This essay attempts to comprehend how one might think about old masjids in Malabar using Martin Heidegger’s idea of “dwelling,” while also relating it to Talal Asad’s concept of “tradition,” and Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism. It is not, obviously, looking to a universal definition of masjids in Malabar. Rather, it is, in the most mundane sense, a thought exercise. Through his hermeneutic phenomenology, I use Heidegger’s philosophy to help me make sense of some of my t...
