Caste System in Muslim Community

Muslim fundamentalist groups are repeatedly attacking Christian community for 'supporting' the caste system. According to their propaganda, like upper-caste Hindus, Christians also follow a discriminative policy towards  Dalits. The true motive behind this propaganda is to prevent Dalits from converting to Christianity. The truth is, Muslim groups are doing everything possible to attract Dalits to Islam. They have even published a book 'Avarnnarkku Nallath Islam' (Islam is better for low-caste Hindus) for convincing Dalits that they should embrace Islam. Despite of all these efforts, no Dalit is ever ready to become a Muslim, while they are continuing to embrace Christianity in other parts of the country like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Telengana, etc. Muslim fundamentalists simply believe that the only reason behind the conversion of a Dalit is the caste system and discrimination he faces in the Hindu community. So it is their final resort to tell the Dalits that "The Christians are no better, there also you will face communalism." This is why they continuously talk about 'Pulappallys' and 'Parappallys'. 

But one thing they will never say is that the Muslim community of Kerala itself has a well defined caste-system which possess a hierarchy of castes comparable to Hindu castes. The following is an extract from the 'Erattupetta Historical Project'. Erattupetta is a place in Kottayam district where majority of the population (83%) is Muslims. This is what the Muslims themselves have to say about the castes among them, hence more reliable.

METHARS

The word ‘Methar’ denotes the highest group of Muslim. In AD 2nd and 3rd century, majority of the people who lived in Erattupetta and the nearest places were Hindus. Most of them were known as Vellala Chettikal, who belonged to the Keezhalar groups of Hindu community. The immigration of Muslims to Erattupetta happened in 7th century AD. This migration happened mainly from the place of Kodungallur and Kochi.A priest named Malik bin-Dinar was the leader of this group. As water was essential for religious purposes they stayed near the banks of rivers. The natives respected them a lot and it is believed that the name Methar was given to Muslims by the natives themselves. It is also believed that the first Muslim population in Erattupetta consisted of Methars. In A.D. 1340 [Hijra 720] Saeed Bava, who arrived for spreading religious faith, stayed here and became the main priest of this mosque and married a woman from a prominent family. It is written history that he married a woman named Haleema from the Methar family and settled down in Erattupetta.

RAWTHERS

Erattupetta is the main place in Kottayam district, where the Rawthers live. From about 11th and 12th centuries itself, Tamil Muslims reached Kerala for the needs of trade and stayed here. The Hanafi Muslims performed a special prayer called ‘Vithar’ at night after performing ‘Isah’, the main prayer. The Muslim here in this period followed the ‘Shafi’ traditions. The native called the Hanafi Muslims ‘Rawthers’ meaning the people who preformed Vithar at night. All the Rawthers living in different places of Kerala are Hanafi Muslims. That is why it is believed that the Muslims who came from Tamilnadu were known as Rawthere. The Tamil Muslims followed mainly Hanafi tradition. Majority of the Hanafi Muslims in the Muslim community in Erattupetta are still Rawthers.

KHANS

The erstwhile Poonjar, which included Erattupetta was ruled by Thekkumkoor kings till 11th century AD. But at the last decades of 11th century AD a ruler named Mana Vikrama Kulashekara Perumal from Madhura, bought Poonjar from Thekkamkoor king and established power. The group which came from Madhura with Manavikrama included warriors and servants who were Muslims and they were given the duty of protecting the kingdom of Poonjar. They were accommodated with all facilities for religious performance in Erattupetta. The word Khan was taken from the Persian language and has many meanings like, Karyasthan, employee, servant, guard etc. Muslims rulers in north India gave this name to their court employees. Following this practice, Manavikrama Perumal who bought Poonjar gave his Muslims servents awarded the name ‘Khan’. Later, they came to be known as Khans. They accepted this name from the King as a reward and added it after their name, considering them as the servant and guards of Poonjar kingdom. Therefore Muslims who came here with Manavikrama Kulashekhera Perumal and their descendents are the khans in Erattupetta.

LABBAS

In Hijra 720-AD 1340 a preacher and scholar of lslam, Saeed Bava come to Erattupetta from Androth island. Muslims in Erattupetta appointed him as the Imam or khathib of the mosque and he married a woman named Haleema from a Mether family. His descendants came to called Labbas. All the men folks in the Labba families learned religion and were involved in religious matters. So they were given great place in society and were respected. Almost all male members of these sects were either priests or religious teachers and so they were respected and they enjoyed an important place in religious and social life.

OSSANS

On the basis of caste system, social discrimination, competition for power, untouchability and other evil practices existed in the society when the Islamic religion entered the region. The Barber groups who were considered as lower caste suffered a lot in that society. In this particular situation the belief of Islam rooted in the region deeply. Along with others, these people also were attracted to Islamic thoughts. Thus they became the Ossan Muslims of Erattupetta. In course of time the Ossan groups who came from other places also stayed with them as a small group. Today the Ossans are a small group and make up only 0.56% of the total Muslim population in Erattupetta.

Courtesy: http://www.erattupettaonline.com/Erattupetta/Erattupetta_Historical_Project/Erattupetta_Historical_Project_Chapter_2-p.html