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Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis)

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Not to be confused with Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of EK Sunnis) or All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama.

Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama
Formation1926
FounderVarakkal Mullakoya Thangal
TypeSunni-Shafi'i scholarly council
General Secretary
Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar
President
E. Sulaiman Musliyar
Secretaries
Websitesamastha.in
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Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of A. P. Sunnis, also known as Samastha,[1] is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala.[2][3][4][5] The council administers Shafi'ite mosques, institutes of higher religious learning (the equivalent of north Indian madrasas) and madrasas (institutions where children receive basic Islamic education) in India.[2] There are two organisations known as Samastha, one named after E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar and the other after Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, both of which emerged in 1989, due to organisational disagreement in Samastha.[6][7]

Samastha of AP Sunnis claims to be the real Samastha. Over 8000 madrasas are afflicted to Samastha of AP Sunnis while AP Sunnis also run educational institutions outside Kerala. AP and EK Sunnis have had dispute over the control of some mosques and madrasas in Malabar. EK Sunnis have had supported IUML whereas AP Sunnis have had supported LDF and CPM.[8] There have been talks for rapprochement between these two Sunni groups.[9]

Similar to EK Sunnis, a forty-member council also known as the 'mushawara' functions a high command body of AP Sunnis.[9][10] As of December 2023 the council includes general secretary Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar; president E. Sulaiman Musliar; vice president Syed Attakoya Thangal; secretaries Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar, Perodu Abdurahman Saqafi.[11]

Population makeup[edit]

Traditionally Muslims of Kerala are Sunnis, predominantly Shafi'is where around two-thirds of the Muslim population is AP and EK Sunnis, respective Samasthas of which emerged in 1989 due to disagreement in Samastha. The reformist Mujahids, belonging to the Salafi movement, make up around 10 percent of the total Muslim population of Kerala. Though there is presence of groups like Tabligi Jamaat and Jamaate Islami, by far biggest groupings are Sunnis and Mujahids.[2][5][7]

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis), Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of EK Sunnis), Dakshina Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama and Kerala Samsthna Jem-iyyathul Ulama are different factions of Sunnis in Kerala, while Dakshina Kerala Je-iyyathul Ulama is the dominant group in the southern part of the state.[12]

Ideological difference[edit]

Samastha began in 1926 to counter the Vakkam Moulavi's Aikya Sangam—the precursor of KNM and the wider Mujahid movement. Only traditionalist Sunnis are called Sunnis in Kerala in contrast to the reformist ones. Haris Madani, a young scholar belonging to AP Sunnis, in 2022, said the difference between AP and EK Sunnis is purely organisational whereas Husain Madavoor, a Mujahid leader, considers fiqh to be irrelevant.[2][5][7]

See also[edit]

• Samastha Kerala Je-iyyathul Ulama (of EK Sunnis)

• All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama

• Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar

• Sunni Students' Federation

• Kerala Muslim Jamaat

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kanthapuram Samastha kicks off centenary celebrations". The Hindu. 31 December 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Osella, Filippo; Osella, Caroline (2008). "Islamism and Social Reform in Kerala, South India" (PDF). Modern Asian Studies. 42 (2–3): 317–346. doi:10.1017/S0026749X07003198. S2CID 143932405. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2024 – via SOAS Research Online.
  3. ^ Santhosh, R.; Visakh, M. S. (2020). "Muslim League in Kerala: Exploring the Question of 'Being Secular'". Economic and Political Weekly. 55 (7): 7–8.
  4. ^ Kooria, Mahmood (2018). "An Ethno-History of Islamic Legal Texts". Oxford Journal of Law and Religion. 7 (2): 313–338. doi:10.1093/ojlr/rwy034. ISSN 2047-0770.
  5. ^ a b c "Kanthapuram Samastha kicks off centenary celebrations". The Hindu. 31 December 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Kanthapuram Samastha kicks off centenary celebrations". The Hindu. 31 December 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Sunni factions bury their differences". The Hindu. 12 February 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  8. ^ Alingal, Shafeeq (7 January 2018). "Kerala: League of Factions". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b Naha, Abdul Latheef (18 January 2018). "Sunni factions to bury the hatchet". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  10. ^ Alingal, Shafeeq (7 January 2018). "Kerala: League of Factions". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020.
  11. ^ Bureau, The Hindu (31 December 2023). "Kanthapuram Samastha kicks off centenary celebrations". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  12. ^ Service, Express News (4 July 2023). "By revisiting unity talks, Sunni groups look to bury differences". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
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