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Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK Sunnis)

Sunni Islamic organisation in India

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  • 7 chapters

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History

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), 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), which was founded at Kodungallur of Cochin State in 1922 by leaders like K. M. Seethi Sahib, K. M. Maulavi, and EK Moulavi.

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.

Formation

Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama was formed on June 26, 1926 but it was officially registered on November 14, 1934, as the government approved its bylaw, which was agreed upon after deep and wide scholarly discussions held in various Mushawara meets and in consultation with law experts. It promulgated the propagation of true Islam, impart of religious education and activities against superstitions and un-Islamic traditions as its primary and supreme objectives. Its bylaw also included encouragement for secular education compatible with religious beliefs, and calls for religious tolerance, interfaith friendship, peaceful existence and national progress. The registration Number is S1.1934/35 at office of the Kozhikode district registrar

Samastha history 1924-2000s

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, who had already started counter campaigns against the ‘Wahhabi ideology’, along with some other scholars, met Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal, who was a Sufi Sheikh, to discuss creating an organisational movement to defend theirb version of Islam. Tangal suggested convening a meeting of scholars to discuss the suitable solution. In 1925, 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 were named the President and Secretary of the organisation, respectively.

Conferences

Samastha organised a host of public conferences at various places to spread their message. Facing an opposition of secularly educated people, journalists, advocates and neo-scholars who had been fruitfully utilising all means from public meetings to publications to propagate their reformist ideologies and to brand traditionalists as courting shirk, Samastha leaders were compelled to come out to defend themselves against the allegations and to explain its views. Systematically held public conferences and anniversaries increased Samasthas popularity, kept the majority of Mappila Muslims in their fold, and restricted the inroads of reformist ideologies. In the first 25 years, Samastha focused its agenda on conducting public conferences, dialogues and ideological conflicts. Between 1927 and 1944, it convened 15 annual conferences at various places attracting immense public attention. 70th year Anniversary E.K Aboobacker musliar addressing the crowd The 16th conference held at Karyavattam was important as since then Samastha started to keep records and registers of all activities, resolutions and decisions scientifically. After that, the frequency of the huge public conferences decreased mainly because the organisation had tightened its foundation and fortress by 1950s and it had formed many sub committees and subordinate organisations to deal with different issues. In next 40 years, it conducted next eight conferences.

  • 1985–1996

The 24th and 25th conferences held at Calicut seashore in 1985 and 1996 were the largest gatherings the town had ever witnessed, for the resolutions, topics and issues the conference sessions discussed, and for the attention both drew from non-Muslim, political and government circles.

  • 2002 – Samastha celebrated its platinum jubilee holding public conferences at five major Kerala cities: Kasargod, Calicut, Thrissur, Kollam and Tiruvanandapuram.
  • 26 February 2012 – The Samastha 85th conferences held at Kooriyad, Malappuram
  • 11 February 2016 – The Samastha 90th conferences held at Alappuzha

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