the diversity of south asian islam

Long before a powerful sultanate came to be set up in Delhi and its environs, trading groups from West Asia brought Islam to western and southern India through maritime commerce, and it was an extension of the same process that eventually brought that religion to what is today the most populous Muslim country in the world, namely Indonesia. But this Islam, which is linked intimately to the Indian Ocean and its trade, seems to have a difficult time penetrating the consciousness even of exhibition-makers, museum-keepers and self-styled Islamologists.

A great example of this is the so-called Sirapuranam, a brilliant life in poetry of the Prophet Mohammed written by a major poet of the time, Umaru Pulavar. Umaru was instructed by a certain Shaikh Sadaqatullah, a Sufi master of the Qadiri order who lived at Kayalpatnam. But since poets need not just masters but patrons, the work, as well as several others, was patronised by a great merchant of Kilakkarai called Sidakkadi. This Sidakkadi, a Maraikkayar magnate of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, epitomises even today what a great patron should be for many in Tamil Nadu, where he is virtually a household name. His name was originally Shaikh Abdul Qadir, but it was shortened in his own lifetime. Much has been written about him by literary scholars and historians.

Historians have shown his close association with the Setupati Rajas of Ramnad, whose ventures he partly financed. But what is worth noting is that neither he nor Umaru Pulavar saw themselves as being forced to choose between an Arab-Islamic culture and a Tamil one. A poet of his time could thus write that he was: Lord Sidakkadi, King of Kayal/ who protects eloquent Tamil poets/ even as he protects the wide earth/ and the whole community of believers/ with his arms stout as mountains.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:cheraman juma masjid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheraman_Juma_Masjid) -- the sixth oldest mosque in the world built long before the marauders came to northindia brandishing swords and raping penises.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:cheraman juma masjid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheraman_Juma_Masjid) -- the sixth oldest mosque in the world built long before the marauders came to northindia brandishing swords and raping penises.