Formation | 1926 |
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Founder | Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal |
Type | Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly council |
General Secretary | Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar |
President | E. Sulaiman Musliyar |
Treasurer | Kottur Kunjammu Musliyar [1] |
Secretaries |
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Vice Presidents | |
Website | samastha |
Part of a series on |
Islam |
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Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of A. P. Sunnis, also known as Samastha, [2] is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala. [3] [4] [5] [6] 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] 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. [7] [8]
Samastha of AP Sunnis claims to be the real Samastha. 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. [9] There have been talks for rapprochement between these two Sunni groups. [10] As of 26 June 2023 there are around 10435 madrasas in India under Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis). [11]
Similar to EK Sunnis, a forty-member council also known as the 'mushawara' functions a high command body of AP Sunnis. [10] [12] As of December 2023 the council includes general secretary Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar; president E. Sulaiman Musliar; vice president Syed Attakoya Thangal; treasurer Kottur Kunjammu Musliyar [1] secretaries Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar and Perod Abdurahman Saqafi; [13] vice presidents Syyid Ali Bafaqi Thangal, P. A. Aidrus Muslyar Kollam and K. S. Attakoya Thangal Kumbol. [1]
Samastha was founded with an aim to fight "deviant sects", including Wahhabis and Salafis, in 1926 by people including Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal, Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar and Muhammad Abdul Bari Musliyar at a meeting in Kozhikode Town Hall. Later in 1934 Samastha got registered. Sunni scholars formed the organisation in response to—the reformist movement began in the 1920s that formed Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam (1922–1934) driven by Vakkom Moulavi, Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (established 1924) and KNM (founded 1950). Mujahids derived from the Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam. [9] Since the 1920s though several organisations have participated in debates, Sunnis and Mujahids have had most frequent debates between them. [14] [15]
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. [3] [6] [8]
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. [16]
Samastha began in 1926 to counter the Vakkom Moulavi's Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam [9] —the precursor of KNM and the wider Mujahid movement. Only traditionalist Sunnis are called Sunnis in Kerala in contrast to the reformist ones. The four different factions of Sunnis in Kerala have "almost the same ideology and beliefs". 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. [3] [6] [8] [16]
According to AP Sunnis, Samastha for the first time adopted the Samastha's flag on 29 December 1963, at a meeting of Samastha held at the Thalankara Malik Dinar Valiya Jumuath Mosque in Kasaragod. The flag was adopted with minor modification including the removal of the script from the flag that was then in use by the All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama. [17]
Kanthapuram, a leader of AP Sunnis says Sunnis formed an organisation to counter the religious reformists with the name Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama. But the reformist people had registered the same name. So Sunnis had to add the term "Samastha" to the name of the organisation at the conference held at Kozhikode Town Hall on 26 June 1926. [18]
Presently Mujahids have an organisation named Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama founded in 1924. [19] [20]
Kanthapuram further says Samastha was reorganised and went ahead with the interests Samastha had at the time of its formation, when there were attempts to join with the reformists and deviate in Samastha around 1989. [18]
Kanthapuram explains people unitedly supported Samastha after its formation. He also says after the reorganisation in 1989, the Samastha went ahead with strong force, with all policies and ideologies of Samastha all over India and outside. [18]
Samastha of AP Sunnis have several subsidiaries. [21] [22] They include:
Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, officially known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, is the tenth and current Grand Mufti of India. and General Secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama and General Secretary of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of AP Sunnis.
Jami'a Nooriyya is an Arabic College, or an educational institute of higher religious learning, the equivalent of south Indian madrasa, located at Pattikkad, near Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district, Kerala. Established in 1963 by Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, it is the premier orthodox or traditionalist Sunni-Shafi'i institution for the training of the Islamic scholars in Kerala.
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.
E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar, known by followers as Shams-ul-Ulama, "the Sun of the Scholars", was a Shafi'i scholar and community leader from Kerala, south India. He served as the General Secretary of the Samastha-Kerala Jam'iyyat al-'Ulama', the principal Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly body in Kerala, from 1957 to 1996.
Cherussery Zainudheen, (1937 - 2016) title Musliyar, known as Zain-ul Ulama, was an Islamic scholar from Kerala, southern India. He succeeded E.K. Aboobacker Musliyar as General Secretary for Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama.
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.
The Sunni Students Federation is an Islamic students' organisation in India. Originated in Kerala in 1973 under the patronage of Sheikh Abubakr Musliyar. It is affiliated to All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama and Kerala Muslim Jamaath. SSF will hold the golden fifty National Conference at Mumbai on 2023 November 24, 25 and 26.
Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari is founder and chairman of Ma'din Academy and adviser of World Interfaith Harmony Week. He is a sunni Islamic scholar, Joint Secretary of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, General Secretary of Kerala Muslim Jamaat, a body of various Muslim organizations in Kerala and he is listed in The Muslim 500.
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.
Musliyar is an honorific associated with South Indian, chiefly Malayali, scholars of Islam. Notable people with the surname include:
The Grand Mufti of India is the most senior and influential religious authority of the Sunni Muslim Community of India. The incumbent is Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, general secretary of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, who was conferred the title in February 2019 at the Gareeb Nawaz Peace Conference held at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi, organised by the All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam.
All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, or All India Muslim Scholars Association, is an organisation of Islamic scholars in India.
Samastha may refer to:
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.
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 Indian harvest festival celebrated predominantly by the Hindus 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.
Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of EK Sunnis also known as Samastha and EK Samastha is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala. The council administers Shafi'ite mosques, institutes of higher religious learning and madrasas in India.
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.