Tawfiq Alhamedi

In Engseng Ho’s (2006) chapter titled “Ecumenical Islam in an Ocean World,” he sets the parameters for my analysis, arguing that the Hadhrami diaspora is best understood in relation to the shift in Indian Ocean trade routes through the 13th century (p. 99). During the 13th century Ho describes Indian Ocean trade as transitioning from a longer distance trajectory, from Persia to China, to shorter stops along port cities which brought Red Sea ports like Aden into a better position following the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258 (p. 102). By the 16th century, Red Sea port cities were well connected with the the Western side of India which then too became linked to the Malay Archipelago (Ho, p. 102). Throughout this timespan Ho characterizes Islam as developing a “transoceanic” influence, using the term oceanic to distinguish from expansion via land that took on a different manifestation (Ho, p. 100). The characteristics of the spread of Islam to these port cities by way of maritime activity raises important points about the nature of Hadhrami migration from both cultural and economic lenses. Furthermore, Hadhrami migration to the Malabar Coast offers an useful example of the intersection Islamic proselytization with commercial activity in prominent port cities. As Hadhrami society is internally diverse, migrants to Indian Ocean port cities played different roles depending on their positions in Hadhramaut. At the same time, however, these positions weren’t stagnant and could not be directly implemented in diaspora communities where Hadhramis were minorities. The only ascribed position was that of the Sayyids, or the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad and even then the Sayyids in many ways were influenced by non-Sayyid Hadhramis as well as host populations. Muslims in the Malabar Coast, though visible, were ultimately a minority and the way in which they sought to influence local populations was similar to how other Muslim merchant communities operated. In Risso’s (1995) discussion on Muslim merchants, she indicates that Islam took on a different life in the port cities compared to the larger dynasties such as those in Delhi or Cairo (p. 100). As opposed to the expansion of Islam through territorial conquest as was the case when the Turkish Delhi Sultanate absorbed Gujarat, Muslim merchants travelled with no military backing and sought to establish enclaves along coastal regions where they could instead influence local populations through the appeal and strength of their trade networks as well as through Islamicization (Risso, p. 100-101).
     In the case of the Malabar Coast, Muslims minorities, which included Hadhrami merchants, had to have a consciousness described by Dunn (2007) that looked to the Dar-al-Islam, or the global Muslim community, as a source of connection, commonality, and identification (p. 116). These foreigners, however, had to strike a balance between aligning with Muslim cosmopolitans abroad and completely alienating themselves from non-Muslim hosts; most non-Sayyid Hadhrami migrants married local women to integrate into these populations as they used Islam as an attractive economic and social incentive, especially for women of the lower caste (Sheriff, 2010, p. 285). Arabs and Muslims in the Malabar Coast were not monolithic, and Hadhramis are noted as a distinguished group in the region (Illias, 2007). Moreover, particularly the Sayyids have left their mark on the region as the most well-known religious leaders of the Mappila Muslims of the Malabar Coast actually claim descent from a fmaily of Sayyids of Tarim (Illias, p. 448); they also follow the Shafi’i school of Islam which separated them the other Indian Muslim communities. Ultimately, the status and prestige of Hadhrami Sayyids in their local port communities gave them positions as religious leaders who inevitably wielded a degree of influence but not enough that would alarm rulers, which in the case of the Malabar Coast were Hindu (Sherriff, p. 285). Instead the influx of Muslim merchants to port cities was looked upon favorably by rulers who would benefit from such commercial activity (Sheriff, p. 285).