Everyday Islamic Law in the Arabi-Malayalam Public Shere: A Study of Fatwas in al-Murshid (1935-1939)

Abstract

This study contributes to an emerging scholarship that seeks to understand Islamic law’s functioning through vernacular forms such as letters and printed periodicals, focusing on al-Murshid, a glocal, activist-oriented Arabi-Malayalam magazine published in Malabar between April 1935 and February 1939. Largely underexplored in the historical writing of Islam in South Asia, Arabi-Malayalam periodicals enrich our understanding of the region’s intellectual past and present. The fatwa column in al-Murshid reflects an alternative legal sphere operating alongside the colonial judiciary. Through a close reading of fatwas and editorial content, I highlight the complex entanglement between Islamic norms and the Arabi-Malayalam public. I argue that al-Murshid successfully leveraged modern communication technologies to shape the ethical selves of the Muslim public both within and beyond Malabar. The magazine devalued madhhab-based juridical reasoning, emphasized direct engagement with scriptural sources, sought to reform everyday ritual practices, and advocated for Muslim political autonomy, all under the broader Islamic ethical imperative to command the right and forbid the wrong. This study also foregrounds the role of fatwa-seekers, largely overlooked actors in the legal historiography, as internal critics who popularized and negotiated the social critique articulated by al-Murshid. Their questions and concerns reveal the participatory nature of Islamic legal discourse and provide critical insight into how legal norms were challenged and reimagined by lay Muslims. Additionally, I highlight the moralizing aspect of printed fatwas, contributing to and expanding the ethical turn in the anthropology of Islam. In the age of knowledge proliferation and contestations over religious authority, muftis persuaded the reading public of their legal responses by framing them as moral necessities.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Islamic Studies