ImportMaster at 06:11, 25 July 2022

2022-07-25T06:11:55Z

New page

{{Short description|Principal Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly body in northern Kerala}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox organization
| full_name =
| nickname =
| logo =
| logo_caption =
| name = Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama
| formation = 1925–26<ref name=":2" />
| established =
| founders = * [[Varakkal Mullokoya Thangal|Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]]<ref name=":4" />
* [[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar|Pangil Ahmad Kutty Musliyar]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2020-05-29 |title=Sunni factional feud takes a violent turn – The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sunni-factional-feud-takes-a-violent-turn/article19419713.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529173127/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sunni-factional-feud-takes-a-violent-turn/article19419713.ece |archive-date=29 May 2020 |access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>
| founding_location = [[Kozhikode]]
| type = Scholarly body<ref name=":2" />
| status = Registered in India as per Society Registration Act
| headquarters =
| location =
| region = [[Kerala]]
| leader_title = Founding President
| leader_name = [[Varakkal Mullokoya Thangal|Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]]<ref name=":4" />
| leader_title2 = Founding Vice Presidents<ref name=":4" />
| leader_name2 = * [[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar|Pangil Ahmad Kutty Musliyar]]
* Abulhaq Muhammad Abdul Bari Musliyar
* K. M. Abdul Qadir Musliyar
* K. P. Muhammad Meeran Musliyar
| leader_title3 = Founding Secretaries<ref name=":4" />
| leader_name3 = * P. V. Muhammad Musliyar
* P. K. Muhammad Musliyar
| leader_title4 =
| leader_name4 =
| key_people =
| publication =
| subsidiaries =
| secessions =
| affiliations =
| website = * [https://samastha.info/ Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama]
* [https://samastha.in All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama]
| formerly =
}}
{{Islam}}

The '''Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama''' (informally abbreviated as the '''Samastha'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/mappila-muslims-of-kerala-a-study-in-islamic-trends-by-roland-e-miller-bombay-orient-longman-1976-distributed-by-south-asia-books-columbia-mo-xvi-350-pp-appendixes-bibliography-glossary-index-rs-65-1300/A176A282DA05BB3F44399EE3FB0C15CB |title=Mappila Muslims of Kerala: A Study in Islamic Trends |publisher=Orient Longman |year=1976 |pages=283}}</ref>), 1926–1989, was the principal [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]-[[Shafi‘i|Shafi'i]] scholarly body in northern [[Kerala]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Osella |first=Filippo |last2=Osella |first2=Caroline |date=2008 |year= |title=Islamism and Social Reform in Kerala, South India |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0026749X07003198/type/journal_article |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language= |volume=42 |issue=2–3 |pages=317–346 |doi= |issn=}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Santhosh |first=R. |last2=Visakh |first2=M. S. |date=2020 |title=Muslim League in Kerala: Exploring the Question of ‘Being Secular’ |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/7/special-articles/muslim-league-kerala.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language= |volume=55 |issue=7 |pages=7–8}}</ref><ref name=":56">{{Cite journal |last=Kooria |first=Mahmood |date=2018 |title=An Ethno-History of Islamic Legal Texts |url=https://academic.oup.com/ojlr/article/7/2/313/5105825 |journal=Oxford Journal of Law and Religion |language= |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=313–338 |doi= |issn=2047-0770}}</ref> Most of the ordinary Sunnis of Kerala, adhering to [[Shafi‘i|Shafi'i Law]], largely followed the Ulama.<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Philip |first=Shaju |date=1 September 2014 |title=In Kerala’s Old Sunni vs Sunni Rivalry, a New Daily |work=The Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/in-keralas-old-sunni-vs-sunni-rivalry-a-new-daily/}}</ref> A forty-member 'mushawara' was the high command body of the Sunni council.<ref name="Naha">{{Cite news |last=Naha |first=Abdul Latheef |date=18 January 2018 |title=Sunni Factions to Bury the Hatchet |language= |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sunni-factions-to-bury-the-hatchet/article22466086.ece |access-date=23 August 2019 |issn=}}</ref><ref name=":132">{{Cite news |last=Alingal |first=Shafeeq |date=2018-01-07 |title=Kerala: League of Factions |work=The New Indian Express |location= |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611054152/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/jan/07/kerala-league-of-factions-1746566.html |url-status= |access-date= |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> The council administered thousands of [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'ite]] mosques, madrasas (institutions where children receive basic [[Islam|Islamic education]]) and [[Arabic Colleges]] (the equivalent of north Indian [[madrasa]]s).<ref name=":1" />

