Malabar Muslims

Common card · No. 292882

Malabar Muslims or Muslim Mappilas are members of the Muslim community found predominantly in Kerala state and the Lakshadweep islands in Southern India. The term Mappila (Ma-Pilla) is used to describe Malabar Muslims in Northern Kerala. Muslims share the common language of Malayalam with the other religious communities of Kerala. According to some scholars, the Malabar Muslims are the oldest settled native Muslim community in South Asia. In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower caste natives who converted to Islam. Mappilas are but one among the many communities that form the Muslim population of Kerala. No census report where the Muslim communities are mentioned separately is available. The Muslim community originated primarily as a result of West Asian contacts with Kerala, which was fundamentally based upon commerce ("the spice trade"). As per local tradition, Islam reached the Malabar Coast and Kerala as early as the 7th century AD. Before being overtaken by the...

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