KOZHIKODE: Sunni Students Federation (SSF) has registered its protest over the alleged white washing of Wahhabism in the study material provided to post graduate students of Arabic at the Calicut University. "The Wahhabi movement is introduced in a misleading manner in the study material. It is being referred to as a renaissance movement and representational of real Islam," said Anwar Noorani, a student of Arabic under the School of Distance Education (SDE).
The SSF have complained to the Minister of Higher Education and University authorities seeking removal of the controversial sections from the study material. The book, 'History of Contemparory Arab World' is provided as a study aid for the second semester students.
According to Noorani, the customs and practices of Sufi Sunnis such as visiting the darghas are referred to as things alien to Islam. "An impression has been created that Wahhabism is the real Islam and Sunnis are those who invented new practices in Islam," Noorani said.
“The study material does not contain any historical information about the demolition of tombs under the Wahhabi rule in Saudi Arabia. It is purely one-sided narration intended to white-wash the Wahhabis, who are facing criticisms from different parts of the world.”
The examination for the second semester is scheduled for September 2 and a large number of students have informed the authorities that they will not attend the exams unless it is ensured that questions from the controversial portion will not appear.
SSF state secretary C N Jaffar said that this is not the first time Wahhabism is sneaking into the syllabus of Calicut University. “The university was forced to remove a book suggested for the Arabic students in 2016 after strong opposition from the Sunnis,” he said. “We will not allow the move to spread Wahhabism among students using government funds.”
The University authorities, however, said that they have not received any official complaint in this regard. “History of contemporary Arab world has been in the syllabus for the past 18 years and there was no complaint. We will check whether there is any problem with the study material given for the students SDE,” a university official said.