Footprints of a Sea Change : Mapping the Impact of Gulf Migration on Muslims in Kerala

Acknowledgement

This book is based on our indepth research on temporary labor Migration from Kerala to the Gulf countries. We are grateful for a number of friends and colleagues to encourage me to conduct a detailed study on the subject and publish it. First of all, We would like to express our deep and sincere gratitude to the Teachers and colleagues at School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam, they delivered valuable guidance in a helpful way throughout the study.

We duly concede for the help given by our friends. Special thanks to Mr. Faiz Babu, Mr. Sudheep MS. Mrs. Ramsiya, Danish Rehan and Ishan Afrin. Without their support, co-operation and prayer our attempt would not have been accomplished. We are very happy to express our heartfelt thanks to our Colleagues and relatives for their help, encouragement and co-operation throughout in this work. Above all, we bow the God Almighty for managing us through righteous way.

Preface

Seventeen decades ago, an unfold treasure of gold found in California of United States, triggered millions of dreams in the coming years. The gold rush of 1849, in one way or the other, persists even now with migrants crossing the border in each minute. The dunes with oil becks also were of course a source of dream for a few. The dream hunters from Kerala crossed the Arabian Sea to dig out the luck from the oil fields of Persian Gulf and related industries. Setting the big trend of Gulf migration, Muslim community, especially the Muslims in Malabar, discovered dream destinations even in the remotest sides of Arab world, which in turn ended up with regular route both by air and sea. The mass migration to Gulf Countries from Kerala, especially from Malabar, since 1970s has transformed the state into prosperous and financially secure. Otherwise pushed towards the margins in terms of money and power, the Muslims of Kerala rejuvenated themselves through the dream hunt from the Gulf dunes. The Muslim populated regions of Malabar showed a sign of economic and social development as Gulf Migration commenced. The economic prosperity and subsequent progress in the standard of living started reflecting in the socio-political life of the Muslims in Kerala especially in Malabar. But money was not the only thing that migration has brought.

Gulf migration took Muslim community to a different degree of socio-political impact. Muslims constitute 45 percent of the total emigrants in the Gulf from Kerala, although their share in the total population was only about 26 per cent. Of the total remittances from Gulf, Muslim households received 46.5 percent in 2011. While the average emigration rate in the state is 22 per cent, among the Muslims it is as high as 49 percent. According to Pravasi Malayali Census Report of the Government of Kerala, the six districts from Malabar have 48.62 per cent of the Gulf migrants. In Malappuram district, 71 per cent of the households have in them either an emigrant or returned emigrant each. Other things being equal, migration rates should be higher in areas which the proportion of the Muslims is high. It is clear and obvious that the set of circumstances has undergone a radical change and which is writ large in the way Muslims in Malabar live today.

From investments to infrastructure, from life to religion, from food to fashion, Gulf Migration has intensively influenced Malabar In fact, Kerala has become a part of Gulf-life, if not geographically and politically, but very much so economically, socially and culturally. What happens in the Gulf States has echoed in every nook and corner of the state; and what happens in Kerala has, in turn, effected in Gulf countries too. The consumer culture of Kerala is largely restructured after 1970s. From Chocolates to Biriyani, the taste buds were redefined. Smaller to Medium enterprises sprouted in Kerala, especially in Malabar. Most of them were even named with Persian Gulf traits. Religious leaders and the institutions were integrated into the changes coupled with people frequenting abroad. The deep-seated Gulf intimacy always influenced the plans, policy and programmes of various religious groups too. They explored a new medium of messages and missionary, and stepped in to the new arena of cultural sphere. The new trends and movements erupted in the Arab Islamic world were fast incorporated into Muslim organizations in the state.

Noticeable lifestyle change has come to pass due to continuous contact with Arab world. The influence is not only in the ideology and modus operandi of the religious organizations but also found in the performing of everyday prayers and rituals. In another means the Gulf relation has been an instrumental for the transformation of popular Islam in to the slow and steady emergence of Scriptual Islam. The successors of Sufi ancestry took a new religious road as gulf migration caused ideological influence. Since Gulf Salafism spread across the length and breadth of the state, there has been a pointed attempt to relocate the religion from the living premises to closed-room spiritual routines. The phenomenon widely known as Neo Salafism sent shockwaves across the sphere of plural culture prevalent in the state. Focused fully on religious rituals, Neo Salafism featured a kind of spiritual extremism.

Gulf migration also has been instrumental in democratization of Muslim society in Kerala. It’s no surprise to see that migration to gulf destinations send a wind of democratic change in Muslim community. The quick economic progress in the wake of migration to gulf awakened the people at the bottom of the society. It triggered a remarkable change in the social status of Muslim women too. Hard earned money from the dunes paved the way of education for Muslim community as well. The backward Malabar in terms of the proportion of educational facilities witnessed commencing of countless educational institutions in the early 1990s. The new educational trend set following the exponential growth of academic institutions provided more avenues for girls to experience experiment and explore a wealth of knowledge and excel in academic performance. Thus, women marched to progressive roles in the society. Their freedom of expression and financial self-sufficiency empowered them.