Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal
Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal (1840-1932) was a Muslim Sunni scholar from northern Kerala who belonged to the Shafi’i School of thought. He was one of the founding members of Samastha Kerala Jam’iyyatul Ulema, an organization of Sunni Shafi’ī scholars in Kerala.
Biography
Sayyed Abdu Rahman Alavi Mulakoya Thangal also called Varakkal Mullaloya thangal, was born in 1840 in Puthiyangadi village of Calicut (present-day Kozhikode district). He belonged to a family of scholars titled ‘Thangals’ who trace their origins to Yemen. His father was Sayyid Muhammed Ba’alawi and mother Marakkarathu Sherifa. He was proficient in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. At the age of 18, he married Zaynaba Koyama. In 1892, after the death of his first wife, he married Cheriya Beevi. He had no children. An eminent scholar and poet Aboobacker Kunji Qazi was his chief educator. Mullakoya Thangal died in 1932, 6 years after the formation of Samasta. Mullakoya Thangal kept good relations with the British government. The Britishers had meetings with him to discuss and find resolutions to the issues of Muslims. He was also appointed in the Arakkal palace to supervise the performance of religious rites.