Who Is Kanthapuram, The 95-Year-Old Cleric Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim Met?

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met India’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, also known as Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar, at the Markazu Saquafathi Sunniya in Calicut on Sunday after arriving in Kerala. According to Malaysian state media, the meeting focused on community development, education empowerment, mutual understanding and harmony between religions.

The meeting attracted attention because it came amid a controversy over the 95-year-old Kerala cleric’s recent remarks on women. Anwar had already said he does not agree with all of Kanthapuram’s views, while describing him as a traditional Islamic scholar who also runs a college for women.

Speaking about the issue, Anwar said that if asked about women’s rights in Malaysia, he would make clear that women have equal rights. He also pointed to the opportunities available to women in Malaysian universities and his own family.

Kanthapuram is a prominent Sunni Islamic scholar and spiritual leader from Kozhikode. He is the general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama and a senior leader of the Kanthapuram faction of Samastha Kerala Jemiyyathul Ulama. He is closely associated with Markaz, a major religious and educational organisation in Kerala.

The controversy began after a Samastha circular asked mahal committees, mosques, madrasas and other institutions to ensure that young women were not “displayed” before unrelated men on public roads and stages. Kanthapuram subsequently made remarks suggesting that women should remain at home, triggering criticism from Muslim women and political leaders.

Kerala CM V D Satheesan criticised the position as reflecting a 19th century mindset. Supporters of Kanthapuram and other Muslim organisations, however, defended him and criticised the political backlash.

Kanthapuram later said Islam does not “bury” women and pointed to educational institutions run by his organisation for girls and women. On Sunday, however, he reaffirmed that the religious decrees of Samastha Kerala Jemiyyathul Ulama cannot be changed or corrected for any individual or political party.

The cleric has courted controversy before. In 2012, he claimed to have obtained a strand of Prophet Muhammad’s hair that would be preserved at a mosque. The claim faced opposition from several Islamic groups and seminaries. He later claimed the preserved strand had grown by a centimetre and made claims concerning water at the Markaz Knowledge City mosque.

Anwar’s visit was his second to the Markaz campus. He visited in September 2022, before becoming Malaysia’s prime minister. In 2023, Malaysia conferred its Hijra Award, its highest honour for Islamic scholars, on Kanthapuram.

During Sunday’s programme, Anwar attended a reception at the Markaz Convention Centre and a dinner hosted by Kanthapuram. He received the first Excellence Award instituted by the Sheikh Aboobacker Foundation, presented by the cleric, and visited the C M Valiyaullahi Maqam at Madavoor.

More than 800 police personnel were deployed for the visit, while traffic restrictions were imposed in Kozhikode.

The Kerala visit came during Anwar’s wider India engagements. He met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over breakfast in Delhi on Sunday and held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. Their discussions covered areas including defence, semiconductors, critical minerals, clean energy, infrastructure and talent mobility.