The council was organised in the aftermath of the [[1921 Mappila Uprising]] as a response to the growing [[Salafi Islam|Salafi Movement]] in Kerala.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Prominent community leaders [[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar]] and [[Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]] first convened to form an Ulama at Valiya Jum'ah Masjid, [[Kozhikode]] in 1925.<ref name=":4" /> Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama was formally constituted at [[Kozhikode]] Town Hall in June, 1926 (registered in November, 1934).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":122">{{Cite web |title=History of Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama: Timeline |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113181345/http://samastha.wapka.mobi/site_19.xhtml |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |website=Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama}}</ref> The council, in the presence of [[Abdurrahiman Bafaki Tangal|Abdurrahiman Bafaqy Thangal]], introduced the "madrasa system", as an alternative to the existing system for children's [[Islam|Islamic]] education, in September 1949.<ref name=":122" /> Religious education and the [[Mahallah|mahals]] were organised in 1951 and 1976 respectively. [[Jami'a Nooriyya Arabic College|Jamia Nooriyya]] and the [[Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya|Markaz]], premier [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'ite]] institutes of higher religious learning in Kerala, were established in 1965 and 1978 respectively.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":15" /> [[Darul Huda al-Islamiya|Darul Huda]] was founded at [[Chemmad]] in 1986. The body witnessed an organisational division during the late 1980s, resulting in the presence two separate [[Shafi‘i|Shafi'i]] scholarly bodies in northern Kerala (the [[Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (1989–present)|Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama]] and the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama affliated to [[All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama]]).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Kooria |first=Mahmood |date=2018 |title=An Ethno-History of Islamic Legal Texts |url=https://academic.oup.com/ojlr/article/7/2/313/5105825 |journal=Oxford Journal of Law and Religion |language= |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=313–338 |doi= |issn=2047-0770}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Early years ===
Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, a council of principal [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]-[[Shafi‘i|Shafi'i]] scholars of [[Malabar District]], was organised in 1926 as a response to the growing [[Salafi Islam|Salafi Movement]] in Kerala.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |url=https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Mappila-Muslim-Culture |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |date=2015 |publisher=State University of New York |isbn= |pages=101–103 and 330 |language=}}</ref>

A nascent form of the Ulama was formed at Valiya Jum'ah Masjid, [[Kozhikode]] in 1925.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date= |title=Karma Bhumiyil (Malayalam) |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805153522/http://samastha.info/samstha/articles.html |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidhyabyasa Board}}</ref> This was organised by [[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar]] and [[Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]] with K. P. Muhammad Miran Musliyar as the President and Parol Husain Maulavi as the Secretary.<ref name=":4" /> The Ulama was formally constituted on 26 June 1926 at Town Hall, [[Kozhikode]].<ref name=":4" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |'''Structure of the Ulama (1926)'''
|-
|President<ref name=":4" />
|[[Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |Vice Presidents<ref name=":4" />
|[[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar]]
|-
|Abulhaq Muhammad Abdul Bari Musliyar
|-
|K. M. Abdul Qadir Musliyar, Pallippuram
|-
|K. P. Muhammad Miran Musliyar
|-
| rowspan="2" |Secretaries<ref name=":4" />
|P. V. (Palli Veettil) Muhammad Musliyar
|-
|P. K. Muhammad Musliyar
|}

=== Wings (prior to 1989) ===

* Scholarly body — Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama
* Education Board — Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidhyabhyasa Board
* [[Mahallah|Mahallu]] Federation — Sunni Mahallu Federation
* Youth wing — Sunni Yuvajana Samgham (S. Y. S.)
* Students wing — Sunni Students' Federation (S. S. F.)
* Mouthpiece — "Al-Bayan"

