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![]() Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama flag | |
Formation | 1926 |
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Founder | Sayyid Abdul Rahman ba-Alavi Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal |
Type | Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly council |
Headquarters | Samasthalayam, Chelari, Malappuram, Kerala, India |
Region served | |
General Secretary | Sheikh ul Jamia K. Ali Kutty Musliyar |
President | Sayyid ul Ulama Sayed Muhammad Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | samastha |
Part of a series on |
Islam |
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Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama also known as Samastha and EK Samastha [1] [2] is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala. [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. [3] The Samasta Kerala Jamiyatul Ulama (All Kerala Ulama Organisation), popularly known as Samastha, is the Sunni scholarly organization with the highest support among Kerala Muslims. The formation of the Samasta was a response of these traditional ulama to the conditions of the post-1921 era, in which Kerala Muslim society in general witnessed a radical shift from the ladder of individual leadership to the ladder of organizations.
Kerala Muslims of the fundamentalist and puritanical views of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab (1703-1792), Salafism of Rashid Rida (1865-1935), Islamic modernism of Muhammad Abduh (1819-1905) [6] , pan-Islamism of Jamaluddin Afghani (1939-1897), and the Tahreek e-Mujahideen in North India. The new ideologists first came out through the Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangham (group for unity among Kerala Muslims) [7] , which was founded at Kodungallur of Cochin State in 1922 by leaders like K. M. Seethi Sahib, K. M. Maulavi, and EK Moulavi [8] . It tried to bring the scattered and unorganised reformist activists together. Later, they formed an Ulama organisation, Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, at a two-day conference of Aikya Sangham held at Aluva in 1924 [9] , where a large number of scholars were invited. It is a fact that the outstanding members of the traditional Ulama did not openly reject the Kerala Jam’eyyat ul-Ulama at first. However, gradually, the platform of the organisation started to be utilised to attack the traditional Islam that was followed unopposed for centuries and which was nurtured under the guidance of eminent scholars headed by Zainuddin Makhdoom I. They declared a host of Islamic cultural traditions as Shirk and Bid'ah and alleged the centuries-old scholarly and intellectual tradition of Kerala Muslims with deviations and alterations.
The Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama felt the need to organise to defend and protect Kerala’s Islamic tradition and to wage a revivalist movement against the new interpretations. Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar [10] , who had already started counter campaigns against the ‘Wahhabi ideology’, along with some other scholars, met Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal, who was a Sufi Sheikh, a renowned religious scholar, and a prominent figure of the Sayyed family, to discuss the need for an organisational movement to defend the true spirit of the religion. Tangal suggested convening a meeting of the eminent scholars to discuss the suitable solution. In 1925 [11] , some major ulama and other society leaders gathered at Calicut Valiya Juma Masjid and formed an ulama organisation after prolonged and serious discussions. KP Muhammad Meeran Musliyar and Parol Hussain Moulawi [12] were named the President and Secretary of the organisation, respectively. The newly formed Ulama organisation convened within a year many popular conferences, mainly at places where the new ideologists had received big attraction, and directed the masses to be aware of the leaders and followers of the ‘Bida’i sects’. They also travelled throughout the state to convey the message of the ulama organisation to maximum religious scholars who were living in the mosques or religious centres serving the Islamic knowledge. A year later, on June 26, 1926, a bigger convention was called at Calicut Town Hall, where eminent scholars from across the state participated, under the chairmanship of Sayyid Shihabuddhin Cherukunchikkoya Tangal. The convention reorganised the previously formed temporary organisation and adopted a full-fledged organisational set-up in the name of Samastha Kerala Jam’eyyat ul-Ulama. The convention nominated Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal as Samastha’s first president, while Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar, Muhammed Abdul Bari Musliyar, KM Abdul Qadir Musliyar, and KP Muhammad Meeran Musliyar became vice presidents, and PV Muhammad Musliyar and PK Muhammad Musliyar became secretaries in the first committee.
A forty-member 'mushawara' is the high command body of the Sunni council. [13] [14] As of 2020, the president was Sayed Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal. [15] [16]
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the Samastha's 100th anniversary declaration conference at Bengaluru Palace grounds 28 January 2024 [18] Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama inaugurated the centenary celebrations in Bengaluru.
Organisations that are inspired by the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama's ideology refer to themselves as members of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham and Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation, Coordination of Islamic Colleges
Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation, also known as SKSSF abbreviated as the S.K.S.S.F, is the student wing of Honourable Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, scholarly body in Kerala. The largest Islamic students organization of India. The organisation is headquartered at Kozhikode.
Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal was a sayyid (thangal) community leader and religious scholar from Kerala, southern India who was the Kerala State President and Chairman, National Political Advisory Committee, Indian Union Muslim League from 2009 to 2022. He was also the Vice President of the Samastha Kerala Jam'iyyat al-'Ulama', the principal Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly body in Kerala.
K.T. Mohammed Musliyar, who was known as K.T. Manu Musliyar was an Islamic scholar, orator, and writer and General Secretary of Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidyabhyasa Board, which is one of the biggest educational organisation in Kerala. He also was a great leader of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama.
Sheikh Sayyid ˈAbdur-Rahmān al-Bukhāri, known as Ullal Thangal and honoured with the title Tājul Ulamālit. 'Crown Among the Clerics', was an Indian Islamic scholar. He was the President of Samastha, Jamia Sa-adiya Arabic College, Principal of the Sayyid Madani Arabic College, Ullal, and the Qazi of Ullal and several districts of Karnataka state.
Pangil Ahmed Kutty (1305– ?), title Musliyar, was an Islamic scholar from Pangu in Malabar District, Madras Presidency.
Varakkal Mullakoya, honorific Thangal, born Abd ur-Rahman Mullakoya, was an Islamic scholar from Calicut in Malabar District, Madras Presidency.
K. Ali Kutty, title Musliyar, is an Islamic scholar from Kerala, southern India. As of 2022 he was General Secretary, Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the body of Sunni-Shafi'i scholars in northern Kerala and as of 2014 he was Principal, Jami'ya Nooriya Arabic College, Perinthalmanna (2003–present) and President, Ponnani Maunathul Islam Arabic College.
Syed Muhammad Jiffiri Muthukoya Thangal, also known as Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal is the current President, Samastha and he is an Islamic scholar, Teacher, religious leader and Qazi. He is an Islamic scholar from Kerala, India. He serves as President, Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the body of Sunni-Shafi'i scholars in northern Kerala. Thangal is the 11th president of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama.
Abdul Azeez Madani was an Indian Islamic scholar and writer from Kerala and one of the leaders of traditional Sunni Muslims in India. He died in Badriyya Manzil and was buried in Madani Ustad Maqam at Kunnamangalam.
Musliyar is an honorific associated with South Indian, chiefly Malayali, scholars of Islam. Notable people with the surname include:
Suprabhaatham (സുപ്രഭാതം) is a Malayalam daily newspaper owned and published by Kozhikode Iqrau Publications from Kozhikode on behalf of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, a Sunni organisation based in Kerala. The daily publishing from Kerala, India. It is the first Malayalam daily to be published with six editions. The word " Suprabhaatham" translates to literally "auspicious dawn". It is among the most read leading newspapers in Kerala. The newspaper has various editions from Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Thrissur, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad in Kerala. It is headquartered at Francis Road, Kozhikode, Kerala
All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, or All India Muslim Scholars Association, is an organisation of Islamic scholars in India.
Muhammed Abdul Hakkim Azhari is a Kerala scholar, educationalist and businessperson, and the Director of the Jamia Markaz. He is the General Secretary of the Samastha kerala Sunni Yuvjan Sangham SYS.and the Founder and Director of Jamia Madeenathunnoor, Poonoor.
Sayyid Abdurahman Imbichikoya Thangal Al-Aydarusi Al-Azhari, also known as Azhari Thangal was the President of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the largest Muslim organisation in Kerala, India. He was selected as the vice president in 1993 and two years later appointed as the President following the death of K K Aboobacker Hazrath. He was nominated by Shams-ul-Ulama E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar.
Dakshina Kerala Jami-yyathul Ulama is the principal Sunni-Shafi'i and Hanafi scholarly body in central and southern Kerala. The council administers mosques, institutes of higher religious learning and madrasas in central and southern Kerala.
Alathurpadi Dars is an Islamic educational institution in Kerala, India, known for its preservation of traditional values while integrating modern advancements.
Onam is an annual harvest and cultural festival related to Hinduism that is celebrated mostly by the people of Kerala. A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
E Sulaiman Musliyar is an Islamic scholar from Kerala, India. He is President of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the body of Sunni-Shafi'i scholars in Kerala and he is the Principal of Ihyaussunna, Othukkungal, Malappuram. He is also known as Raeesul Ulama.
The 100th Anniversary of Samastha Kerala refers to the events organized in 2024 to commemorate the centennial of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, The 2 year long Samasta Kerala Jamiatul Ulama 100th Anniversary Celebration was inaugurated on 28 January 2024 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and will continue till 8 February 2026.
Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (AP Sunnis) of A. P. Sunnis, also known as Samastha (AP Faction) and AP Samastha, is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala. 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. 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.