Thesis Review

The first two chapters provide the social and personal background in which Moulavi formulated his reformist activities. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when he undertook his reform efforts, Kerala was undergoing profound economic, political, and social changes. As part of the reform in the Travancore state’s administration, a secretarial system was introduced, and bureaucracy expanded, replacing local chieftains. These administrative changes, along with increased cash crop cultivation and commercialization, raised the demand for basic literacy and arithmetic education in Malayalam. Meanwhile, missionaries established schools that gradually became accessible to all members of society, crossing traditional caste and community barriers. The Travancore government also directly invested in education, establishing schools and providing grants for private community members to appoint teachers. As a result, lower castes, traditionally confined to caste-imposed professions, began accessing opportunities for upward social and economic mobility.

At this time, various caste communities mobilized their people, encouraging them to pursue modern education, seek secretarial jobs, and reform their religious practices. However, Muslims in Kerala, whether in Travancore or Malabar, not only refrained from pursuing modern education but also actively opposed it. Abraham attributes this aversion to the emerging political and social relations between Muslims and colonial forces. Moulavi, however, saw this attitude as stemming from a misunderstanding of Islam perpetuated by the Muslim clergy and reinforced by the educational system they established. His goal was to awaken Muslims to their plight, recognize the advances of other communities, and reform their approach to Islam. Abraham contends that although Moulavi drew inspiration from scholars like Rashid Rida, a prominent figure in Islamic reform in Egypt, his reform efforts began before his exposure to Rida’s work and were primarily shaped by colonial and orientalist critiques of Eastern degeneration and Western advancement.

Moulavi was born in 1873, and his father’s house was frequented by social reformers of the time, including the prominent Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan. Moulavi learned Arabic language and literature, Islamic law, and logic from renowned teachers; he also studied Tamil, Sanskrit, and Malayalam. After his father’s death, he inherited a substantial amount of wealth, which he used to fund journals and newspapers as vehicles for his reformist ideas and to shape public opinion on Travancore’s policies. He published a newspaper and three periodicals. The newspaper Swadeshabhimani, initially a weekly started in 1905, was ahead of its time in directly connecting with international news agencies like Reuters. Under the editorship of Ramakrishna Pillai (who served from 1906 until his deportation in 1910), the newspaper was vocal against corruption and nepotism among officials and the Dewan. It played a pioneering role in shaping national consciousness, patriotic thought, and the idea of a government accountable to the people. Abraham discusses the newspaper’s contribution in detail in the thesis’s final chapter.

Another notable publication is the periodical Muslim, launched in 1906 and continuing until it was taken over in 1916/17 by his brother-in-law A Muhammad Kunju Moulavi. While Swadeshabhimani addressed the people of Travancore and beyond, Muslim primarily targeted a Muslim readership, aiming to inform them of their backwardness and propose solutions. It was published in Malayalam, although most Muslims were not yet literate in the language. The short-lived al-Islam, which began in 1916, attempted to address this by publishing in Arabi-Malayalam. Deepika, published in 1931 in Malayalam, aimed to challenge traditional beliefs and encourage ideas critical to social and religious transformation. Topics included responses to atheistic critiques of Islam, the status of women in Islam, un-Islamic practices among Muslims, criticism of matrilineal practices, and a serialized Quran translation. He authored books in Arabi-Malayalam and translated contemporary and classical Islamic works from Persian, Urdu, and English.

Moulavi was an organizer who encouraged Muslims to form organizations to establish and run schools, libraries, bookstores, and mosques, and seek government support to incorporate religious education in schools. Through his publications, organizations, and networks, he shaped the perspectives of ‘Islahi’ (reformist) leaders in Malabar, including KM Moulavi, who later played a significant role in spreading reformist ideas. At the end of the second chapter, Abraham provides brief profiles of reformers and organizations linked to Vakkom Moulavi.

After laying out this background in the first two chapters, Abraham moves on to examine Moulavi’s substantive contributions in four chapters. Each chapter addresses specific concerns: the third chapter explores his ambivalence towards modernity, the fourth discusses his reinterpretation of Islamic history to develop a civilizing mission, the fifth examines his educational reform efforts, and the sixth reviews his political contributions. Some themes permeate all these chapters: the indebtedness of Moulavi’s reformist mission to colonial discourses on progress, orientalist historical narratives, and a desire to recover an ideal Islamic past where religion encompassed the material—a discursive framework in which both were reinterpreted, as were their interrelationships.

