MATRILINY FAVOURS WOMEN: REALITY OR MYTH? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL STATUS OF MAPPILA MUSLIM WOMEN IN MATRILINEAL AND PATRILINEAL FAMILIES OF MALABAR Thesis submitted to the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology by FATHIMA. T Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. SHALLY JOSEPH Prof. Dr. SHALLY JOSEPH Centre for Research in Sociology St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam Kerala, India July 2014 Acknowledgement In The Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful As my extremely gratifying experience of completing my doctoral thesis is coming to an end, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have given their full support and whole hearted co-operation in accomplishing this modest venture. At the outset, I thank God Almighty for the numerous graces I received through various persons. It is with the deepest sentiments that I wish to express my indebtedness and gratitude to Prof. Dr. Shally Joseph, my supervising teacher and guide, who believed in me and constantly provided me with inspiration, moral support and able guidance at every phase of the research work. It was her patience, perseverance, and gentle nudging that motivated me to overcome the various trials and tribulations at each stage of my research work and to move ahead confidently. I extend my sincere gratitude to our beloved Principal Dr. Sr. Vineeta, and the other former Principals of St.Teresa’s College Ernakulam, for their timely help in this endeavor. With deep sense of gratitude I remember all my teachers and the Heads of the Department of Sociology of my alma mater, St.Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, for guiding me into the world of sociology and research. Without them, this thesis would have never been possible. I am greatly obliged to Ms. Betty, St.Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, for her scholarly guidance and comments that helped me in improving my work. I am also thankful to the University Grants Commission for permitting me to avail Research Fellowship for completing this research work. I am duty bound to express my profound thanks to all the experts and academicians from various fields, for sharing their expertise with me in person as well as through correspondence. This has helped me in abundance to go ahead with my research work. I would like to specially thank Prof. Dr. Hareesh Ramanathan, Head of the Department, Toc H School of Management Science and Research, Ernakulam, for taking genuine interest in my work and providing timely suggestions regarding the statistical analysis of the data. I am also obliged to the librarians and other staff members of St.Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, as well as all the staff of the other libraries within and outside Kerala, which I have visited as a part of my research work. Sincere gratitude is specially expressed to all ICDS supervisors and staff, councillors, especially Ms. Najma Hashim, and all my respondents from Kannur and Kozhikode districts, who spent their valuable time, patiently cooperating with me and providing the required information. The warmth and enthusiasm extended by the people of Malabar, made this research a memorable experience. I acknowledge with deepest gratitude the services rendered by Ms. Sabeena. M, Ms. Sharon J. Paul and Ms. Ninitha Koya for painstakingly editing and proof reading the final draft of my thesis. It has also been an immense pleasure to work alongside my fellow research scholars, especially the brainstorming sessions with Ms. Sindhu C. A., which helped in abundance to go ahead with my research. Mere words are not enough to express my gratitude to my family members, whose unceasing support and prayers helped to make this seemingly impossible task possible and reach the finishing line. I would like to specifically thank my parents Mr. T. M. Bava and Ms. Jameela, my siblings, and my mother-in-law Ms. Amina, who took care of my needs throughout my research period and stood behind me as constant support. My grandmother, Ms. P. S. Fathima, a matriarch herself, has always been a source of inspiration for me. My children, Adil and Mehreen, need special mentioning, as they waited patiently for their mother to complete her thesis. Last but not the least I thank my husband Dr. Fayaz Hamza for his encouragement and unfaltering support throughout the process of finishing my thesis. My heartfelt thanks to all other friends, family members and well wishers, who have helped me in one way or the other during my research work. Fathima. T Abstract The status of women in a social group is a matter of utmost importance as it influences not only the interests of women themselves, but also that of the other members of the family. It also affects the developmental issues of the society and the direction of social change. The present study attempts to find out whether a gender egalitarian kinship system is beneficial to women and how the status of women varies from one cultural context to the other. