Samastha heads for showdown over IUML-backed Waqf meet
Internal divisions within the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama are intensifying due to a planned Waqf-related meeting backed by the Indian Union Muslim League. The event highlights a power struggle between the organization's leadership and factions critical of the UDF government's Waqf policies.
Why it matters
The conflict reflects significant political and religious tensions within Kerala's largest Islamic scholarly body, potentially impacting the influence of the IUML.
Differences within Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama are heading for a showdown, with Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) supporters planning a Waqf meeting at Malappuram on September 11 despite Samastha president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal’s appeal to avoid provocative moves.
The meeting could test the authority of the Samastha leadership and the IUML’s influence within the 100-year-old organisation, the State’s largest body of traditional Islamic scholars.
The organisers said the meeting was aimed at explaining the Waqf policy of the UDF government, in which the IUML holds the Waqf portfolio. IUML national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty is expected to inaugurate it.
Nazar Faizy Koodathai, one of the organisers, said the meeting would be held under the banner of an ‘Organising Committee’, without using the names of Samastha, IUML or any other organisation. The move is seen as an attempt to avoid possible action from the Samastha leadership.
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