== Timeline ==
*1925 — A nascent form of the Ulama inaugurated at Valiya Jum'ah Masjid, [[Kozhikode]].<ref name=":4" />
*26 June 1926 — Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama constituted at [[Kozhikode]] Town Hall in the presence of Sayyid Cherukunjikkoya Thangal.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":122" />
*7 February 1927 — First conference of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama at [[Tanur, India|Tanur]] in the presence of Liyauddeen Hazrath (Nalir Bakhiyath).<ref name=":122" />
*December 1929 — Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama published its first periodical ''Al-Bayan'' (edited by K. V. Muhammad Musliyar).<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":122" />
*1932 June — [[Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar]] appointed as the President of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (succeeding [[Varakkal Mullokoya Thangal|Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal]]).<ref name=":122" />
*14 Nov 1934 — Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama officially registered by law at [[Kozhikode]] District Registrar Office.<ref name=":122" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama: First Mushavara |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113174542/http://samastha.wapka.mobi/site_2.xhtml |website=Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama |publisher= |accessdate=}}</ref>
*September 1949 — The Samastha mushawara introduced the madrasa system (in the presence of [[Abdurrahiman Bafaki Tangal|Sayyid Abdurrahiman Bafaqy Thangal]]).<ref name=":122" />
*17 September 1951 — Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidhyabhyasa Board (S. K. I. M. V. B) established.<ref name=":122" />
*26 April 1954 — S. K. J. U. formed a youth wing named "Sunni Yuvajana Samgham" (S. Y. S.).
*1965 — [[Jami'a Nooriyya Arabic College|Jamia Nooriyya Arabiyya]] established at Pattikkad (near [[Perinthalmanna]]).<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland. E |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111023510/http://www.brill.com/publications/encyclopaedia-islam |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1987 |volume=VI |chapter=Mappila}}</ref>
*1973 — Formation of Sunni Students' Federation
*1976 — Sunni Mahallu Federation established.
*1978 — [[Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar]] forms [[Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya|Jamia Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya]] at Karanthur, near [[Kozhikode]].<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |url=https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Mappila-Muslim-Culture |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |publisher=State University of New York |year=2015 |location= |pages=214}}</ref>
*1986 — Establishment of [[Darul Huda al-Islamiya|Darul Huda Academy]] in [[Chemmad]].
*1989 — Organisational division.<ref name=":5" />

=== Councils ===
The two current [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'ite]] councils in northern Kerala are named after the initials of leading scholars of each wing ([[E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar]] and [[Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar|A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar]]).<ref name=":5" /> Both of them were the leading intellectuals of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, until they were divided in 1989.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite news |last=Alingal |first=Shafeeq |date=2018-01-07 |title=Kerala: League of Factions |work=The New Indian Express |location= |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611054152/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/jan/07/kerala-league-of-factions-1746566.html |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date=2020-06-11}}</ref>

* [[Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (1989–present)|Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama]] was led [[E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar]] (1914–1996)<ref name=":5" /> and is currently headed by [[Sayyid Muhammad Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal|Sayed Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal]].<ref name=":112">{{Cite web |last=Naha |first=Abdul Latheef |date=2018-01-03 |title=No action against Panakkad scions |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606053100/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/samastha-goes-soft-on-panakkad-scions/article22360419.ece |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date=6 June 2020 |access-date= |website=The Hindu |location=}}</ref><ref name=":92">{{Cite news |date=3 June 2020 |title=Aradhanalayangal Thurakkanam: Samastha |work=Media One |url=https://www.mediaoneonline.com/kerala/2020/06/03/samstha-wants-masjid-open-news}}</ref>

* Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama affliated to [[All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama]] is led by [[Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar|A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar]] (born 1939)<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":1" />

== Educational activities ==
Madrasa in Kerala refers to an extracurricular institution where children receive basic [[Islam|Islamic]] and [[Arabic language]] education.<ref name=":1" /> The council managed thousands of [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'ite]] madrasas with millions of enrolled students (the [[Salafi movement|Salafi movement-oriented organisations]] also manage madrasas in Kerala).<ref name=":1" /> Thousands of teachers were also registered with these madrasas.<ref name=":1" /> The organisation also run a chain of [[Arabic Colleges]] in Kerala (equivalent of north Indian [[madrasa]]s).<ref name=":1" />

=== Publications ===
Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama started publishing a [[Malayalam language]] monthly called "Al-Bayan" in 1929. The magazine was printed in [[Arabi Malayalam script|Arabi-Malayalam script]]. It later ceased publication and started again in October''',''' 1950 in [[Malayalam script]].<ref name=":79">{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |url=https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Mappila-Muslim-Culture |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |date=2015 |publisher=State University of New York |isbn= |pages=330 |language=}}</ref><ref name=":122" /> The council also published short-lived magazines such as "Sunni Times" or "Sunni Voice" (from 1964) and "Muslim" (from 1987, in both [[Malayalam script]] and [[Arabi Malayalam script|Arabi-Malayalam scripts]]).<ref name=":79" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://samastha.info/ Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (E. K. Group)]
*[https://samastha.in/ Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidyabhyasa Board (A. P. Group)]

[[Category:Sunni Islam in India]]
[[Category:Islam in Kerala]]
[[Category:Samastha]]

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (1926–1989) - Revision history

ImportMaster at 06:11, 25 July 2022