In the third chapter, Abraham suggests that colonial discourses on progress shaped how Moulavi read Islam. However, he is careful to add that Moulavi, like reformers elsewhere, did not merely imitate colonialism; rather, he engaged with it critically, evaluating, judging, and appropriating certain aspects of Western thought. Drawing on Indian social thinker Ashis Nandy, Abraham demonstrates how colonialism must be conceptualized as a matter of consciousness or a particular mindset. He also introduces a distinction that Partha Chatterjee observed in early nationalist writings between the material and spiritual domains, which helps illuminate Moulavi’s ambivalence toward modernity.

Moulavi contended that Islam is the religion God sent to humanity once it reached a stage of maturity and no longer required further growth. Islam brought radical change among the Arabs, its first recipients: it liberated them from the control of religious leaders, corrupt rulers, idols, and superstitions; it integrated worldly and religious matters. Moulavi viewed this first Islamic community as ideal, attaining the highest virtues in all areas of life, including religiosity, ethical conduct, education, and knowledge. He believed that Islam empowered them to spread the faith, conquer great empires, and produce scientific knowledge that laid the groundwork for contemporary Western science. For Moulavi, as with many Islamic reformers like Rashid Rida and Abduh, the turn to modernity was a return to and reclamation of Islam. A true Muslim would always be modern.

Yet, modernity appeared to be at odds with Islam, and Muslims were becoming antagonistic toward it. In its pure form, Islam, as a divine religion, could not contradict science, as science exists within the realm of God’s creation. Therefore, apparent contradictions might arise from distortions of Islamic teachings by the clergy, or, in the case of contradictions in the Quran or prophetic sayings, they should be reexamined to understand their true meaning. Here, Abraham highlights the role of ethical rationalization in the history of religions and notes the connection between Moulavi’s mission and this process. Judaism and early Christianity demythologized the world, anchoring salvation in ethical perfection, though this was later reversed by the medieval church, which reintroduced priestly hierarchies and ritual elements—a process corrected by the Reformation. Elements of this rationalization can be seen in Moulavi’s opposition to religious customs, traditional religious authorities, and practices involving saint veneration. The chapter concludes with Moulavi’s responses to common critiques of Islam, such as the notion that the circumambulation of the Kaaba is akin to idol worship or that zakat promotes begging.

Despite his emphasis on embracing modernity, Moulavi was concerned about its impact on Muslim society. He feared that, in many places in Europe, modern education had led to a rise in immorality, especially among women, a rejection of communal values, excessive individualism, and a lack of compassion toward others. Abraham further addresses these concerns in the fifth chapter, which focuses on Moulavi’s educational reforms.

Accepting the premise that the Orient had lagged behind the West since the medieval period, Moulavi’s reform efforts sought to revive an idealized Islamic past. Contemporary Western societies were seen as a standard against which Islam and other religions should be measured. The fourth chapter of the thesis discusses the implications of working within this orientalist discourse for Moulavi’s reformist efforts. Central to his analysis of the issues plaguing Muslims was the idea that Islam had stagnated. This notion of stagnation was linked to historical developments: the emergence of deviant religious interpretations; the growth of textual practices such as commentaries and supercommentaries, which obscured Islam’s core teachings; and the accumulation of local customs and the rise of authorities based on them. The problem lay within the community’s religious practices, and the solution, Moulavi believed, had to come from a process of islah—religious reform.

He urged a return to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, to discard the overly complex medieval texts that obscured more than they clarified, and to avoid practices not found in Islamic texts, such as intercession or visiting shrines. The ulama, who were supposed to guide the community in these matters, not only failed in their duties but contributed to these deviations by opposing reformers like Moulavi. Furthermore, they propagated the false idea that Muslims should only concern themselves with spiritual glory; thus, material decline was not to be taken as a sign of religious laxity. Moulavi rejected this separation, arguing that the early Islamic community thrived both spiritually and materially due to their unwavering religiosity. He wrote on various topics, such as worship, prayer, charity, fasting, and Hajj, explaining their true purpose and meaning.

