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Socially-Engaged Islam: A View from Kerala

Yoginder Sikand

Unlike much of the rest of India, Islamic organizations in Kerala are heavilyinvolved in various forms social activism, not limiting themselves simply toreligious education and preaching orto petitioning the government forsops. This is one of the majorreasons for the remarkable social,economic and educational progress

that Keralas Muslims, who accountfor around a fourth of the statespopulation, have witnessed in recentdecades. Among the major Islamicmovements in Kerala is the Jamaat-eIslami(JI). The Kerala JIsheadquarters are located at the HiraCentre, an imposing multi-storeybuilding in the heart of Calicut (Kozhikode), a town which, for centuries, has beena major Muslim centre. Enter the building and the stark contrast with north Indian

Muslim organizationseven with the JIs units in the northis immediatelyevident. The building is sparkling clean and well-maintained, and it has separateoffices for its different wings, which are a staffed by team of profess`sionallyqualified activists (and not just maulanas).

The Dialogue Centre is one of the Kerala JIs major initiatives. Set up six yearsago, it aims at promoting inter-community dialogue and understanding. SaysShaikh Muhammad Karakunnu, its Director, In recent years in Kerala,particularly after 9/11, there has been a sudden surge in debates about Islammostly negative thoughand so w e felt it important to reach out to Hindus,

Christians and others in the state toaddress their misunderstandings aboutour faith. The Dialogue Centre seeks todo that by publishing literature and byorganizing periodic seminars and publicconventions, to which we also inviteHindu and Christian religious leaders aswell as Marxists. We dialogue in afriendly way, not in the old-fashioned

polemical manner, and do not limitourselves simply to religious issues but

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also take up matters of common social concern, on which people of differentfaiths can work together.

Dharma Dhara is the Kerala JIs communications division. So far, it hasproduced some 50 CDs in Malayalam, mainly about Islam, but also on socialissues and struggles for justice for marginalized groups. One of its most recentproductions is a digitalized edition in Malayalam of Syed Abul Ala Maududisvoluminous commentary on the Quran, Tahfim ul-Quran. It has also producedtapes and CDs containing Islamically- inspired feature films, dramas and songs,some by non-Muslim singers and actors, something quite inconceivable in theUrdu-Hindi belt.

Through its Jana Sevanam wing the Kerala JI engages in small economicdevelopment projects for the poor and assisting people affected by naturalcalamities. In the wake of the deadly Tsunami which struck coastal India someyears ago, it collected and disbursed more than three crore rupees to victims inKerala and the Andaman Islands. Says T.K.Hussain, the head of the programme,Jana Sevanam runs more than 300 small interest-free lending institutions to helppoor families set up small scale industries and for loans for emergencies and foreducation. Taken together, every year then lend out more than five crore rupees,the money being collected from zakat funds and donations or sadqa. Jana

Sevanams Ideal Relief Wing has trained some 500 volunteers, including girls,to help in relief work, and its teams have worked in emergency situations not justin Kerala but in Kashmir, Bihar and Rajasthan as well. Recently, it sponsored therepair of two general wards in the Calicut government hospital. Activistsassociated with Jana Sevanam run six hospitals in Kerala, including a new threehundred-bed super-speciality medical centre, and also provide subsidizedmedical treatment, including to poor non-Muslim patients, through theAssociation of Ideal Medical Services, a network of Muslim and non-Muslimdoctors in the state.

Across Kerala JI activists run some 150 regular schools (under the Banner ofMajlis Thaleem Al Islami - composer),mostly from kindergarten to thetwelfth standard and affiliated to theCentral Boar d of SecondaryEducation, in addition to some 200part-time madrasas and a dozen orso Arabic Colleges for higher Islamiclearning.

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Established in 2003, Solidarity Youth Movement is an organization led by youthactivists of the Kerala JI. It has been involved in generating mass awareness on

a range of social issues as well as leading and participating in social movementsagainst anti-people government policies, fascism, imperialism, terrorism andenvironmental degradation. Says Solidaritys Public Relations SecretaryK.K.Basheer, We now have a membership of some 4000, including some twohundred non-Muslims. Most are teachers, businessmen, doctors, but alsofishermen, small farmers and labourers, between the age of 18 and 40. Membersprovide one per cent of their income to Solidaritys bait ul-mal (treasury) to meetour expenses. We work closely with non-Muslim groups in Kerala, particularlyleftists, who are concerned about similar social causes. Some of our activistswork with Adivasis in Wynad, on issues of empowerment, education and drug de-

addiction. Some other activistshelped out with thegovernments AmbedkarHousing Scheme for Dalits.

Weve constructed some 500 houses for thepoor, and plan to build a hundred homes for Adivasis soon. Over the years,Solidarity has organized mass rallies across Kerala, to which it has invited suchnoted social activists as

Medha Patkar, Arundhiti Roy, Sandeep Pandey, Ram Puniyani, Suresh Khairnar,Iftikhar Gilani, Ajit Sahi, Yvonne Ridley, Claude Alvares and Kuldeep Nayyar.

Kerala is very different from north India, Basheer goes on, with evident pride.People here, including Muslims, are much more socially aware and politicallyconscious. The contrast with north Indian Muslims is glaring. But the Solidarity

experiment inKerala

has definitely had an impact on youth associated with theJamaat-e Islami, some of who are now trying to get more socially involved as a

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result, moving beyond issues that are narrowly framed as specifically Islamic orMuslim. But this is not a phenomenon limited just to the JI. As Basheer adds,

Other Muslim groups in Kerala are also, like the Jamaat, increasingly working onsocial, economic and educational empowerment, and for communal harmonyand against terrorism and fascism. These initiatives in Kerala, which,unfortunately, are hardly known elsewhere in India, can provide a powerfulinspiration and example for Muslim activists in the rest of India to learn from.