KOZHIKODE: IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal’s efforts to emerge as the acceptable leader of all Muslim groups in Kerala got a boost when he arrived for the inauguration of the Taibah Centre, the headquarters of the Kerala Samsthana Jem-Iyyathul Ulama here on Saturday.
Samsthana (as the organisation is popularly known) is a splinter group of Sunnis that split away from the Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama in 1967. Under the leadership of K K Sadaqathulla Moulavi, a group walked out of Samastha over a dispute on the use of mike at mosques. Since then, Samsthana has been functioning as an independent organisation and is currently led by Moulana Najeeb Moulavi, who is its general secretary.
At the inaugural function held at Varakkal in Kozhikode, Sadiq Ali Thangal was hailed as Syedul Umma (leader of the community). In his address, Thangal reminded the community about the importance of staying united. “We need to introspect on this aspect. It may not be possible to desist from working in different organisations. But we must ensure that this doesn’t lead to disruption of unity or mutual accusations,” he said.
“There may be differences of opinion among us, but we can think about spiritual unity even while maintaining the differences. We should examine whether material considerations outweigh our spiritual leanings,” Thangal said, adding that mutual competition among organisations distracts attention from the need for unity. He ended the speech by stressing the need to move forward in the path of unity.
The organisers claimed that the occasion became a call for Sunni unity. Representatives of various Sunni organisations such as Dakshina Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama, Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama and the Kanthapuram group of Sunnis were present at the inaugural function and at the book release held later in the afternoon.
It may be recalled that Sadiq Ali Thangal has been projecting himself as the leader acceptable to all sections in the community ever since he came at the helm of the IUML. He had participated in the programmes of the Mujahids and Jamaat-e-Islami, overriding the objections of Samastha. His participation in these programmes was a major bone of contention with Samastha.
The ‘Sunni unity move’ under Thangal is important in another respect too. There is a perception that Samastha president Syed Muhammad Jiffiri Muthukoya Thangal and rival Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar were developing a cozy relationship recently. The IUML has an apprehension that this may lead to a consolidation of Sunnis, which will be against the interest of the party.
Of late, the antagonism between the AP and EK factions of the Sunnis has waned considerably, especially in the context of the continuing IUML-Samastha spat. There is a feeling in the IUML that the polarisation among the Sunnis as envisaged by Jiffiri Thangal and Kanthapuram will be detrimental to the party in the long run. Sadiq Ali Thangal’s initiative for a different kind of Sunni unity assumes importance from this angle.