KOZHIKODE: Contradicting popular narratives put forth by extremist Islamic organisations and the West that portray Jihad as a violent aggression on non-Muslims to establish the supremacy of Islam, is a one originating in Kerala that describes the unified efforts of Muslims and non-Muslims to protect a Hindu king.

Historian Abbas Panakkal’s intriguingly titled book Hindu Amir of Muslims: Indigenised Islam from the Indian Ocean Littoral of Malabar counters the argument that a non-Muslim cannot be the Amir of Muslims, quoting the works of Islamic scholars such as Sheikh Zainuddin Makhdoom and Qazi Muhammad. Some Muslim organisations assert that a true believer should at least strive mentally to establish an Islamic rule, otherwise his/her Islam will remain incomplete.

Abbas argues that Islamic scholars around the sixteenth century had called for Jihad against the Portuguese when the intruders locked horns with the Zamorins. In the Western view, Jihad is depicted within a framework of communal hostility and destruction, but in the documents of Malabar it is a word of interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence, Abbas said.

“Qazi Muhammad’s poem Fat’hul Mubin narrates an incident during the attack on Chaliyam fort, built by the Portuguese. Zamorin was the ruler and the Muslims had taken a vow to sacrifice their life in the fight for the king. On hearing this, the Hindus felt sad and said that Muslims should not let Muslims die as they are the minority. Finally, they decided to fight together,” Abbas said.

The Qazi conducted prayers for the king and requested all Muslims to pray for the non-Muslim sovereign. He criticised Muslim kings, who signed treaties with the Portuguese and supported their cruelties, the book says.

“Here, jihad was declared to support the local ruler, irrespective of his religion. It was not to crown a Muslim ruler or to turn a Darul Harb into a Darul Islam. Within the Kingdom of Zamorin the Jihad became a tool of accord and interreligious cohabitation,” the book says.