A week after his remarks about women in the public sphere stirred a storm in Kerala, prominent Muslim cleric A P Aboobacker Musliyar, popularly known as ‘Kanthapuram’, regretted the controversy on Friday and called for restraint from his followers, saying: “Discussions should serve as healthy forums for impartially evaluating ideas and learning new things.”
A day after Eid Milad-un-Nabi was celebrated on August 26, Musliyar had issued a statement to all mosque committees under his organisation Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema – a powerful body of Sunni clerics and scholars – saying: “Islamic celebrations should not cross the confines of religion. All mosque committees, madrasas and other institutions should ensure that such celebrations and programmes are held as per the Islamic norms. Exhibiting women in public places and stages amidst non-related men (that is, men who are not their relatives), and mixing unIslamic ways of celebrations and practices are not fitting for the faithful and undesirable.”
Musliyar repeated the same at a public event later, saying: “What the Quran teaches is that women should remain quietly confined to their homes. If women enter the public arena in this manner, there will be great destruction.” This is why the purdah system had been introduced, he said.
Eid celebrations in Kerala had seen several Muslim women and girls dancing during processions. Before that, during Onam, videos of Muslim women and girls dancing along with others in what is Kerala’s state festival had gone viral. This was despite directives by some clerics against Muslims joining the Onam festivities.
Musliyar’s remarks drew condemnation from Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan, even though Congress ally IUML tried to defend the cleric. Later, the CPI(M) too came out against Musliyar, though he and his faction of Samastha are seen as backing the party in the state.
CPI(M) state committee member P K Sainaba, who hails from Muslim-dominated Malappuram district, said the community had changed when it came to girls and women. “Even as they hold their faith dear, they are liberal in their thoughts and want to lead a social life… When I joined the CPI(M) in the 1980s, I faced protests from the community. Now, nobody will hold such a protest. All political parties, particularly the IUML, want to field women for elections,” she said.
Speaking about the wife of the Prophet, Sainaba added: “If Aisha could lead troops, why can’t the Aishas of today not be allowed to enjoy the freedom and rights enshrined in the Constitution?”
Advocate Noorbeena Rasheed, one of the seniormost women leaders in the IUML, said her party should not remain silent or ambiguous on changing notions of women’s empowerment. “The party should spell out how women can participate in public and political life while remaining rooted in Islamic values. In the 1990s, we had worked hard to bring Muslim women to public space. Our aim was to bring them into the mainstream of politics, overcoming the various restrictions imposed by their families and society… They were told to shape their public life, personal life and family while firmly upholding Islamic values,” Rasheed said, adding that these questions coming up now “make me uneasy”.
The IUML, which has been fielding women for local polls, nominated a Muslim woman during this year’s Assembly elections. Fathima Thahilya became the first-ever Muslim legislator of the party, winning from the CPI(M) stronghold of Perambra in Kozhikode against the formidable T P Ramakrishnan, the state convener of the LDF.
In his statement Friday, Musaliyar said: “We have to realise the vested interests of those who are trying to divert spiritual discussions into controversies. Such malicious intentions that want to upend the pursuit of knowledge should be approached with vigilance. Workers should not succumb to any form of provocation… The tradition of Sunni believers has always been to confront every form of evil with goodness.’’
Who is ‘Kanthapuram’
The stature of the 94-year-old A P Aboobacker Musliyar can be gauged from the fact that, in 2019, the general secretary of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema was rendered the title of ‘Grand Mufti’ by a national body of Sunni clerics.
At the same time, Musliyar is known for his orthodox views, especially on gender issues. In 2009, when the Law Commission of the state recommended banning polygamy, one of his reactions was that men should not miss sex during their wives’ menstrual period. He has also taken a stand against co-education and women contesting elections, and said that the minimum age of marriage for Muslim women should be fixed at 16.
The Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidyabhyasa Board, led by Musliyar’s Sunni segment, manages hundreds of madrasas in the state, some of them exclusively for women.
And while he may be conservative when it comes to faith, Musliyar has been open to exploring business opportunities. Markaz Knowledge City, an integrated township in Kozhikode, is one of his flagship ventures, which includes a mosque, unani medical college, business school, apartment complexes, nursing college, four-star category hotel and souk, among other facilities.
While Musliyar is the chairman of the Knowledge City, his son Muhammed Abdul Hakkim is the managing director. The township attracts hordes of visitors, mainly followers of the cleric.
On the political front, Musliyar has openly backed the CPI(M). During this year’s Assembly elections, the party banked heavily on Sunni Muslims under his leadership to make inroads into the community, mainly in North Kerala.
Musliyar was caught in another controversy early this year when, after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Assembly elections, he said that Muslims in India were not facing any major difficulties.
In 2025, Musliyar claimed that his intervention had helped postpone the execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who has been facing the death sentence in the murder of a Yemeni citizen. He then claimed to have used his rapport with Yemeni Sufi scholars; the Centre did not officially attest his claim.
The stature of the 94-year-old A P Aboobacker Musliyar can be gauged from the fact that, in 2019, the general secretary of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema was rendered the title of ‘Grand Mufti’ by a national body of Sunni clerics. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) 
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