View source for Religion:Thangal

{{short description|Social group among the Muslims of Kerala}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}

The '''thangals''' (also spelled '''tangals''') are a social group{{ref|a}} among the Muslims of Kerala, south India.<ref name="KunhaliV">Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986) [http://ir.amu.ac.in/2736/1/T%205242.pdf]</ref> The thangals are often regarded as roughly equivalent to the more general [[Religion:Sayyid|Sayyids]] or Sharifs, or the descendants of the Islamic prophet [[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad]], of the wider Islamic culture.<ref name=":0">Miller, Roland E., ''Mappila Muslim Culture''. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271.</ref><ref name="Thangals all set to test popularity in Malappuram">{{Cite web|last=Meethal|first=Amiya|date=2016-04-25|title=Thangals All Set to Test Popularity in Malappuram|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/250416/thangals-all-set-to-test-popularity-in-malappuram.html|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en}}</ref> Most members of the community practices [[Biology:Endogamy|endogamy]] and rarely marry outside from their community.<ref name="rick or treat? Muslim Thangals, psychologisation and pragmatic realism in Northern Kerala, India">{{Cite journal|last=Lang|first=Claudia|date=2014-12-01|title=Muslim Thangals, Psychologisation and Pragmatic Realism in Northern Kerala, India|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461514525221|journal=Transcultural Psychiatry|volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=904–923|language=en|doi=10.1177/1363461514525221|pmid=24637733 |s2cid=30638105 }}</ref><ref name="Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798">Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986) [http://ir.amu.ac.in/2736/1/T%205242.pdf]</ref>

The thangal families are numerous in Kerala, all receive recognition, but some are considered as saints.<ref name=":0" /> The thangal identification brings much 'reverence and attention' in the Kerala Muslim community (which predominantly identifies with Shafi'i madhab).<ref name="Caste system exists among Muslims though not overtly">{{Cite web |title=Caste system exists among Muslims though not overtly |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/sep/01/caste-system-exists-among-muslims-though-not-overtly-2027243.html |access-date=2020-10-12 |website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> Some individuals take advice from the thangals on crucial matters.<ref name="Thangals all set to test popularity in Malappuram" /> A number of thangals in Kerala 'treat' people for illness and to 'ward off evils'.<ref name="Thangals all set to test popularity in Malappuram" />

Thangal families have many gradations of status on social and economic scale. Influential of the thangals generally come from prominent business families. They usually exercise their influence through commerce and politics.<ref name=":0" />

== Major thangal families in north Kerala ==
[[File:Shihab Thangal in July 2008.jpg|thumb|Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal (1936 - 2009)]]	

* Tharamal family (Mambram)<ref name="Mappila Muslim Culture">Miller, Roland E., ''Mappila Muslim Culture''. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271.</ref><ref name="Mappila in The Encyclopedia of Islam">Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987 pp. 458-56.</ref>
** Sayyid Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s)
** Hassan Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s)
** Syed Alavi Thangal (1749 - 1843)<ref name="Mappila in The Encyclopedia of Islam" />
** Syed Fazl Thangal

* Pukkoya family (Panakkad-Kodappanakkal House)<ref name="Mappila Muslim Culture" />
** Sayyid Ali Thangal
** Sayyid Husain ibn Muhlar (1812-1882)
** P. M. S. A. Pukkoya Thangal (d. 1975)
**Muhammedali Shihab Thangal (1936 - 2009)
**Hyderali Shihab Thangal (1947 - 2022)

* Velluvangad Thangal family<ref name="Mappila Muslim Culture" />
**Syed Muhammed Imbichi Koya Thangal Al Buhari<ref name="Mappila in The Encyclopedia of Islam" />

* Kondotty Thangal family<ref name="Mappila Muslim Culture" />
** Muhammad Shah Thangal<ref name="Mappila in The Encyclopedia of Islam" />

* Bafaki Thangal family (Calicut)<ref name="Mappila Muslim Culture" />
**Syed Bafaqy Thangal (d. 1973)

== Notes ==

: 1.{{note|a}}Only some scholars consider the thangals as a 'community' among the Muslims of Kerala.<ref name="KunhaliV" /> 

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |url=https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Mappila-Muslim-Culture |title=Mappila Muslim Culture: How a Historic Muslim Community in India Has Blended Tradition and Modernity |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2015}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Dale |first=Stephen F. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/islamic-society-on-the-south-asian-frontier-the-mappilas-of-malabar-14981922-by-stephen-frederic-dale-clarendon-press-oxford-1980-pp-xvii-290-7-plates-8-maps/4579DEFFF56EC4F9123861504A8041E7 |title=Islamic Society on the South Asian Frontier: The Mappilas of Malabar 1498–1922 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |publisher=Clarendon Press Oxford |year=1980|volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=157–161 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00011276 }}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |last=Kunhali |first=V. |date=1986 |title=Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798 |url=http://ir.amu.ac.in/2736/1/T%205242.pdf |access-date= |website= |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University}}
* {{Cite web |last=Claudia Lang |title=Muslim Thangals, Psychologisation and Pragmatic Realism in Northern Kerala, India |url=https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/59122/1/1363461514525221.pdf |website=SAGE |publisher=Transcultural Psychiatry 2014, Vol. 51(6) |pages=904–923}}

{{coord missing|Kerala}}
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Thangal|1}}