This paper examines how Islamic urban principles are interpreted, mediated, and spatially articulated within the morphology of Muslim settlements along the Malabar Coast in India. Moving beyond deterministic readings that attribute urban form directly to religious doctrine, the study adopts a comparative morphological approach to analyze two historically connected yet ecologically and culturally distinct contexts: Shibam in Hadramawt (Yemen) and the Kuttichira precinct in Calicut (India). Drawing on a qualitative analytical framework integrating spatial morphology, socio-cultural organization, and historical processes, the research investigates how ethical principles commonly associated with Islamic urbanism are translated into built form. The findings demonstrate that urban morphology in both cases emerges through context-dependent processes shaped by environmental constraints, material practices, trade networks, kinship structures, and political-economic dynamics. While certain spatial characteristics resonate with Islamic ethical frameworks, their manifestation varies significantly, indicating that these principles function not as prescriptive generators of form but as interpretive frameworks. The study highlights the role of cultural negotiation in producing hybrid and layered urban environments, particularly in Malabar, where Islamic practices intersect with matrilineal systems and vernacular traditions. The paper advances contextual Islamic urbanism as an analytical lens to understand urban form as a relational, assemblage-based, and processual outcome shaped by multiple interacting forces.