UMER QAZI, FREEDOM FIGHTER AND REFORMER OF MALABAR

Hussain Randathani

With the treacherous murder of Tipu Sulthan by the confederacy of the  British, the Nizam and the Maratha on 4 May 1799, the land of Malabar was ceded to the British empire. The British, with the help of land lords started an era of animosity and hatred agaist the peasants of Malabar, particularly towards  the Muslims and tried to turn back the clock by bringing back the zamindari system and exploitation which had been replaced by the Sulthan through ryotwari revenue system  introduced by Tipu. The land lords now put all hurdles upon the peasants by evicting them from their lands given by Tipu and pushing the tenants to utter poverty. Exorbitant taxes, illegal eviction and stringent caste rules forced the Mappila tenants to rise against the land lords, while the Hindu tenants, fearing excommunication and curse of gods, often kept away from resistance, and the only course open before them was to convert to Islam en masse to fight the British and land lords.   The Muslim leaders known as Sayyids and Musliyars took the lead in the anti colonial struggles with the firm determination of ousting the British or to become martyrs in the attempt.

Malabar Islam had a long tradition of fighting the Europeans ever since the Portuguese entered in the country. The long anti Portuguese struggles led by the Makhdums of Ponnani and their spiritual disciples, the Marakkars had left a permanent mark of anti colonial fights in the annals of history. The tradition continued with the advent of the British who also brought the anti Muslim hatred of Europe to the East. Now it was the Sayyids of Hadarmaut  under Sayyid Alavi of Mambram took the standard of revolt against the British. Sayyid Alavi (1752-1845) reached Malabar in 1769 from Tarim in the Valley of Hadramaut. Here he resided at Mambram in South Malabar along with his uncle Shaikh Hasan Jifri. Sayyid Alavi witnessed the British atrocities against the Mappila tenants when the area was brought under the British rule. Sayyid Alavi, as the leader of the Mappila tenants  decided to start Jihad against the invaders and save the land and the people. He appealed his spiritual disciples and sayyids to rise against the British till they leave the land and the people are saved from their dreadfulness. Umer Qazi, the spiritual disciple of Sayyid Alavi, also joined the resistance by keeping strong hatred agaisnt the colonial authorities.

Kakkathara Umar, known as Umar Qazi belonged to an Arab family migrated to Calicut Area in about eight century. Earlier one Hasan Thabi,  had settled at Chaliyam, near Calicut and indulged in missionary works on the coast. Chalyam was the centre of Muslim activities and famous for its  textile trade till the centre of trade was shifted to Calicut.  Chaliyam was also the headquarters of the Qazis and centre of Islamic learning. Hasan Thabi, had close relation ship with Shaikih Zainuddin Madani, the qazi of Chaliyam. Moulana Abdullah, son of Hasan Thabi, was famous for his scholarship and he was responsible for the spread of Islam  in the area  from Chaliyam to the interior area of South Malabar. His son Umar bin Abdullah settled at Thanur, south of Chaliyam and being the qazi of the area his house came to be known as Qaziyarakam. His descendant Qaziyarakath Ali Musliyar married Aminah, daughter  of Muhammad from the  Kakkathara family of Veliyancode, near Ponnani. Ali Musliyar settled at Veliyancode in his wife’s house as it was the tradition in the matrilineal system  on the coastal areas of Malabar. He served as the qazi of Veliyancode and surrounding area and also as the teacher of the mosque. Later he came to be called as Kakkathar Ali Musliyar and his house itself became a centre of learning where students from different parts of the region sought Islamic  knowledge.

Umar Qazi was born on Sunday, 18 September 1763 (10 Rabi I, 1177) in Kakkathara Qaziyarakam house. He had one brother Kutty Hasan and four sisters- Fathima, Thithikkutty, Ummach Kutty and Aysha Kutty. His mother died when Umar was about eight years old and after two years  father also  left the world. He joined in the mosque academy at Thanur and studied traditional texts under Thunnan Veetil Ahmad Musliyar. Later he moved to Ponnani for higher studies and took his seat at the feet of famous scholar, Hazrat Mammi KKutty Qazi. Here he studied the Muslim Jurisprudence and became well versed in  Arabic literature. Umar Qazi became the favourite student of the Hazrat Mammikkutty who made him his scribe and sent him to different mosques for Islamic sermon.  Later he became the qazi of Veliyancode and surrounding areas. He extensively travelled different Muslim centres and acquired spiritual training from divines and sufis. When Sayyid Alawi settled at Mambram he visited him along with his colleague Abubakkar Koya (Awkoya) and became a Murid (spiritual disciple) of  Sayyid Alavi who had become the leader of the Mappila Muslims in the spiritual and temporal fields. Umar Qazi closely followed him in the spiritual pursuits and  anti British struggles as well