Abraham suggests that while recent academic work argues that tradition and modernity are best understood as non-oppositional terms, Moulavi saw them as oppositional categories. By doing so, Moulavi reified Islam, rejected interpretative traditions, and downplayed the relevance of medieval scholarship. Yet, one might examine whether Moulavi himself challenged this oppositional framing of tradition and modernity in his search for true tradition. This is worth exploring, given that Moulavi translated the works of figures like al-Ghazali and also wrote on scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah.

Moulavi regarded education as a key area for promoting religious reform and modernization. In the fifth chapter, Abraham discusses the educational reforms Moulavi undertook. During his time, schools established by missionaries gained admiration among local elites for the content they taught, the methods used to assess and promote students, and other pedagogical innovations. Due to the missionaries’ systematic study of the local population, they developed dictionaries, grammar books, and other resources. A specific genre of prose emerged in Malayalam, which became the medium of communication in schools and the developing public sphere. Moulavi sought to introduce Muslims to this language through his journals. As Abraham further explains in the fifth chapter, Moulavi, inspired by the pedagogical innovations of colonial educators, outlined a set of reforms for teaching the Arabic language.

Moulavi criticized the exclusion of subjects like mathematics and architecture, condemned the existing religious educational systems such as dars, proposed new teaching methods, and sought to provide religious education for students in modern schooling. In his view, structures like the Taj Mahal and the Alhambra Palace, as well as the translation initiatives of Muslim scholars, clearly indicated that Islamic knowledge once encompassed a far broader scope compared to the present Islamic educational system. He believed that the dars system had become merely a means for teachers to achieve personal gains, and the education provided there failed to develop proficiency in either Arabic or Malayalam. Consequently, he proposed new measures for teaching Arabic at both the primary and higher education levels. In response to his proposal to establish teacher examinations for Arabic instructors, the government appointed him head of the teacher examination board. He was responsible for designing syllabi, selecting appropriate textbooks, writing new textbooks if necessary, and compiling manuals for teachers. He drew liberally on methods used by educationists in Egypt, who had similar reformist objectives.

In the sixth chapter, Abraham examines Moulavi’s political interventions and explains how they align with his religious reform mission. Moulavi did not aim to create an Islamic state; rather, he emphasized Muslims’ obligation to follow the laws of their respective governments and the governments’ responsibility to consult the public, a practice evident in the lives of the Prophet and the four righteous caliphs. Abraham suggests that Moulavi’s views on the formation of an Islamic state may have been influenced by the historical context in Kerala, where Muslims lived under non-Muslim rulers but enjoyed a certain level of autonomy in internal matters.

Like many reformers of his time, Moulavi analytically separated the social and political realms from spiritual affairs to focus on social and political reform. He called this the “worldly sphere”; while Islamic instructions guide conduct in this sphere, they are not immutable but adapt to changing times. Moulavi opposed asceticism and stressed that changes in the material world could only be achieved through human effort. The religious cannot be limited to the spiritual realm but encompasses the worldly as well, though worldly matters are governed by a different understanding of cause and effect. Abraham notes that Moulavi shared a view common among reformists: “personal responsibility and the centrality of action on earth,” often coupled with a sense of urgency. Moulavi’s political alliances reveal the connections between his reformist mission and the nationalist movement. He attended Congress meetings, met Gandhi, and invited Congress leaders to conferences he organized to spread his reformist ideas.

One of his most notable political interventions was the publication of Swadeshabhimani, with Ramakrishna Pillai as editor. The newspaper published articles and reports on the corruption and nepotism of the Travancore rulers. Pillai wrote against discrimination toward Muslims, Christians, and Ezhavas. The newspaper encouraged people to participate in the freedom struggle. Around five years after its inception, the Dewan deported the editor and confiscated the property, justifying these actions by showing how the newspaper questioned the foundations of royal governance and promoted the idea of government by the people.

