Abstract
Vakkom Moulavi is known as the “father” of the Muslim socioreligious reform movement in Kerala. He effectively used communication networks to promote his ideas of patriotism, modern education, and religious reform. The son of an educated and wealthy merchant, he received a well-rounded education, characteristic of the children belonging to the “noble” (ashraf) class. Like his contemporaries, he was shaped by discourse on modernity, nationalism, and socioreligious reform movements in Kerala, North India, and Egypt, spearheaded by Muhammad ‘Abduh and Rashid Rida through the periodical al-Manar. He was a staunch patriot and began his career as a journalist. In 1905, he started a Malayalam newspaper named Swadeshabhimani (patriot) to educate people about their rights and responsibilities and campaign for a responsible government committed to public welfare in Travancore. He used his journals—two in Malayalam (Muslim in 1906 and Deepika in 1931) and one in Arabie-Malayalam (al-Islam in 1918)—to motivate Muslims to pursue modern education and to bring them to the forefront of the nationalist movement. He also initiated a religious reform movement among Mappilas condemning popular religion and rejecting the authority of ulama.
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Notes
M. Mohammed Kannu, Vakkom Moulavi (Jeevacaritram) [Vakkom Moulavi (Biography)] (Trivandrum: By the author, 1981), 19; S. Sharafudeen, Vakkom Moulavi (A Study) (Trivandrum: Samkramanam, 1983), 15.
P. M. Nair, Swathantra Samara Senanikal [Freedom Fighters] (Trivandrum: Forward Publications, 1980), 212.
M. Abdul Samad, Islam in Kerala: Groups and Movements in the 20th Century (Kollam: Laurel Publications, 1998), 57.
M. P. Appan (1913–2003), a prominent Malayalam poet and literary critic, noted that Sri Narayana Guru was a friend of Vakkom Moulavi. M. P. Appan, “Vakkom Moulavi: Adyatmiyatayum Bhautikatayum Othinaggiya Mahan” [Vakkom Moulavi: The Saint who Combined Spirituality and Materialism] Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust Newsletter, 4, nos. 1&2 (March–April, 1993): 17.
S. Sharafudeen, “Vakkom Moulavi—A Pioneer Journalist of Kerala,” Journal of Kerala Studies, 8 (March–December 1981): 93.
In 1894, Sulayman Moulavi established a litho press and a publishing house named Amirul Islam in Alleppey. In 1899, he published an Arabie-Malayalam weekly titled Manivilakku [a lamp that shines like a jewel], which contained several articles dealing with Islamic religious beliefs and practices. Prominent Muslim leaders of Alappuzah, such as N. M. Muhammad Kunju Sahib, P. S. Muhammad Sahib, and Alappuzha Muhammad Kannu Sahib, contributed scholarly articles to this journal. Vakkom Moulavi wrote a series of articles titled “Muslim Community” in this journal, dealing with the religious and educational conditions of Mappila Muslims. Sulayman Moulavi authored several books in Arabie-Malayalam and also established a madrasa in Alappuzha. C. N. Ahammed Moulavi and K. K. Muhammed Abdulkareem, Mahathaya Mappila Sahithya Parampariam [Great Mappila Literary Tradition] (Calicut: By the authors, 1978), 411–413.
Francis Robinson, “Technology and Religious Change: Islam and the Impact of Print,” Modern Asian Studies, 27, no.1 (1993): 232–233.
T. Muhammadali, “Colonial Education, Public Sphere and Marginality in Kerala: The Case of the Mappilas.” In Kerala Society Historical Perceptions: Essays in Honour of Dr. S. M. Muhammed Koya, ed. V. Kunhali (Calicut: University of Calicut, 2002), 96–97.
S. A. Shanavas, “Translations of Qur’an in Malayalam,” Islam and the Modern Age 24 (1993): 271–272. Mayan Kutty’s translation of the Qur’an was in six volumes and was printed in Bombay. Shanavas claimed that it was the first translation of the Qur’an in any Dravidian language.
Chirayinkil C. P. Govinda Pillai, “Vakkom Moulaviyum and Swadesabhimaniyum” [Vakkom Moulavi and Swadesabhimani], in Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu (Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982), 196–197.
The Regional Records Survey Committee, Kerala State, The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala (1885–1938), vol. 2 (Trivandrum: Department of Cultural Publications, Government of Kerala, 2001), 21–22.
D. C. Kizhakkemuri, Swadesabhimani Ramakrishnapillai (Trivandrum: Department of Publication for the University of Kerala, 2000), 30.
According to Kalyanikutty Amma, Ramakrishna Pillai’s wife, whenever Vakkom Moulavi visited Ramakrishna Pillai, they did not spend much time together. B. Kalyani Amma, “Moulaviyum Swadesabhimaniyum” [Moulavi and Swadesabhimani], in Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], ed. S. Mohamed Abda (Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979), 345.
Puthupally Raghavan, Kerala Patrapravarthana Charitram [History of Newspapers in Kerala] (Kottayam: D.C. Books, 2001), 207.
Miller quotes Maulavi C. K. Muhammad Shirazi. Miller, Roland E. Mappila Muslims of Kerala: A Study in Islamic Trends. Rev. ed. (Madras: Orient Longman, 1992), 270.
M. Mohammed Kannu, Vakkom Moulaviyum Navothana Nayakan-maurum (Jeevacarithra Padanangal) [Vakkom Moulavi and Leaders of Renaissance (Biographical Studies)] (Trivandrum: By the author, 1982), 31, 51–52.
Yoginder Sikand, Bastions of the Believers: Madrasas and Islamic Education in India (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005), 125.
Vakkom Moulavi, “Islam Matha Sindhanta Samgraham” [An Outline of Islamic Religious Principles], in Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], ed. S. Mohamed Abda (Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979), 85. Hereafter “An Outline of Islamic Religious Principles.” Also Abda, “Vakkom Moulavi who Turned Words into Sword,” n.p.
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© 2014 Jose Abraham
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Abraham, J. (2014). Vakkom Moulavi: Biographical Details. In: Islamic Reform and Colonial Discourse on Modernity in India. Postcolonialism and Religions. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378842_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378842_2
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