What is "al-mahawil"

Al-Mahawil ( also Mahawil, Al Maḩāwīl, Qaḑā’ al Maḩāwīl, and Khān al Mahawīl) is one of a very few Sunni Arab towns in southern Iraq in the Babil Governorate. Before the invasion of Iraq, Sunnis made up the vast majority. Today, they are a shrinking minority of the population due to the influx of Shias from the surrounding countryside.'''