The Sayed Shihab International Summit held in Dubai last week witnessed the release of a specially designed art frame containing quotations from late Sayed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, former State president of the Indian Union Muslim League.
The special art frame titled “Shihab Wise Frame” was handed over to the Arakkal family of Kannur considering the relations between the Arakkal and Shihab families. Conceived as part of a “visibility outreach” project of the Shihab Summit, the Shihab Wise Frame will now hang on the walls of Arakkal Palace, Kannur.
Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) national president Puthur Rahman handed over the art work to Siyad Arakkal Adiraja, who accepted it on behalf of the Arakkal dynasty head Adiraja Mariyumma alias Cheriya Bikkunhu Beevi.
Apart from Arakkal family members Musa Adiraja and Shurabeel Adiraja, KMCC leaders P.K. Anwar Naha, Chemmukkan Yahumon, P.V. Nasar, K.P.A. Salam and R. Shukkur attended the function. Mujeeb Jaihoon, whose hugely popular coffee table book on Shihab Thangal titled “Slogans of the Sage” had been instrumental in spurring the Shihab Wise Frame, also attended the function.
Delineating the historic link between the Arakkal dynasty and Sayed Shihab Thangal family of Panakkad, Mr. Anwar Naha said that both families had maintained strong and close relations ever since the Sayed Shihab family immigrated from Hadhramaut in Yemen to Valapattanam in Kerala three centuries ago.
Sayed Hussain Thangal, belonging to the 33rd generation of Prophet Mohammed’s descendants, married a woman named Khadeeja from Arakkal dynasty. Breaking away from the matrilineal custom, the couple left the palace and chose to settle elsewhere.
Their son, Sayed Muhdhar Thangal, reached Panakkad near Malappuram and settled there, laying the foundation for one of the most reputed Thangal families in Kerala now.
“The Shihab Wise Frame will add glitter to the age-old Arakkal-Shihab family connection. It will definitely give a new experience to the visitors reaching the Arakkal Palace, home to the only Muslim royal family in Kerala,” said Mr. Anwar Naha.