Against the British Colonialism

Umer Qazi had witnessed British atrocities   against the Mappila peasants at many places in Malabar. In his sermons he cautioned his fellow Msulims of the cruelty and anti Muslim stand of Land lord British conspiracy and how Mappilas were burdened with heavy taxes and evicted through false allegations in the court. He also criticized the British for their treachery towards Tipu Sulthan and asked the Mappilas not to pay taxes to such a formidable  enemy as the British. He himself refused to pay tax on his lands. When the British officials approached him to exact tax he vehemently opposed them and the officials had to go back due to his strong determination. The matter was taken to the  divisional Magistrate who disgraced the qazi with abusive words. The qazi, hearing his English words replied him on the same coin by calling the Magistrate, a fool (Bathal). This infuriated the Magistrate who ordered to arrest the qazi who was detained in the Chavakkad jail for few days. It is said that the qazi miraculously came out of the jail and seated himself in the Kodanchery Juma Masjid engaging in meditation. News were brought to the authorities and the District Collector ordered to arrest and bring him to Calicut. The qazi was arrested on his way to Veliyancode in a litter. When police informed him of his arrest he himself decided to go to Calicut to meet the collector and the police by seeing the crowd around him dared to arrest. The qazi proceeded to Calicut with police escort. On the next morning he reached the court where collector Mecklin made him aware that he had violated the law and is liable for punishment. The collector feared of the consequences if the qazi was arrested on the spot. A large crowd had assembled there to see what the authorities are going to do with the qazi. The collector called the qazi of Kozhikode and asked him to pacify and disperse the people. Qazi Muhyaddin appealed the people to go back and he assured them that the Umar qazi would be safe and secure with him. The collector tried for a reconciliation with the qazi, but he was not ready to ask forgiveness before the collector. He was arrested on 18 December 1819 and was sent to Kozhikode jail. From the jail Umer Qazi composed a poem and sent it to his spiritual preceptor Sayyid Alavi. The poem written in Arabic  is an important piece of history showing the atrocities of the British and the treacherous ways of colonialism. He complained to Sayyid Alavi that he had been arrested without any specific reason and he never kept even  a single knife with him (Wama fee yadee min ‘uddathil harbi aalatun; Walau nahva sikkeenin wa ghairal muhaddadee). He further said: “ Due to the atrocities of the British with rock like hard hearts my condition has become like bird trapped  in the nest.” (Wa halee ka thairil qafsi fee sooi halathin; Bi zulmin li afranji ghleezan ka jalmadee). He also wrote that the British had exorbitantly increased the taxes and for him the tax has been increased unbearably. He also repeated his determination to become martyr in the jail by saying that  ‘every one has been created to die and for the  rightly guided people it is recommended to die in the way of God.’ ( Nufoosul wara lil mauthi fallahu khalaqaha;  fa moothu sabeelillahi khaian li muhthadee). By readin the letter Sayyid Alawi appealed the Collector to release the qazi and after consulting the qazi of Calicut,  the collector released him. Umar Qazi wentto Mabram and sought the blessings of Thangal and remained there few days. He continued his anti colonial stance till his death.

Religious Reforms

In the first half of the eighteenth century, the Muslim community of Malabar was affected by sufi syncretism on one hand and family feuds on the other. One Muhammad Shah, a Shiite sufi of Qadiri order appeared at Kondotty in south Malabar and preached syncretism like prostrating before the sufi sheikh and using intoxicants in the name of sufism. The common Muslim folk attracted to Muhammad Shah and his influenced increased all over south Malabar. Shaikh Jifri, a Sayyid immigrant from Hadramaut had by this time settled at Calicut and preached Ba Alawi Sufism on Qadiri lines and criticized the Shah for his unIslamic practices. The controversy became acute when the Makhdums of Ponnani and their supporters came openly against the Shah and his people depicting them heretics and banning them from the society. The controversy, known as Kondotty and Ponnani Kaitharkkam, led to  many philosophical   and theological discourses in Malabar and also brought social tensions and divisions in the Muslim society. Umar Qazi, also participated in the controversy by criticizing the Kondotty faction and their un Islamic practices. The qazi illustrated that prostration before the Shaikh is forbidden and those who support it are heretics. Muhammad Shah was supported by Tipu Sulthan by declaring him as an Inamdar, exempting him from taxes and later by the British who also exempted taxes on his lands. The British treated  the shah as a land lord on the condition that the Shah and his people would be loyal to them.

