Malabar History journal

Sayyid Abdul Qadir had six sons and three daughters including Bafakhi Thangal.

Bafakhy thangal received primary education in the house of Thattangara Kuttyammu Musliyar at Veliyancode near Ponnani. After the death of Musliyar in 1923, Thangal continued his studies under his son Muhammad Musliyar. After his studies, he adopted the path of his father and turned to the business of exporting goods in Calicut. In 1924, he started the Copra (dried coconut) business at Calicut Copra bazaar. Further, he did a business of rice and started a branch of it at Vadakara of Calicut. In 1949, he started the ‘Bafaqi and Company’ at Mughul street in Rangoon, Burma. The company flourished well and became a major exporter in South Asia.

He entered politics in 1936, at the age of 30 by campaigning against a candidate of the All India Muslim league from the Kurumbranad constituency of Calicut. In 1938, he joined the All India Muslim League. Further, he was elected as the vice president of the Malabar Muslim League while Abdul Sathar Sett was the president.

In 1956, when the Kerala state was formed, he was elected as the president of the Kerala State Muslim League. He was also the first Malayalam-speaking person to become the national leader of the Muslim League. On 22 June 1959, he organized the State Muslim League Council. From the council, the party decided to participate in the Vimochana Samaram (liberation struggle) against the first state government in Kerala led by E.M.S Namboodirippad, against its controversial provisions of the Kerala Education Act and the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill. A slogan was raised “Mannam – Pattam – Shankar – Chakko – Bafakhy Thangal Sindhabad” against the government. Thangal visited different places across Kerala and established an alliance with P.S.P (Praja Socialist Party) to spread its momentum.

He was also the chief architect of the Communist coalition which led the Muslim League to occupy power positions for the first time, though in alliance in 1967. He married five times. Initially, he married Puthan Veetil Khadeeja Beevi of Tanur and they had five sons and two daughters. Secondly, to Shareefa Amina Beevi of Koilandy and thirdly to Muthu Beevi of Koilandy Puthiya Maliykkal, both of whom died shortly. Later he married Shareefa Khadeeja Beevi of Chaliyam who gave birth to six sons and four daughters. After the death of his former wives, he married for the fifth time and they had three sons and one daughter.

In January 1973, Thangal travelled to Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Eventually, his health was found deteriorating and he died there on 19 January 1973.

Major Contributions

Bafakhy Thangal contributed much in the field of religious, educational and cultural spheres of Muslims. He took part in the functioning of several educational organizations like Ponnani Mounathul Islam Sabha, Tharbiyathul Islam Sabha and Himayathul Islam Sabha. In 1951, he occupied the leadership position in forming an educational board under the religious organization Samastha Kerala Jam’iyyatul Ulema known as the Islamic Educational Board of Kerala and the establishment of Jamia Nooriyya Arabic college of Pattikkad. He laid the foundations for an orphanage in Tirurangadi. He occupied the post of Chief agency of the Chandrika, a daily newspaper under the Muslim League after it shifted its publication house to Calicut. He became the managing director of the “Muslim printing and Publishing Company” after the death of Kunjimayan Haji.

References

• M.K., Thasniya. (2010). Sayyid Abdurahman Bafakhy Thangal: A historical profile (Master’s thesis, Farook College, Calicut).
• അബ്ദുറഹ്മാൻ ബാഫഖി തങ്ങൾ. (n.d.). Islam Kavadam. Accessed on January 10, 2023, from https://www.islamkavadam.com/charithram/keralam/rashtreeya-nethakkal/sayyid-abdurahman-bafaqi-thangal
• Randathani, Hussein. (n.d.). Ba Faqihs Sayyids of Kerala – Sayyid Abdurahman Bafakhy Thangal. Accessed on January 10, 2023, from http://hussainrandathani.in/assets/admin/bookpdf/8cfaf19ff945b07a9ed796baccc40147.pdf