Malabar Muslims

Malabar Muslims or Muslim Mappilas are members of the Muslim community found predominantly in Kerala 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 were mentioned separately is also 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 Europeans in the spice trade, Malabar Muslims were a prosperous trading community, settling mainly in the coastal urban centres of Kerala. The continuous interaction of Mappilas with the Middle East has created a profound impact on their life, customs, and culture. This has resulted in the formation of a unique Indo-Islamic synthesis—within the large spectrum of Kerala culture—in literature, art, food, language, and music.

Most Muslims in Kerala follow the Shafi'i school, while a large minority follow movements such as Salafism. Contrary to a popular misconception, the caste system, like in other parts of South Asia, does exist among the Muslims of Kerala. (Although all Muslims are allowed to worship in all Kerala mosques, certain communities are held in "lower status" to others.) A number of different communities, some of them having distant ethnic roots, exist as status groups in Kerala. Among the Mappilas, there are numerous social groups. Various factors such as intermarriage, migration and conversion had led to creation of these groups, these groups were Sayyids (Thangals), Keyis (Koyas), Baramis, Themims, Pusalars, and Ossans found in different regions of Kerala.