A. P. Sunni
Encyclopedia
A. P. Sunni is one of the powerful and influential traditional Sunni factions of Muslim
s in Kerala
, South India
under the Karanthur Markaz
. They belong to the Sunni-Shafi branch of Islam. It was named after the cleric Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, general secretary of All-India Jamiyyathul Ulama.
s. Since Islam
reached Malabar
as early as 7th century it had almost mixed with the culture and traditions of the people of Kerala
and Hinduism
. So, the Salafi movements
(a part of the renaissance of the community) after the 1921 armed uprising
, produced a Salafi sect
from the orthodox Sunnis. Later, the Sunni branch split into two as A. P.s and E. K.s
, forming the two rival factions.
The Sunni Students Federation
(SSF) is a students movement of the A. P.s and Sunni Yuvajana Sangam (SYS) is a youth movement organized under the patronage of Kanthapuram.
s, the traditional rivals of the A. P.s, always support Indian Union Muslim League
who are in coalition with Congress-lead United Democratic Front. The supreme leader of EK Sunnis Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal
is the president of Kerala state unit of Indian Union Muslim League
. So, historically the A. P. faction continued to support the Left Coalition. However, Pinarayi Vijayan
, the state secretary of Kerala State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
, has accused the A. P. faction of deceiving them in the last State legislative assembly elections
in Kerala
. Recently Kanthapuram is often accused of trying to make ties with Indian Union Muslim League
.
and Medina
in the month of Ramzan. According to rough estimates, some four-lakh people took part in the prayers.
s, has contested this and demanded proof. Addressing a press conference in Kozhikode, secretary of the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), Onamballi Mohammed Faizi, and secretary of Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, Abdul Hamid Faizi Ambalakkadavu, dubbed Kanthapuram's claim that he was in possession of a " holy relic" as "false". But, Kanthapuram clarified that the Markaz was safekeeping the “holy hair” not to worship, but as a mark of respect to the “beloved Prophet.”
According to him, it was Shaikh Ahmad Al Khazraji, son of Shaikh Muhammed Al Khazraji, former Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, United Arab Emirates, who had handed over one of the “holy hair” to Markaz during its last annual convocation conference in January 2011. The leader of the rival Sunni faction and Muslim League leader, Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, had while speaking at a Sunni (E.K. Faction) scholars' conference in the city accused Aboobacker Musaliyar of “cheating the believers” in the name of sacred hair.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
under the Karanthur Markaz
Markazu Saqafathi Sunniya
Jamia Markazu Ssaqafathi Ssunniyya is a Shafi'i Sunni Islamic school in Kerala, India under Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musalyar, the supremo of the A. P. Sunnis. Operating since 1978, the foundation stone of it was laid by the Islamic scholar of Makkah sayed Muhammad-ibn Alavi-al-Maliki...
. They belong to the Sunni-Shafi branch of Islam. It was named after the cleric Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, general secretary of All-India Jamiyyathul Ulama.
Position
A. P. Sunni is one of the orthodox sects of Muslims of Kerala, the other being the E. K. SunniE. K. Sunni
E. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...
s. Since Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
reached Malabar
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
as early as 7th century it had almost mixed with the culture and traditions of the people of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. So, the Salafi movements
Islahi Movement in Kerala
The renaissance of the ancient Sunni Muslim community in the Kerala state, South India mostly owes to the rise of Salafi ideas and scholars in the early 20th century, referred as Islahi movements of Kerala. Salafism is a puritanical and legalistic Islamic movement under the Sunni umbrella, and is...
(a part of the renaissance of the community) after the 1921 armed uprising
Malabar Rebellion
The Malabar Rebellion was an armed uprising in 1921 against British authority in the Malabar region of Southern India by Mappila Muslims and the culmination of a series of Mappila revolts that recurred throughout the 19th century and early 20th century...
, produced a Salafi sect
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen
Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen is a Salafi Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in Kerala, India. One faction of the organization is working in co-operation with Ahl al-Hadith , an all-Subcontinental Islahi outfit...
from the orthodox Sunnis. Later, the Sunni branch split into two as A. P.s and E. K.s
E. K. Sunni
E. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...
, forming the two rival factions.
Leader
Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musalyar (born Aboobacker Ahmed) is the leader of one of the traditionalist factions of Muslims in Kerala, the A. P. Sunni.The Sunni Students Federation
Sunni Students Federation
The Sunni Students' Federation is the higher students organization of the A. P. Sunni faction of the Muslims of Kerala. S. S. F. was the higher students organisation of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama before the 1989 Sunni split. The present General Secretary is K. Abdul Kalam Mavoor, and the...
