Modernity and Reformist Rhetoric among the Muslims of Malabar

Abstract:This article focuses on the role of the Muslim reform movement and how it affected and introduced new ideas into the Malabar region of South India that altered existing Islamic religious traditions, and asks whether this reform movement was revivalist in form. To help ans wer this question, the article explores historical narratives surrounding the figure of Chalilakath Kunahmad Hajji (d. 1919), who is considered the founder of modern madrasa education in Kerala, and how these narratives underwrite theological differences. The article seeks to explore the role of Islam in Kerala and its social and cultural impact on Muslims of Kerala society. It also discusses the role of reformers in modernizing the Muslim community of Malabar.