Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis)

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama of A. P. Sunnis, also known as Samastha, is a Sunni-Shafi'i Muslim scholarly body in Kerala. The council administers Shafi'ite mosques, institutes of higher religious learning (the equivalent of north Indian madrasas) and madrasas (institutions where children receive basic Islamic education) in India. There are two organisations known as Samastha, one named after E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar and the other after Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, both of which emerged in 1989, due to organisational disagreement in Samastha.

Samastha of AP Sunnis claims to be the real Samastha. AP and EK Sunnis have had dispute over the control of some mosques and madrasas in Malabar. EK Sunnis have had supported IUML whereas AP Sunnis have had supported LDF and CPM. There have been talks for rapprochement between these two Sunni groups. As of 26 June 2023 there are around 10435 madrasas in India under Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis).

Similar to EK Sunnis, a forty-member council also known as the 'mushawara' functions a high command body of AP Sunnis. As of December 2023 the council includes general secretary Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar; president E. Sulaiman Musliar; vice president Syed Attakoya Thangal; treasurer Kottur Kunjammu Musliyar secretaries Sayyid Ibraheem Khaleel Al Bukhari, Ponmala Abdul Khadir Musliar and Perod Abdurahman Saqafi; vice presidents Syyid Ali Bafaqi Thangal, P. A. Aidrus Muslyar Kollam and K. S. Attakoya Thangal Kumbol.

Formation of Samastha
Samastha was founded with an aim to fight "deviant sects", including Wahhabis and Salafis, in 1926 by people including Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal, Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar and Muhammad Abdul Bari Musliyar at a meeting in Kozhikode Town Hall. Later in 1934 Samastha got registered. Sunni scholars formed the organisation in response to—the reformist movement began in the 1920s that formed Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam (1922–1934) driven by Vakkom Moulavi, Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (established 1924) and KNM (founded 1950). Mujahids derived from the Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam. Since the 1920s though several organisations have involved in debates, Sunnis and Mujahids had most frequent debates between them.

Population makeup
Traditionally Muslims of Kerala are Sunnis, predominantly Shafi'is where around two-thirds of the Muslim population is AP and EK Sunnis, respective Samasthas of which emerged in 1989 due to disagreement in Samastha. The reformist Mujahids, belonging to the Salafi movement, make up around 10 percent of the total Muslim population of Kerala. Though there is presence of groups like Tabligi Jamaat and Jamaate Islami, by far biggest groupings are Sunnis and Mujahids.

Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of AP Sunnis), Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (of EK Sunnis), Dakshina Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama and Kerala Samsthna Jem-iyyathul Ulama are different factions of Sunnis in Kerala, while Dakshina Kerala Je-iyyathul Ulama is the dominant group in the southern part of the state.

Ideological difference
Samastha began in 1926 to counter the Vakkam Moulavi's Aikya Sangam—the precursor of KNM and the wider Mujahid movement. Only traditionalist Sunnis are called Sunnis in Kerala in contrast to the reformist ones. The four different factions of Sunnis in Kerala have "almost the same ideology and beliefs". Haris Madani, a young scholar belonging to AP Sunnis, in 2022, said the difference between AP and EK Sunnis is purely organisational whereas Husain Madavoor, a Mujahid leader, considers fiqh to be irrelevant.

Flag
According to AP Sunnis, Samastha for the first time adopted the Samastha's flag on 29 December 1963, at a meeting of Samastha held at the Thalankara Malik Dinar Valiya Jumuath Mosque in Kasaragod. The flag was adopted with minor modification including the removal of the script from the flag that was then in use by the All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama.

Change of name
Kanthapuram, a leader of AP Sunnis says Sunnis formed an organisation to counter the religious reformists with the name Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama. But the reformist people had registered the same name. So Sunnis had to add the term "Samastha" to the name of the organisation at the conference held at Kozhikode Town Hall on 26 June 1926.

Presently Mujahids have an organisation named Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama founded in 1924.

Reorganisation
Kanthapuram further says Samastha was reorganised and went ahead with the interests at the time of its formation when there were attempts to join with the reformists and deviate in Samastha around 1989.

Success
Kanthapuram explains people unitedly supported Samastha after its formation. He also says after the reorganisation in 1989, the Samastha went ahead with strong force, with all policies and ideologies of Samastha all over India and outside.

Subsidiaries
Samastha of AP Sunnis have several subsidiaries. They are:
 * Kerala Muslim Jama'ath
 * Sunni Management Association (SMA)
 * Educational board
 * Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidhyabhyasa Board
 * Islamic Educational Board of India (IEBI)
 * Madrasa teachers' association – Samastha Kerala Sunni Jam-iyyathul Muallimeen (SKSJM) or shortly, Sunni Jam-iyyathul Muallimeen (SJM)
 * Youth wing – Samastha Kerala Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS)
 * Student wing – Sunni Students Federation (SSF)
 * Jamiathul Hind

Organisations

 * Scholarly bodies
 * Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama
 * All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama
 * Children's wing
 * Sunni Bala Sangham (SBS)

Periodicals

 * Siraj
 * Risala
 * Sunni Voice
 * Kusumam
 * Sunnath

Notable institutions

 * Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya
 * Markaz Knowledge City
 * Ma'din Academy