(SSF) is a students movement of the A. P.s and Sunni Yuvajana Sangam (SYS) is a youth movement organized under the patronage of Kanthapuram.
Other clerics and former leaders
- Ullal ThangalUllal ThangalUllal Thangal is a Sunni Muslim scholar from the Indian state of Kerala, South India. He is current President of Samastha Kerala Sunni Jam'iyyathul Ulama , the organization of scholars and clerics under A. P. Sunni faction of Muslims of Kerala...
(Syed Abdurahman Al-Bukhari Ullal) - M.A.Abdul Khader Musaliyar
- K.P.Hamsa Musaliyar
- Nellikuth Ismail Musaliyar
- P.P.Muhiyideen Kutty Musaliyar
- Ponmala Abdul Khader Musaliyar
- E.Sulaiman Musaliyar
- Syed Yousuf Al Bukhari Vailathore
- Syed Ibrahim Khaleel Al Bukhari Thangal
- Perode Abdul Rahman Saqqafi
- Sayed Umarul Farooque Thangal posoot
- Alavi Saqqafi Kolathur
- Muhammad Kunju Saqafi Kollam
Political view
Kanthapuram has confirmed and announced a policy of "helping those who help us" to support any political party in Kerala but he is often accused as the leader of "Arival Sunnis" ("Sunnis who support the Left parties") by his rivals . In recent years his role in Parliament and assembly election was noted by almost every politician in Kerala. It's important to note that, E. K. SunniE. K. Sunni
E. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...
s, the traditional rivals of the A. P.s, always support Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala...
who are in coalition with Congress-lead United Democratic Front. The supreme leader of EK Sunnis Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal
Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal
Sayyid Hyderali Shihab Thangal is the Kerala State president of the Indian Union Muslim League and current supreme leader of the E. K. Sunni of Kerala.He is the third son of PMSA Pookkoya Thangal...
is the president of Kerala state unit of Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala...
. So, historically the A. P. faction continued to support the Left Coalition. However, Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan is a politician and a former minister of Kerala, South India. He is currently a politburo member and the state secretary of Kerala State Committee of Communist Party of India .- Early life :...
, the state secretary of Kerala State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
, has accused the A. P. faction of deceiving them in the last State legislative assembly elections
Kerala State legislative assembly election, 2011
The thirteenth legislative assembly election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members of the 140 constituencies in Kerala. Election results were released on 13 May 2011. The results proved to be one of the closest elections in Kerala's history, with the UDF beating the LDF by a margin of 4...
in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Recently Kanthapuram is often accused of trying to make ties with Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League
Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala...
.
Prayers at Swalat Nagar
Prayers at Swalat Nagar of A. P. Sunni's is a massive Ramzan(the month in Arabic Calender) congregation held near Malappuram under Sayyid Ibraheemul-khaleelul Bukhari, the chairman of Ma'din Institutions. The prayer meet, organised by Ma'dinu Saquafathil Islamiyya at Swalat Nagar, near Malappuram is rated the largest Muslim gathering outside MeccaMecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
and Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
in the month of Ramzan. According to rough estimates, some four-lakh people took part in the prayers.
India's largest mosque and the holy hair controversy
According to A. P. Sunnis, India's largest mosque is being built in Kozhikkode under the patronage of Kanthapuram. He claims to have the Prophet Muhammed's hair, but the rival Sunni outfit, the E. K. SunniE. K. Sunni
E. K. Sunni is one of the powerful traditional Sunni factions of Muslims in Kerala, South India under the Chelari Samastha. They belong to Sunni-Shafi school of law. It is largest Muslim faction in Kerala in terms of number of followers and was named after the cleric E.K...
s, has contested this and demanded proof. Addressing a press conference in Kozhikode, secretary of the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), Onamballi Mohammed Faizi, and secretary of Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, Abdul Hamid Faizi Ambalakkadavu, dubbed Kanthapuram's claim that he was in possession of a " holy relic" as "false". But, Kanthapuram clarified that the Markaz was safekeeping the “holy hair” not to worship, but as a mark of respect to the “beloved Prophet.”
According to him, it was Shaikh Ahmad Al Khazraji, son of Shaikh Muhammed Al Khazraji, former Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, United Arab Emirates, who had handed over one of the “holy hair” to Markaz during its last annual convocation conference in January 2011. The leader of the rival Sunni faction and Muslim League leader, Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, had while speaking at a Sunni (E.K. Faction) scholars' conference in the city accused Aboobacker Musaliyar of “cheating the believers” in the name of sacred hair.