Re-forming the Muslim Woman: Contextualising the Arabic-Malayalam novel Khadeejakutty in the History of Muslim Educational Reforms in Kerala

Abstract

Muslim reformers’ engagements with the idea of colonial modernity and modern education in late nineteenth century and twentieth century Kerala is embedded in the socio-political and historical contexts of the period. Amongst other factors, the idea of gender in Islam predominantly figures in the reformist deliberations and provides interesting perspectives on aspects of a gendered discourse on education that emerged in the early twentieth century. To further elaborate this point, this paper analyses an unfinished Arabic-Malayalam novel Khadeejakutty, in the context of the debates on educational reforms of Muslim women. The novel, written by an anonymous author and serially published in the Arabic- Malayalam women’s magazine Nisaul Islam, during the 1930s, offers a significant point of departure in analysing the role of literary texts in the reformist enterprises within the Muslim community of Kerala. The study attempted in this paper helps historicize the discourse on Muslim women’s education and also reclaim the authenticity of these “little narratives” in constituting the lifeworlds of Muslim women.