Habib Habib (; ; also romanized as Habeeb) is an Arabic masculine given name, occasional surname, and honorific, with the meaning "beloved" or "my love", or "darling". It also forms the famous Arabic word ''"Habibi"'' which is used to refer to a friend ...

Abdurahman Bin Muhammad Ba-Alawi (1840 – 16 December 1932) also known as Sayyid Varakkal Mullakoya, was an Islamic scholar from

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

(now

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

) in

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. He was one of the descendants of Alawi Sayyids who migrated from Yemen. Mullakoya Thangal was employed in service of the Arakkal Royal family of

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hub ...

. He also maintained healthy contacts with the British officials posted to

. He co-founded the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the principal

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

scholarly body in northern

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, in 1926.

Life and career

Varakkal Mullakoya was born at

Puthiyangadi Puthiyangadi is a suburb of Kozhikode city between Pavangad, Kozhikode and West Hill, Kerala, India. Transportation The national highway passes through Puthiyangadi junction. Goa and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side and Cochin an ...

in 1840 to Sayyid Muhammed Ba-Alawi and Marakkarathu Sherifa Cheriya Beevi in a prosperous

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i-origin

sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

(

thangal The Thangals (also spelled Tangals) are a social group among the Muslims of Kerala, south India.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986/ref> The Thangals are often regarded as roughly e ...

) family. He married twice, first to Zainaba Koyyamma Beevi, and after her death, to Fatima Beevi. The thangal was educated in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. He also learned

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

from the British officials employed in

Formation of Samastha

Mullakoya Thangal served as the founding president of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the principal

scholarly body in northern

(1926). He occupied this position until his death on 16 December 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thangal, Varakkal Mullokoya Indian Islamic religious leaders People from Kozhikode district 1932 deaths Kerala Sunni-Shafi'i scholars 1840 births