Chapter 2 takes the Mosque as its central focus, in order to examine the social organization of these Muslim trading communities. It parses the legend of Cheraman Perumal as evidence of the establishment of a Muslim religious elite on the Malabar Coast. The key sources for this chapter are Malabar’s historic mosques themselves, which are examined in terms of their history, architecture, and inscriptions to trace the integration of Islam into the region. These same mosques later became emblems of the Muslims’ struggle against the Portuguese, a conflict that engendered major changes not only in the composition of Muslim communities but also in the religious orientation of Monsoon Islam—as evident, not least, in the emergence of a new understanding of jihād.