading the religion i.e. through Violent methods, this got enmeshed with the 8th century association of a "Pure' desert Islam of the 7th Century.
It is also no wonder that Kerala saw the most violent reactions during the Khilafat agitation of 1919-1921. Masquerading under the Guise of Anti-Zamindar revolt, Ali Musaliyar and his co-religionist wreaked havoc in the region, which resulted in forced conversions and migrations of thousands, until it was put down by the British.
There may be favored sentiments amongst specially the Kerala Muslims with the Arabs due to their over 1 Millenia association which parallels the impact Kerala born Sanatani seers they have had on the evolution of Sanatan Dharma in the subcontinent through Shankaracharya and his school of thought.
Kerala even hosted a live session with Hamas members like Khaled Mashal during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The majority of recruits to ISIS in the past have been form Kerala, PFI has its roots in Kerala which had its own vision document to conquer India.
But would have things be different if Kerala was not exposed to the violent Islamic conquest of 18th century by Tipu Sultan & it's so called "pure doctrinal" Islamic association would have still instilled the pursuit of integrating with the larger Islamic brother hood ?
Reference : Radicalization in India
No comments:
Post a Comment