Umar Qazi,in his poem unequivocally declared that “prostration before any creation of God is forbidden and by doing so  he has become  an unbeliever and heretic. It is also a serious sin” (Haraamun sujud al khalqi lil khalqi yakfuru; Bihi bi irthadin fahuwa  fizzanbi yakfuru). “ It is stated in Tuhfa, the canonical work  that both bowing (ruku”) and prostration (Sujud) are not allowed except for Allah”. His poem against the Kondotti faction is included in a fatwa compilation of Keedakkatt Veeran Musiyar along with the fatwas of prominent of ulama of the period. Due to the firm stand taken by the Sunni ulama, the Kondotty faction surrended to the Sunni creed by avoiding the innovative practices and declaring solidarity with Sunni faction in the first half of the twentieth century. As an scholar and Islamic jurist Umar Qazi issued fatwas on various problems concerned with Muslims and verdicts were given according to the Shafi school of jurisprudence followed by the Ponnani ulama. The fatwas were mostly written in poetic style in Arabic and sometimes in the local dialect with Arabic script. People approached him for traditional medicines and Qur-anic cures  and the money he got through this was spent for the community service. He was with a gentle voice and humorous in his conversations. His power of poetry was fantastic that his conversations and speeches resembled as a rhymed poetry. He never waited for his lines and could aptly answer for the questions in poetic styles. The knowledge of the qazi in Ayurveda treatment is evident in his writings. He knew medicines for different diseases and prescribed them to the patients. He composed lines regarding different treatments and took them by heart. Stories are abundant regarding his treatment for various serious diseases.

Umar Qazi left for Hajj in the year 1209 AH  (1795). He went to  Calicut from where he boarded a ship to Bombay. At Bombay many Muslims joined him for hajj and he was selected as the Amirul Hajjaj. The pilgirims under the qazi sailed for Jeddah from where they rode on a Camel to Makkah. After performing Umrah (lesser Pilgimage ) and Hajj he proceeded to Madinah to visit and pray at the grave of Prophet Muhammad (Rawzah  e Shareef).When he reached at the closed doorstep of the holy grave his deep love and devotion produced a frenzied state to his self and he recited a poem with tears in his eyes, and it is said that the  door of the grave miraculously opened before him.  People who present in the mosque  joined him reciting “’ after each couplet.  The poem known as “Sallal Ilahu Baith or Qasidatul Umariyya” won fame all over the world.The poem contains 103 couplets. It starts with the following lines:

Sallal Ilaahu alaa ibni Abdillahi zee

Khuluqin bi nassillahi kaana azeemaa

Faddan ghaleedan lam yakun bal layyinan

Barran raufal mu’mineena raheemaa

Salloo Alaihi wa Sallimoo Thasleemaa

(May God shower revered blessing upon the son of Abdulla who is referred as the man of sublime character in the Holy Qur-an. He was neither cruel nor hard hearted but was merciful and good hearted towards the believers. Pray for him and seek peace for him)

Umar Qazi wrote many eulogies in Arabic  on  holy prophet.  His two poems on the prophet  – one with the dotted letters (Jafatnee) and another with letters without dots( Lahal Ilahu)- are famous. His poem called lamma Zahara with 38 lines, is meant for labourers and litter carriers. Here are the first lines of Lamma Zahara:

(Lamma Zahara ‘ammal bushra

Za-al busra kisran kasra

Fazath saavat ghaaza samaavat

Ahlu adaavat  nadav Hadra

 Zaanal Janna saahal Jinnah

Jaa-al minna tatra tatra

Sayyid Adnaan saahil adyaan

Kullul akvaan minhuftakharaa………….)

Adikkanakku Baith

The qazi used to write poems on the walls of mosques and many of them have been preserved by his students. His Adikkanakku baith ( the song to determine the times of the prayer) is a combination of Malayalam words with Arabic style: The Adikkanakku Baith is  for measuring the time of the Asr prayer of Islam.

