The Thangal Who Defied Orthodoxy

Makthi Thangal wanted his co-religionists to focus less on Arabic and more on Malayalam and English, and advocated co-education, when all this was still considered haram

A mong the hundreds of graves in the historic Calvathy Mosque in Mattancherry lies the tomb of Sanaulla Makthi Thangal, Kerala’s first Muslim reformer. At a time when many in his community opposed both Malayalam and English education, Thangal advocated them, emphasizing that true religious understanding was incomplete without learning the mother tongue.

“Without learning Malayalam, religion will not become pure and enlightened,” he wrote. He authored over 40 books, mastering multiple languages. Thangal holds the distinction of being Kerala’s first Muslim scholar to publish books in Malayalam, including the first Malayalam biography of the Prophet Muhammad, Nabi Nanayam. A pioneer of interfaith dialogue, he worked to counter the propaganda against Islam that was often spread with British colonial support by Christian evangelists.

Thangal saw knowledge as a tool for emancipation and repeatedly urged his community to embrace modern education, which he saw as essential for progress.

Despite fierce opposition, he criticized superstitions that were prevalent in his community. Born in 1847 at Veliyancode in Malappuram, Thangal later moved to Kochi. After resigning as an excise inspector under the British govt in 1882, he travelled across Kerala, spreading his reformist ideas through dialogues and publications. He passed away in 1912.

Thangal broke new ground in translating the Quran into Malayalam, a radical move at a time when many considered such translations haram. He argued that without understanding the Quran’s meaning, one could not truly practice the religion.

While Arabi Malayalam was medium of instruction for religious learning, he said students could save their precious time if the textbooks in Madrassas were prepared in Malayalam. He published Taa’limul Ikhwan, a handbook for Arabic learners, which was the first Arabic alphabet textbook published in Kerala.

In his influential book Muslims and Education, he urged Muslims to embrace English and secular education, emphasizing that the community could only rise through learning. Thangal opposed the view that English was a “language of hell,”.

Even more controversially, he championed women’s education and advocated for co-education. “It is foolish to ask for separate schools for women as girls can study in public schools without compromising Islamic ideals,” he wrote in his book Raja Bhakthiyum Deshabhimanavum.

Despite Thangal’s dedication to uplifting his community, his bold stances often turned his community against him. He was physically attacked and sometimes denied food and shelter—even when willing to pay for it. In his autobiographical work Makhi Manaklesham, he recalled how Hindu brethren frequently came to his aid, offering both financial and moral support. To fund his publications, Thangal even resorted to “crowdfunding” efforts. Nabi Nanayam was financed through small donations from the public.

Thangal’s reformist interest extended to interfaith issues. In his book Katora Kutaram, he critiqued religious conversions that exploited the poverty and lack of knowledge among marginalized people. He advocated mutual understanding, emphasizing the commonalities between the Abrahamic faiths as a basis for dialogue. In Nabi Nanayam, he logically refuted inaccuracies about the Prophet in Hermann Gundert’s Mahammatha Charithram.

A prolific writer Thangal launched several publications to further his ideas. He started Paropakari magazine in 1885, the weekly Satyaprakasam in 1888, and Turki Samacharam in 1909, an evening paper focused on Ottoman news. Later, he published the Arabi-Malayalam daily Tuhfatul Akhyar Wahidayatul Asharar.

Thangal’s legacy, however, has come under modern scrutiny. While he promoted women’s education, some scholars argue that his ideas on women’s roles in society were patriarchal. Dr Mahmood Kooria, lecturer, department of History, University of Edinburgh, UK, suggests that Thangal’s Nari Narabhichari reflects his conservative views on gender, portraying women in roles that some see as restrictive.

“He was trying to reiterate the patriarchal interpretation of Islam. His book Nari Narabhichari is abundant with misogynistic  arguments regarding women’s role in society,” said Dr Kooria.

Thangal was also a strong critic of the matrilineal inheritance systems practised by certain North Kerala Muslim families, which he considered un-Islamic and  a remnant of Hindu culture but as Dr Kooria points out, matrilineal systems have been practised by Muslim communities across the Indian Ocean, from Mozambique to Indonesia.

“The history of the matrilineal system among Muslims in Canton, China, goes back to AD 850. Islamic laws prevailing in most countries today are largely influenced by the patriarchal interpretation of Islamic scriptures but that doesn’t mean that was the only acceptable system of law,” said Dr Kooria.

“We can’t cherry-pick on Thangal and say he was patriarchal in his approach. We should read his arguments in the context of his debates with the Christian evangelists,” said Shamsad Hussain KT, professor at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.

A patriarchal approach towards women’s issues was a common trait among reform leaders. Our reform movements were largely male-centered, focusing on “reforming” women for the benefit of society rather than engaging women’s perspectives, said Shamsad. She notes that Muslim women still had their own spaces for expression, such as Arabi Malayalam songs, and even publications like Nisaul Islam and Muslim Vanitha in the 1930s.

“They were not subservient to men as it was generally portrayed in mainstream discourses. It was the discourses of the renaissance that made women an object of reform. There were no serious attempts to understand women’s contributions but recent research has helped to change this perception,” Shamsad said.

Thangal’s relationship with the British administration has also been controversial. Even after resigning from his official position, he remained a staunch advocate for loyalty to the colonial govt, seeing obedience to authorities as an Islamic duty.

As agrarian unrest grew in Malabar, where Mappilas resisted the oppressive practices of Hindu landlords and the British, Thangal urged his community to avoid violence, condemning such uprisings as unIslamic. These struggles were, however, the result of severe agrarian discontent and fuelled by the quest for emancipation from the shackles of caste atrocities inflicted by landlords.

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