NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI" Modernity, Islamic Reform, and the Mappilas of Kerala: The Contributions of Vakkom Moulavi (1873-1932) Jose Abraham Institute of Islamic Studies McGiIl University, Montreal November, 2008 A thesis submitted to McGiIl University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ©Jose Abraham 2008 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et ?F? Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-66281-6 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-66281-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Résumé Les changements socio-économiques et politiques effectués à Kerala par les autorités britanniques et par le discours colonial au début du vingtième siècle ont posé un défi à les structures traditionnelles de pouvoir. Ceci a enfin entraîné une mobilité sociale au sein de plusieurs communautés qui ont, par suite, adopté la modernité et ont commencé a poursuivre l'éducation moderne. Néanmoins, leur tradition de longue date de lutter contre les pouvoirs coloniaux et leur haine envers la domination britannique les ont mené à résister au processus de modernisation et par conséquence à devenir plus arriérés dans les domaines sociales et éducatives que les autres communautés à Kerala. C'était dans ce contexte que Vakkom Muhammad Abdul Khadir Moulavi (1873-1932), reconnu comme le père de la réforme socioreligieuse à Kerala, a taché de convaincre les Mappilas à accueillir plusieurs aspects de la modernité, surtout l'éducation moderne. Fondée surtout sur des sources primaires, pour la plupart en langue Malayalam, cette étude soutient que la pensée de Vakkom Moulavi a été largement formé par le discours colonial sur la modernité. Il montre comment l'auteur a réinterprété les principes islamiques et l'histoire musulmane en utilisant pour encadrement l'humanisme rationnelle, séculaire et universelle des Lumières européennes. Il en résultait en partie que son réinterprétation a exclu la possibilité de comprendre l'Islam en tant que tradition discursive, ce qui a, à tour de rôle, réifié l'Islam et annulé la vibranee potentielle des sociétés islamiques. En même temps, son soutenance de l'éducation moderne comme moyen de modernisation a arraché l'éducation musulmane de ses racines historiques et culturelles. L'étude montre aussi que, parce qu'il a vu l'état comme un agent de la modernisation, il était avide a éduquer les gens sur leurs droits et leurs responsabilités. En somme, cette analyse de la carrière de Vakkom Moulavi démontre que, si l'on veut comprendre l'encadrement intellectuel et les M activités de mouvements modernes de réforme socioreligieuses, ces aspects doivent être étudiés dans la lumière du discours colonial. m Abstract The socio-economic and political changes effected in Kerala by the British and colonial discourse at the beginning of the twentieth century challenged traditional structures of power. This eventually resulted in social mobility within various communities which, as a result, embraced modernity and began to pursue modern education. However, Mappila Muslims' long-standing tradition of struggle against colonial powers and their hatred of British rule had led them to resist the modernization process and consequently become more socially and educationally backward than other communities in Kerala. It was in this context that Vakkom Muhammad Abdul Khadir Moulavi (1873-1932), who is acknowledged as the "father" of the Muslim socio-religious reform movement in Kerala, undertook to persuade Mappilas to embrace various aspects of modernity, especially modern education. Based mainly on primary sources written in Malayalam, this pioneering study argues that Vakkom Moulavi's thought was largely shaped by the colonial discourse on modernity. It shows how he reinterpreted Islamic principles and Muslim history using the framework of the rational, secular, universal humanism of the European Enlightenment. One result of this was that his reinterpretation precluded the possibility of understanding Islam as discursive tradition, which in turn reified Islam and negated the potential vibrancy of Islamic societies. At the same time his championing of modern education as a means to modernization eventually tore traditional Muslim education from its historical and cultural roots. The study also demonstrates that, because he saw the state is a key agent in the modernization process, he was keen to educate people about their rights and responsibilities. In sum, this analysis of Vakkom Moulavi's career demonstrates that, in order to understand the intellectual framework and activities iv of modem socio-religious reform movements, these latter need to be studied in the light of colonial discourse on modernity. Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to my advisor and thesis co-supervisor, Prof. Sajida Alvi, for constant encouragement and insightful suggestions as to my research on the Mappila Muslims of Kerala. Her careful reading of the different drafts of this thesis has been invaluable. Similarly, I am grateful to Dr. Roland Miller for sharing the duties of thesis co-supervisor, for his valuable criticism and comments and for his suggestion in the first place to study Vakkom Moulavi. I am also deeply indebted to Prof. Wael Hallaq for inspiring me to study colonial discourse and for helping me to integrate a stronger theoretical component in my writing. Two other scholars who have taken a special interest in my work have been Prof. Stephen Dale of the Ohio State University and Dr. George Oommen of the United Theological College, Bangalore, India; I am deeply grateful for their input. I would like to thank numerous librarians and other scholars for their assistance in procuring the materials needed for my research. In particular, I am grateful to Salwa Ferahian, Wayne St. Thomas and Stephen Millier of the Library of the Institute of Islamic Studies. The staff members of the inter-library loan department at McLennan Library are likewise to be commended for putting up with my seemingly endless requests for materials on Mappilas. In Kerala, the staff of Kerala and Calicut University, the Kerala Council of Historical Research and Farooq College libraries, the Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust, Shahab weekly, and Dr. Sathar Muhammad Abdul must also be acknowledged here for their help in furnishing me with materials for my research. 1 also thank Stephen Millier and Charles Fletcher for editing this dissertation and Walter Young for his help with Arabic. vi I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the generosity of the Principal and the Executive Committee of United Theological College, Bangalore, India for granting me study leave to pursue doctoral studies at McGiII and also for arranging my scholarship. My studies at McGiII would not have been possible without the financial help I received at various times from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, Common Global Ministries, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Institute of Islamic Studies. Finally I would like to thank my wife and children for their support and also for the encouragement of our parents. To them is this work dedicated. vu Notes on Transliteration For Arabic words the Library of Congress system of transliteration has been adopted, the only exception being that the tä'marbüta is rendered without an "h" when it is not in the construct state. For the proper names of Mappila Muslims, I have retained the spelling they adopted. I have generally also retained the spelling of place names as they are most commonly known. For the islähj organizations in Kerala, I have likewise retained the spelling they adopted. For Malayalam words I have used the most common English transliteration.