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of socio-cultural status of matrilineal and patrilineal Mappila Muslim women from Malabar is carried out. The focus of the study is married Mappila Muslim women from two different kinship systems. 250 matrilineal women and 250 patrilineal women from Kannur and Kozhikode districts of Malabar constituted the sample of the study. The different aspects of the ‘status of women’ were collected with the help of Interview Schedule. The theoretical frame work of the study was drawn from Blumberg’s ‘General Theory of Gender Stratification’, Rodman’s ‘Theory of Resources in Cultural context’, Bourdieu’s ‘Doxa’, and Cain’s ‘Theory of Children as Potential Source of Social Security’. The analysis revealed that while there is no difference between matrilineal and patrilineal women with regard to macro level status indicators, kinship played an important role in influencing the micro level autonomy of women. Matrilineal women are seen to have more household decision making power, freedom of mobility as well as freedom from spousal violence, suggesting that matrilineal women, amidst their kin group, enjoy a better status than patrilineal women. The findings also show that status of women is a multi-dimensional concept that varies from one social context to the other. Keywords: Matrilineal Women, Patrilineal Women, Life Options, Autonomy Contents Chapter 1 Introduction -------------------------------------------- 01 - 19 1.1 Views on Status of women 03 1.2 Evolution of Matriliny and Patriliny 05 1.3 Kinship and Status of Women in Kerala 09 1.4 Matrilineal heritage of Kerala 11 1.5 Mappila Muslims in Kerala 13 1.6 Matriliny and Patriliny among Mappilas 16 Chapter 2 Review of Literature ----------------------------------- 21 - 79 2.1 Features of Patriliny among Mappila Muslims of Malabar 21 2.2 Features of Matriliny among Mappila Muslims of Malabar 22 2.3 Decline of Marumakkathayam and Resilience of Matriliny 32 2.4 Status of Women 36 2.5 Indicators of Status of Women- A Macro-Micro Analysis 37 a. Macro Level Status Indicators 38 b. Micro Level Status Indicator- Autonomy 40 2.6 Measuring Autonomy of women 43 a. Women’s Economic Decision Making Power 45 b. Freedom of Movement 46 c. Freedom from Spousal Violence 47 2.7 Status of Matrilineal Women 48 2.8 Status of Matrilineal Women in India 51 2.9 Status of Matrilineal Mappila Muslim Women in Malabar 54 2.10 Status of Patrilineal Women in India 57 2.11 Status of Women in Islam 61 a. Education 64 b. Inheritance 65 c. Marriage 67 d. Fertility Preferences 68 2.12 Status of Muslim Women in India 69 2.13 Status of Muslim Women in Kerala 71 2.14 Status of Women and its Influence on Girl Child 73 2.15 Status of Girl Child in Patrilineal System 74 2.16 Status of Girl Child in Matrilineal System 78 Chapter 3 Methodology ------------------------------------------- 81 - 99 3.1 Theoretical FrameWork 81 3.2 Statement of the Problem 86 3.3 Objectives 88 3.4 Hypotheses 88 3.5 Clarification of Concepts 89 3.6 Variables 91 3.7 Research Design 91 3.8 Universe of the Study 92 3.9 Pilot Study 92 3.10 Sample, Sample Size and Method of Sampling 92 3.11 Tool for Data Collection 96 3.12 Pre Test 96 3.13 Field Work 97 3.14 Analysis and Interpretation 97 3.15 Scheme of Chapterisation 98 3.16 Limitations of the Study 99 Chapter 4 Profile of the Respondents ------------------------ 101 - 114 4. 1 Age 102 4.2 Education 104 4.3 Employment Status 107 4.4 Marital Status 109 4.5 Rural- Urban Difference 110 4.6 Standard of Living 111 4.7 Summary 113 Chapter 5 Access to and Control of Economic Resources -------------------------------- 115 - 144 5.1 Access to Economic Resources 119 5.2 Natal Inheritance 123 5.3 Dowry – Pre-mortem Inheritance 131 5.4 Gifts by Husband 136 5.5 Control of Economic Resources 137 5.6 Summary 142 Chapter 6 Life Options- A Macro– Micro Analysis -------- 145 - 176 6.1 Macro level Status of Women 147 6.1.1 Age at first marriage 148 6.1.2 Age at first birth 151 6.1.3 Number of children 153 6.1.4 Contraceptive use 154 6.1.5 Level of education 156 6.1.6 Employment status 158 6.2 Micro level Status of Women 160 6.2.1 Economic Decision Making 162 6.2.2 Freedom of Movement 166 6.2.3 Freedom from Spousal Violence 170 6.3 Summary 173 Chapter 7 Life Options and the Factors Affecting it ------- 177 - 207 7.1 Factors Influencing Macro Life Options 179 7.1.1 Age 179 7.1.2 Education 182 7.1.3 Standard of Living 184 7.1.4 Area of Residence 187 7.2 Factors Influencing Micro Life options- Autonomy 188 7.2.1 Age and Autonomy 189 7.2.2 Education and Autonomy 192 7.2.3 Standard of