The thangals (also spelled tangals) are a social group among the Muslims of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, south India.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986

/ref> The thangals are often regarded as roughly equivalent to the more general Sayyid, Sayyids or Sharifs, or the descendants of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

, of the wider

Islamic culture Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices which are common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to the early Umayyad period and the early Abbasid period, were predom ...

.Miller, Roland E., ''Mappila Muslim Culture''. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271. Most members of the community practices

endogamy Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

and rarely marry outside from their community.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986

/ref> The thangal families are numerous in

, all receive recognition, but some are considered as saints. The thangal identification brings much 'reverence and attention' in the Kerala Muslim community (which predominantly identifies with

Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

madhab). Some individuals take advice from the thangals on crucial matters. A number of thangals in Kerala 'treat' people for illness and to 'ward off evils'. Thangal families have many gradations of status on social and economic scale. Influential of the thangals generally come from prominent business families. They usually exercise their influence through commerce and politics.

Major thangal families in north Kerala

* Tharamal family ( Mambram)Miller, Roland E., ''Mappila Muslim Culture''. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271.Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987 pp. 458-56. ** Sayyid Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s) ** Hassan Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s) ** Syed Alavi Thangal (1749 - 1843) ** Syed Fazl Thangal * Pukkoya family ( Panakkad-Kodappanakkal House) ** Sayyid Ali Thangal ** Sayyid Husain ibn Muhlar (1812-1882) ** P. M. S. A. Pukkoya Thangal (d. 1975) ** Muhammedali Shihab Thangal (1936 - 2009) ** Hyderali Shihab Thangal (born 1947) * Velluvangad Thangal family **Syed Muhammed Imbichi Koya Thangal Al Buhari * Kondotty Thangal family ** Muhammad Shah Thangal * Bafaki Thangal family (

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second ...

) ** Syed Bafaqy Thangal (d. 1973)

Notes

: 1.Only some scholars consider the thangals as a 'community' among the Muslims of

References

External links

* * {{Islam in Kerala Muslim communities of Kerala Islamic terminology Islamic honorifics Muslim communities of India Social groups of Kerala Islam in Kerala

Major thangal families in north Kerala

Notes

References

Further reading

External links