KASARGOD: Keralites came to know about Islam through Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama and its earlier forms, said Kerala Muslim Jama’at president and Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar.
Speaking at a public meeting held to receive the Kerala Yathra at Cherkala on Thursday, he said that other communities also benefited from the positive activities of Samastha.
The rulers in Kerala had received Islam with due respect. Malik bin Dinar, who led the spread of Islam in the northern parts of Kerala, stood for peaceful co-existence and pure spirituality, Kanthapuram said.
Syed Ali Bafaqi Thangal, Syed K S Attakoya Thangal Kumbol, Samastha president E Sulaiman Musaliyar, Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, Karnataka Speaker U T Khader, Rajmohan Unnithan, MP, MLAs M Rajagopalan, N A Nellikkunnu, C H Kunhambu, E Chandrasekharan, A K M Ashraf, Chinmaya Mission Kerala chief Swami Vivekananda Saraswathi, Fr Mathew Baby, Kallatra Mahin Haji and others attended. C Muhammad Faizi and Rahmatullah Saqafi Elamaram moved the resolutions.
Earlier, Sulaiman Musaliyar and K S Attakoya Thangal handed over the flag of the Yathra to Kanthapuram at a function held at the Ullal dargah. The Yathra will conclude at Thiruvananthapuram on January 16 after passing through various districts.