A CURSORY GLANCE INTO THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MALABAR MUSLIMS

 

The Malabari Culture

 

A community is identified by its culture. With is continuous assimilation the Malaysian community, the Malabari culture has changed much from its original form. Some other elements  has become less prominent while others  have almost disappeared. Whichever the case it has evolved into a culture which is uniquely Malaysian.

Language

Although in is true that the early Muslims were not sufficiently educated in the modern sense, they were not illiterates. Their inventive genius created a new system of alphabet following the arabic alphabets and started transliteration of Malayalam. They named it "Arabi Malayalam". Almost all Muslims, men and women, read and wrote this Arabi Malayalam. Even today Arabi Malayalam is alive. Transliteration of Malay language in Jawi is a similar development.

A tribute to the creative genius of the Malabar Muslims, their literature has made immortal contribution to enrich Malayalam literature as a whole. In the early stages  they wrote in Arabi Malayalam, the language employed being an admixture of words from Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, Arabic, Persian and a few other Indian languages.  Malayalam literature has produced some Malabar Muslim authors of international reputation. Their works have been translated into a number of foreign languages.

The dialect used by majority of the Muslims are that of the Northern Kerala. In Malaysia it has evolved even further with the admixture of local languages.

Art

The Malabaris  discovered melodious tunes in which to display their poetic talents. To conform to the rhyme and rhythm of the poetic creations, they freely borrowed words from the afore-said languages. The songs are known are 'Mapilla pattu'( the Mappila songs). Modern Malayalam poets of standing have since been attracted by these melodious tunes and have started employing them in their poetic creations.

Oppana is a dance form mostly performed at wedding festivities of the Malabar Muslims Maidens and young female relatives sing and dance around the bride, clapping their hands. It is also performed by the  men to entertain the bridegroom.

Avarana muttu ("Rebana") is a group performance popular among the the Malabaris. They sing songs which are often a tribute to martyrs and heroes accompanied by the Avarana. It is often sung in welcoming the newly-weds and distinguished guests.

 Kolkali is a folk art mainly of the agrarian classes.It  is a highly rhythmic dance with the dancers wielding short sticks. The rhythm of this dance is set by a harmonious synchronisation of the tapping of the feet to the striking of sticks. The movement is circular and the artists sing as they dance and strike the sticks in unison. Though the dancers break away to form different patterns, they never miss a beat. In Malabar, Kolkkali is more popular among Muslim men.

Food

 The Malabar Muslims have over time , developed food habits different from their non-Muslim neighbors. In fact some of their dishes are entirely foreign to their place of origin and the preparations were  almost unknown to the non Muslims. With more inter-minggling the non muslims have also learned to make these dishes. 'Pathiri' is one of these items. Some say that 'Pathiri' is imported from Arabia and the original word is 'Fatheer'. What ever it may be, Pathiri makes  a good combination with meat curry, also prepared in the Malabari way. It is a revised edition of their Arabic counterpart to suit the demands of the local appetite.

Self defence

Kalari payat is a form of martial arts popular in Kerala since ancient times. There have  been many Muslim exponents of this form of self-defence. Manjeri Kurikkal as an example of this. This art has been popularised in Malaysia by Ustaz Haji Hamzah.