RELIGIOUS CO-EXISTENCE IN SOUTH INDIA: ROLE AND RELEVANCE OF ISLAMIC TRADITION / Güney Hindistan’da Dinsel Biraradalık: İslam Geleneğinin Rolü ve İlgisi

Öz

Unlike northern states of India, the southern part of the country, particularly Kerala state, is well known for its heritage of religious coexistence and communal harmony, despite people’s profound affiliation to religious teachings and their emotional attachment to the community issues. Muslims in South India maintain an exceptional legacy of love, cooperation, and understanding with the people of other religions and ideologies, the culture which they inherited from their forefathers. One of the major reasons for this religious coexistence is that Muslims rely on Sunnah, i.e. traditions and life incidents of Prophet (s.a.w.), along with the dicta of the Quran, as a reference for their approach and culture with others. Besides, the scholars and preachers repeatedly quote the stories of Prophet which portray the respect and consideration for prayers and culture of people other religions. As a result, Muslims in Kerala largely organize interfaith programs, respect others’ religious beliefs and cooperate with them in a way that does not contradict with fundamental teachings of Islam. Also, this study focused on the Islamic history of India and its approaches with narrating famous historians' understanding of Indian. The major output of this approach is that all religions have respectful space in south India, and it leaves productive impacts in the hearts of youth in a remarkable way. In this paper, using analytical, historical and critical research methods, the researcher analyzes the role and relevance of Prophetic traditions in imbuing the culture of co-existence in south India and critically explores its impacts in socio-religious milieus of south India.