Cultural and Social Integrations in Matrilineal, Matriarchal, Matrifocal Muslim Communities of South India

Matrilineal, matriarchal, and matrilocal practices prevalent among Muslim communities of South India contributed greatly to the integration and indigenisation of Islam into the local socio-cultural context. This chapter analyses the stable and steady structural foundation of matrilineal identity instituted by Shaykh ʿUbayd Allāh and the legal argot extended from the Lakshadweep Islands to the mainland of Malabar when matrilineal Islam underwent serious threats during the period of British rule. It is significant to study the colonial actions taken to attempt to curtail matrilineal rights in Muslim families of the Malabar region, analysing various responses from traditional ʿulamāʾ, Salafı̄ and Wahhābı̄ scholars, and the attitudes of British administrators. The long-enduring legal traditions that supported the matrilineal practices of Malabar Muslims when colonial laws aimed to curb the Muslim matrilineal logic—pigeonholed as “un-Islamic”—are also analysed here. The chapter challenges the arguments of early researchers that the matrilineal identity of Malabar Muslims was solely connected to the Nair communities, which negates the existence of matrilineal traditions in tribal communities of the region.