Jamiyyathul Ulama All India General Secretary and Kerala Muslim Jamaat Kanthapuram President AP Aboobacker Musliar announced the dates for the Samastha centenary finale on Saturday in Kottakkal. | Photo credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN
All India General Secretary of Jamiyyathul Ulama and President of Kerala Muslim Jamaat Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliar called for reunification of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama.
Announcing the finale of Samastha centenary celebrations in Malappuram on Saturday evening, Mr. Kanthapuram said reunification of Samastha factions was the need of the hour. He called on Sunni workers to pray for unity and merger of the factions and warned them against any actions that could jeopardize reconciliation efforts.
Mr. Kanthapuram announced that the finale of the Samastha centenary celebrations will be held in Malappuram from January 28 to 31, 2027. The mega conference will be preceded by an eight-point action programme.
However, Mr Kanthapuram responded to a ‘ghar vaapasi’ call by rival Samastha president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal last week, claiming that neither he nor his team had ever left Samastha.
Samastha (Kanthapuram faction) secretary Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar addressed the general body of the Samastha in Kottakkal on Saturday. | Photo credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN
“MPs and MLAs walked out of Parliament and Assembly in protest. That does not mean they will cease to be members of these Houses. Similarly, we walked out of the Samastha meeting (in 1989) to protest the proceedings. But we never left the Samastha itself. The new members have no idea what happened in that meeting,” he said, referring to Mr Thangalukoya.
Indian Muslim League state president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal welcomed the move to reunite Samastha in a statement on Sunday. He said it was the need of the hour and that it did not involve any politics. He promised that his family Syed Shihab of Panakkad would make every effort to help achieve Sunni unity.
The annual general meeting of Samastha (Kanthapuram faction) held in Kottakkal earlier on Saturday warned political parties against giving shelter to political Islamists, indirectly referring to Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliates.
Samastha President E. Suliaman Musliar presided over the meeting. Secretaries Syed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar and Perodu Abdurahman Saqafi; Muslim Jamaat Secretary Sulaiman Saqafi Maliyekkal; and Sunni State President Yuvajana Sangham Mohammed Abdul Hakeem Azhari spoke.
Sunni cadres started graffiti writing in different parts of Malappuram on Saturday night, announcing the grand finale of the Samastha centenary celebrations just hours after it was officially announced.
Published – 15 Feb 2026 20:17 IST