Abraham’s thesis offers a detailed analysis of Moulavi’s initiatives across various, yet interconnected, realms: religious reform, the use of print technology to disseminate Islamic teachings, public discussions of state policies, educational reform, modifications to the Arabi-Malayalam script, and the promotion of nationalist consciousness. For those interested in learning more about Moulavi, the thesis provides bibliographic details of his journals, books, and published articles. The thesis would also benefit researchers interested in present-day religious associations in Kerala, especially in Malabar.

Abraham’s concluding argument is that colonial discourses provided the framework through which Moulavi understood and addressed the issues around him. Thus, even though Moulavi drew extensively on Rashid Rida, he appropriated these ideas within the context of colonial discourse to advance his modernization agenda. However, Abraham is careful not to characterize Moulavi’s mission as merely an imitation of the colonial civilizing mission. A more robust theoretical framework might have helped the author to better explore the complex relationship between the colonial mission and Moulavi’s religious reforms, which appear to be neither passive imitation, nor unilinear determination, nor outright rejection, but a creative engagement with the tradition.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

• Abda, S. Mohamed. Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi]. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• Abdulkareem, K. K. Muhammad. “Thiruvithamkoorile Adyakala Vidyabhasa Pravarthanangal” [“Early educational endeavors in Travancore”]. In Souvenir: Mujahid State Conference, 1997, 237-240. No publication details.
• Kannu, Haji M. Mohamed. Vakkom Moldavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries]. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. Vakkom Moulaviyum Navothana Nayakanmaurum (Jeevacarithra Padanangal) [Vakkom Moulavi and Leaders of Renaissance (Biographical Studies)]. Trivandrum: By the author, 1982.
• —. Vakkom Moulavi (Jeevacaritram) [Vakkom Moulavi (Biography)]. Trivandrum: By the author, 1981.
• Moulavi, Vakkom. Editorials of Swadeshabhimani [First Published, 1905-1910].
• —. Vakkom Moulaviyude Deepika Ottavaliathil [Vakkom Moulavi’s Deepika in One Volume]. Thiruvananthapuram: Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust, 1992. [First Published, 1930-1931].
• —. “Mathaparamaya Chila Chodyagalum Avaykku Moulaviyude Samadanagalum” [“Certain Religious Questions and Moulavi’s Response to Them”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 136-152. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Swagatha Prasangam” [“Welcome Speech”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 1-7. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Nammude Avasta” [“Our Condition”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 177-184. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Mathavum Sastravum” [“Religion and Science”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 188-191. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Om Avatharika” [“A Preface”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 83-94. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Upakrama Prasangam I” [“Opening Remarks I”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 8-28. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Upakrama Prasangam II” [“Opening Remarks II”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 29-41. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Islam Matha Sindhanta Samgraham” [“An Outline of Islamic Religious Principles”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], ed. S. Mohamed Abda, 85-135. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Islam Mata Navikaranam” [“Islamic Religious Renewal”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 95-108. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Islam Matathekuriche Mahakavi Valltholinte Abadha Dharana” [“Poet Vallathol’s Misunderstanding about Islam”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 117-127. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Nammude Strekal” [“Our Women”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 185-187. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Qur’ān Padanathinu Oru Muqavara” [“An Introduction to the Study of the Qur’an”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 65-84. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Surat al-Fātiha.” In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 39-64. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Lawh al-Sabah.” In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 199-331. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Tawhidum Shirkum” [“Tawhid and Shirk”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], ed. S. Mohamed Abda, 169-176. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Wahhabitam” [“Wahhabism”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 109-116. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “Bhayam” [“Fear”]. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], éd. S. Mohamed Abda, 192-198. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. “Moulidunabavi” [“Mawlid al-Nabawi”]. In Vakkom Moulavi: Prabhandhangal, Smaranakal [Vakkom Moulavi: Essays and Obituaries], ed. Haji M. Mohamed Kannu, 67-82. Trivandrum: Arafa Publications, 1982.
• —. “al-Islah al-Din”. In Vakkom Maulaviyude Thiranjedutha Kruthikal [Selected Writings of Vakkom Maulavi], ed. S. Mohamed Abda, 153-157. Vakkom: Vakkom Maulavi Publications, 1979.
• —. al-Manār; 30 no. 2 (1348 Safar [July 1929]).