Wikipedia

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (AP Sunnis)

Not to be confused with Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama or All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama.

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of AP Sunnis, also known as Samastha[4][5][6][7][8] and AP Samastha,[4] is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala.[9][10][11][4] 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.[9] 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.[4][12]

Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama
Formation26 June 1926 (98 years ago) (1926-06-26)[a]
FounderVarakkal Mullakoya Thangal[b]
TypeSunni-Shafi'i scholarly body
General Secretary
Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar[3]
President
E. Sulaiman Musliyar[3]
Treasurer
Kottur Kunjammu Musliyar[3]
Secretaries
Vice Presidents
  • Sayyid Ali Bafaqi Thangal[3]
  • P. A. Aidrus Musliyar Kollam[3]
  • K. S. Attakoya Thangal Kumbol[3]

Similar to EK Sunnis, a forty-member council also known as the 'mushawara' functions a high command body of AP Sunnis.[13][14] As of December 2023, the council includes Samastha general secretary Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar; Samastha president E. Sulaiman Musliar; vice presidents Sayyid Ali Bafaqi Thangal, P. A. Aidrus Musliyar Kollam and K. S. Attakoya Thangal Kumbol;[3] treasurer Kottur Kunjammu Musliyar;[3] secretaries Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliyar and Perod Abdurahman Saqafi.[4]

Population makeup

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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.[9][4][12]

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (AP faction), Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK faction), Dakshina Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama and Kerala Samsthana Jem-iyyathul Ulama are different factions of Sunnis in Kerala, while Dakshina Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama is the dominant group in the southern part of the state.[15]

Ideological difference

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Samastha began in 1926 to counter Vakkom Moulavi's Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam[14]—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.[9][4][12][15]

Samastha in AP Sunnis' words

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Change of name

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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.[1]

Reorganisation

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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. [1]

Success

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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.[1]

Affiliated entities

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Sunni Students Federation (SSF)

Samastha of AP Sunnis have several affiliated entities.[3][16] They include:

  • Kerala Muslim Jama'ath[14]
  • Sunni Management Association (SMA)
  • Educational board – Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidhyabhyasa Board
  • Madrasa teachers' association – Sunni Jam-iyyathul Muallimeen (SJM)[17][18]
  • Youth wing – Samastha Kerala Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS)
  • Student wing – Sunni Students Federation (SSF)
  • Jamiathul Hind

Other entities of AP Sunnis

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Organisations

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Periodicals

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Notable institutions

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Per AP Sunnis[1]
  2. ^ Per AP Sunnis[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Musliyar, Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker (26 June 2024). "Samastha: legacy of a century". Sirajlive.com (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  2. ^ Maannoor, Zainudheen Irfani (1–15 March 2017). "മുസ്ലിം നവോത്ഥാനത്തിന്റെ കേരള വിശേഷങ്ങൾ" Malayalam [Kerala news of Muslim renaissance]. Sunni Voice Fortnightly (in Malayalam). p. 19 – via sunnivoice.net.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama: Kanthapuram again general secretary; E. Sulaiman Musliyar president". www.thejasnews.com (in Malayalam). 23 February 2024. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "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.
  5. ^ "Increase in suicides linked to ignorance, says Kanthapuram". mathrubhumi.com. 12 July 2024. Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  6. ^ "No freedom for Islamic activities in any country like that in India, says Keralite Muslim scholar". ThePrint. 28 January 2023. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Dubai Grand Mufti praises religious tolerance in India". Arab News. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Samastha will develop 10,000 model villages in three years, says Kanthapuram". www.onmanorama.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Santhosh, R.; Visakh, M. S. (2020). "Muslim League in Kerala: Exploring the Question of 'Being Secular'". Economic and Political Weekly. 55 (7): 7–8.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ a b c Alingal, Shafeeq (7 January 2018). "Kerala: League of Factions". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020.
  15. ^ a b "By revisiting unity talks, Sunni groups look to bury differences". The New Indian Express. 4 July 2023. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  16. ^ a b Thadathil, Hashim (2020). "Constructing Authenticity in Discourse(s): Debates among the Mappila Muslims of Malabar, South India". Asian Journal of Social Science. 48 (5/6): 449–467. doi:10.1163/15685314-04805007. ISSN 1568-4849. JSTOR 27076308.
  17. ^ a b c "Samastha Kerala Sunni Jam-iyyathul Muallimeen". sjmindia.org. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d "Action plan against drugs through madrasas". Sirajlive.com (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Kanthapuram A P Muhammad Musliar passes away at 72". The New Indian Express. 21 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  20. ^ Ameerudheen, T. A. (23 January 2018). "Big deal: Merger of two factions of a Muslim group could realign political forces in Kerala". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Publish community representation data in key posts: Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliyar". The Times of India. 27 June 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Kerala's Warring Sunni Groups Now in Tussle Over Appointment of First South Indian as Grand Mufti of Muslims". News18. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Samastha is a model of co-existence: Kanthapuram". Keralakaumudi Daily. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Risala weekly". Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Muslims in India have more religious freedom: Sunni leader". The New Indian Express. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Sunni Voice campaign activities to begin on sixth". Sirajlive.com (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  27. ^ "About us – SUNNIVOICE". 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
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