Medam wa chingam randilum thamaaniya

Fee Idavam wa meenam karkidathil thasigha

Midhunam wa kanni feehima ompadara

Kumbam tulaam Aqdaamu daini patharaa

Vrikshikam Makaram randilum pathinonnekaal

Pathinonne mukkal fee Dhanu maasam yuqaal

Haazal hisaabu qadistawa min eshli

Hathaa shatwa qaala qazi bin al Ali

(The time of Asr prayer- In the Malayalam month of Medam and Chingam one’s own shade should become a length of eight  feet.  In the months of Edavam, Meenam and Karkkidakam it is nine feet. In Midhunam and Kanni it is nine and half. In Kumbham and Thulam the length become ten and half feet. In Vrikshikam and Makaram it is eleven and quarter and in Dhanu eleven and three quarters. This measurement is from Elimala to Chetuvay. It is said by Umar son of Ali.)

Social Reformer

As a Muslim religious reformer Umar Qazi vehemently criticized the vain racial pride of Muslims. Most of the Muslim converts were from among the lower castes. Forgetting the egalitarian principles of Islam many of the Muslim families began to boast themselves on family pride and vanity. Sometimes the disputes led to social tensions that in Calicut area the Muslims were divided into two groups- Major and Minor- and even mosques were divided among the groups. At Ponnani area where Umer Qazi led his activities, the people indulged in family feuds which produced family feuds among Muslims themselves. The qazi in order to put an end this social issue  wrote the following lines:

Ayaa Fakhiran Binnasabi Kaifathafakharu

Wa aslukum min qablu Thiyyan Wa Naayaru

Wa Aashari, Mooshaari, wa Mannaanu Paanaru

Wa Koyappaanu Chettee wa Naayadi Parayaru

( Oh! See, you the people who boast themselves on family pride.You see your basic roots. You are the converts from Nayars, Thiyyans, Asari, Moosari, Mannan, Panan, Kushavan, Chetti, Naayadi, Paraya and other low castes. )

Conversion to Islam from the lower classes of society elevated the status of the lower class and they moved freely without fearing the caste obligations of the higher castes. The qazi through his speeches and writings exhorted his Muslim people to eschew the caste regulations even after conversion. He himself wrote songs on the Islamic way of life to instruct the new converts to Islamic practices. He also criticized the religious leadership (Alim)for becoming persecutors (Zalim) by singing that nowadays the  alim (scholar) has become a zalim (persecutor). He also criticized the mullas for their greed in his poem:

Ahrasul hayavaanu sittun kalbun Mulla Mukree

Haaka Ba’duhu wassanun eecha Faara thanzuru Yaa Faree

 (Greedy creatures are six-dog, Mulla ,mukri, fly and barber)

His works

1. Nafaisuddurar: It is a poetic work  containing 150 lines. The work deals with the biography of prophet Muhammad. The work was completed in 1215/1800. The poem became popular that it was printed many times from different places. Even now the poem is recited by the religious scholars and students.

2. Maqasidunnikah: This is also a poetical compendium dealing with the rules and regulations of marriage and married life. The poem is based up on the famous canon work Tuhfa written by Ibn Hajarul Hythami. The book was completed on 25 Rajab 1225 /26 August 1810.

3. Kitab Usuluddabh: It is another poetical work dealing with the legality of slaughtering of animals.

4. Risaalatu fi Hukmil aq aq- It is poetry on the legality of eating of snake bird (Chempoth/Uppan)

5. Al Qaseedat al Umari fi Madhi Khail Bariyya- printed from Egypt in 1240/1825

Besides, Umar Qazi composed poems on many topics but they were not published except that he wrote  them on the walls of the mosque, or on the pages of text books.

His death

Umar Qazi fell ill while he was performing the night prayer  of 21 Ramzan 1273/15 March 1857. He had been bed ridden for three months and died on Thursday, 23 Zil Hajj 1273/14 Aug 1857. He was 95. He was buried in the burial ground of  Veliyancode Juma Masjid and his mausoleum is visited even today by the people.  His death anniversary is observed under the custodian ship of the Mosque committee.

(Courtesy: Veliyancode Umar Qaziyude Jeeva Charithravum Krithikalum (1765-1857), Published by Veliyancode Mahallu Jamaath Committee, 1988)