SAMASTHA: RESPONDING TO CHANGING TIMES

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Kerala Iwas going through deep social and intellectual change.

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New ideas were entering public life, education was expanding, and religious traditions were being questioned in unfamiliar ways. For many ordinary people, this period brought uncertainty along with opportunity.

It was in this climate that a group of farsighted Islamic scholars came together with a shared concern. They wanted to protect authentic religious knowledge, strengthen moral values and guide society without confrontation. Their response was not protest or politics, but the formation of a scholarly body rooted in tradition, balance and service. This was the beginning of Samastha Kerala Jam'iyyathul Ulama. From the outset, Samastha was not built around individual authority or personal ambition. It was shaped as a collective platform where religion remained connected to everyday life, offering guidance with wisdom and compassion.

Samastha Kerala Jam'iyyathul Ulama formally came into existence on 26 June 1926. It was founded by respected scholars such as Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal, Pangil Ahmed Kutty Musliyar, Muhammad Abdul Bari Musliyar and P V Muhammad Musliyar. Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal served as the first president, while the others played key roles in building the organisation's foundations. Kozhikode, known for its rich cultural and intellectual history, became the birthplace of this movement. Samastha was officially registered on 14 November 1934, following the approval of its constitution.

At a time when modernist and reformist movements were challenging long-established religious practices, Samastha sought to preserve traditional Islamic beliefs rooted in centuries of scholarship. It aligned itself firmly with the path of Ahlussunnathi Wal Jamaath (ASWJ) and the Shafi'i school of Islamic law, while protecting the Sufi heritage long followed in Kerala.