Jamia Nooriyya expels Samastha Mushawara scholar

Jamia Nooriyya expels Asgar Ali Faizy, sparking tensions with IUML over ideological differences and leadership criticisms.

Jamia Nooriyya Islamiyya, Pattikkad, the most prominent learning centre of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, has expelled veteran scholar and Samastha Mushawara member Asgar Ali Faizy from its campus.

Though Jamia Nooriyya is widely considered the most significant flagship institution under the Samastha, its administration is in the hands of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), with Muslim League State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal being its president.

Although Jamia Nooriyya said it expelled Asgar Ali Faizy for supporting Tabligi ideals and his alleged association with one of his students who later became Mujahid, the expulsion is widely viewed as a retaliative act by the IUML for his veiled criticism against Syed Sadikali Thangal.

The IUML had multiple reasons to act against Mr. Faizy, one of the most vocal supporters of Samastha president Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal and an opponent of liberal views being promoted by a section opposing Syed Jifri Thangal.

The IUML was unhappy when the Samastha suspended Mustafal Faizy from the Mushawara for praising the Muslim League and its leaders. The Samastha had also acted against Ziyauddin Faizy, a teacher at Jamia Nooriyya, after he was found to have been extolling Mujahid ideals. Both those actions by the Samastha did not go well with the IUML at a time when a rift between the two organisations was widening.

Senior Samastha leaders have maintained a cautious silence on the expulsion of Mr. Faizy, in spite of tacitly acknowledging it as a major blow to the Samastha’s influence.