Mahallu terms explained: varisangya, committee, waqf and more

Mahallu life in Kerala runs on a small set of words that rarely get explained, because everyone who grew up with them already knows them. This page explains them in plain English for a new committee member, a family member working abroad, or anyone reading about a mahallu for the first time.

Term	Malayalam	In English
Mahallu	മഹല്ല്	The community of families belonging to one masjid
Varisangya, varisankhya	വരിസംഖ്യ	Monthly subscription, membership dues
Mahallu committee	മഹല്ല് കമ്മിറ്റി	The elected managing committee
General body	ജനറൽ ബോഡി	All registered members, meeting together
Byelaw	നിയമാവലി	The mahallu's written constitution
Pirivu	പിരിവ്	A collection, or a collection round
Kudishika	കുടിശ്ശിക	Arrears, dues not yet paid
Raseedu	രസീത്	Receipt
Khatib	ഖത്തീബ്	The imam who gives the Friday sermon
Mukri	മുക്രി	The muezzin, who gives the call to prayer
Sadr muallim	സദർ മുഅല്ലിം	Head teacher of the madrasa
Qabristan	ഖബർസ്ഥാൻ	The mahallu's burial ground
Waqf	വഖഫ്	Property dedicated for good, for ever
Mutawalli	മുതവല്ലി	The person or body that manages a waqf

What does mahallu mean?

A mahallu is the community of Muslim families who belong to one masjid, usually a juma masjid, together with the institutions that serve them. The word comes from the Arabic mahalla, a quarter of a town or a place where people settle. In English the closest word is a parish: a defined community attached to one place of worship, with its own register and its own committee.

A Kerala mahallu typically holds a register of its families, collects a subscription from each, runs a madrasa for the children, keeps the burial ground, and issues letters and certificates a family needs, for example for a marriage. Some mahallus look after more than one masjid, and many hold waqf property whose income supports the work. Every family belongs to one mahallu, and moving to another is a recorded transfer, not just a change of address.

The same idea goes by other names. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka it is often a jamaath, and in other states a mahal. The spelling in English varies too: mahallu, mahall and mahal all refer to the same thing.

What is varisangya in English?

Varisangya is the subscription each family pays to its mahallu, usually every month. In English it is a monthly subscription or membership dues. The word is Malayalam: vari is a share or subscription, as in varikkar, subscribers, and sankhya is an amount. It is spelt several ways, varisangya, varisankhya and varisankya being the common ones, and you will also hear it called masavari, the monthly share.

The committee fixes the amount, often one rate for most families with a lower or waived rate decided case by case. A collector visits on a route, or families pay at the office, and each payment is written against the family and the months it covers. Unpaid months add up as kudishika, arrears. How committees keep that under control is covered in collecting varisangya and reducing arrears.

The mahallu committee and the general body

The mahallu committee is the elected group that runs the mahallu between general body meetings. Its usual office-bearers are a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, one or more joint secretaries and a treasurer, with ordinary members alongside. The president authorises, the secretary keeps the register and minutes, and the treasurer keeps the money and its records. What each post owns in detail is set out in masjid committee roles and responsibilities.

The general body is every registered member of the mahallu, as the byelaw defines membership. It elects the committee, approves the annual accounts and decides the questions the byelaw reserves for it. The committee manages; the general body owns. The byelaw, niyamavali, is the written constitution that says who may vote, when elections fall due and what each post may do.

The people who serve the masjid

• Khatib: the imam who gives the Friday sermon, the khutba, and usually leads the daily prayers. In many mahallus the khatib is also the community's first religious guide.
• Mukri: the Kerala name for the muezzin, who gives the call to prayer and often looks after the masjid day to day.
• Sadr muallim: the head teacher of the madrasa, with the other teachers, the muallims or usthads, under them.
• Qazi: the scholar a mahallu, or a group of mahallus, recognises for religious decisions such as officiating a nikah and announcing the moon sighting.

These are the mahallu's staff, and their salaries are usually its largest regular expense, paid in large part from varisangya.

Waqf and the mutawalli

A waqf is property, such as land, a building or a shop, dedicated permanently for a religious or charitable purpose. Once dedicated it cannot be sold or given away, and its income goes to the purpose it was given for. A mahallu's masjid, burial ground and rented shops are often waqf. The mutawalli is whoever manages that waqf; in many mahallus it is the committee itself, through its president or secretary.

In India waqf is governed by the Waqf Act, 1995, renamed the UMEED Act by the 2025 amendment, and each state has a waqf board that registers waqf property. The central act, the rules and every state board's official site are collected in waqf law by state.

Words for money and records

• Pirivu: a collection. A varisangya pirivu is the monthly round; a building fund pirivu is a campaign with a target.
• Kudishika: arrears, the months or amounts still unpaid.
• Raseedu: a receipt, the paper or message a family keeps as proof that it paid. Printed books of numbered receipts with counterfoils can be made free with the receipt book maker.
• Mahallu register: the list of every house and family in the mahallu, with its members. Building one is covered in the mahallu register guide.
• Varavu chilavu: income and expenditure, the account the treasurer presents to the general body. See keeping mahallu accounts.

Common questions