Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad (Born as ''A. P. Aboobacker'' at ''Kanthapuram'' on 22 March 1931) is the

Grand Mufti of India The Grand Mufti of India is the most senior and influential religious authority of the Barelvi Muslim Community of India. The incumbent is Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, general secretary of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, who was conferred the ti ...

and also the Social Worker. He is also the Chancellor of the Jamia Markaz, Chairman of the

Siraj Daily Siraj (Malayalam: സിറാജ് ദിനപത്രം, Arabic: جريدة السراج اليومية), a daily newspaper in Malayalam language, RNI , Reg. No.KERMAL/2013/53722 , Name: SIRAJ , Publication City:KOCHI , Link: http://r ...

and General Secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, (the Indian Muslim Scholars Association).

Grand Mufti of India

Musliyar was chosen as the

by the All India Tanzeem Ulamae Islam in a programme conducted at

Ramlila Maidan Ramlila Maidan also Ramlila Ground is a large ground located in New Delhi, India, traditionally used for staging the annual Ramlila. It is used for religious festivals, major political rallies and meetings, and entertainment events. It is locat ...

after the death of Grand Mufti

Akhtar Raza Khan Muhammad Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari (23 November 1943 – 20 July 2018), also known as Tajush Shari'ah or Azhari Miya, was an Indian Barelvi Muslim scholar, cleric and mufti. He was the great grandson of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi who was considered t ...

, following an illness on 20 July 2018. After his election conducted several receptions in various countries including UAE,

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

especially at his birthplace in India,

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second ...

. Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Sri P. Sreeramakrishnan, Kerala Minister TP Ramakrishnan, Karnataka Ministers UT Khader and Rahim Khan, and A Pradeepkumar member of 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly, Kerala Haj Committee chairman C Mohammed Faizi, Tamil Nadu Haj Committee chairman Haji Abdul Jabbar, Mayor of Kozhikode Thottathil Raveendran, Zamorin K.C. Unniyanujan Raja and Dr MGS Narayanan, politicians, religious and cultural leaders including from other Indian states participated in the civil reception. In the function, Minister T. P. Ramakrishnan expressed appreciations to the Grand Mufti for the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decisio ...

. You have got a golden visa for 10 years from the Dubai government, you are the first Muslim in India to get this honor.

Peace and interfaith dialogue work

Musliyar has conducted and attended many national and international conferences for peace and interfaith dialogue. He is the Chairman of the Sheikh Zayed International Peace Conference and was one of the speakers at the First World Tolerance Summit, conducted by the International Institute for Tolerance Dubai, UAE. The tagline of the second Sheikh Zayed International Peace Conference was "Renaissance of the World Through Peace". In 2019 he attended Global Conference of Human Fraternity and met with

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

, head of the Catholic Church. In 2014 he launched a campaign to plant 100,000 trees throughout India as part of preparations for the Sheikh Zayed International Peace Conference, held in New Delhi.

Educational revivalist

Musliyar educated several scholars from different parts of India. He is involved with Markaz Knowledge City, Unani Medical College, and with higher education and research. He said in an interview with

Khaleej Times ''Khaleej Times'' is a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched on 16 April 1978, ''Khaleej Times'' is the UAE's longest-running English daily newspaper. History and profile A partnership between the U ...

that the "Education is key to peace".

Views

Musliyar has condemned

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic un ...

. He says that "Militant groups such as the Islamic State (IS) are trying to defame a religion that advocates peace and tolerance." In November 2015, he commented on gender equality, saying: "Gender equality is something which is never going to be a reality. It is against Islam, humanity and was intellectually wrong." He said, “only woman can give birth.” But some media misquoted him as saying women are capable only of childbirth.

Fatwa against ISIS

Musliyar was the first to issue a

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...

against ISIS. Musliyar issued his ''Fatwa on ISIS'' on 27 August 2014 CE. This is the first

—a nonbinding legal opinion in

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

—issued against

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

according to Ashwani Kumar writing in ''

''. The document, a copy of which is held in the United Arab Emirates National Archives, was a commission to all

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Jamiyyathul

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

to raise awareness against terrorism. At the time of the fatwa, Abubakr did not hold the title of

Grand Mufti The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...

since his election to the office came on 24 February 2019. He has also issued fatwas a second time against ISIS and against other terrorist groups.

On CAB and CAA

Musliyar opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill and

Citizenship Amendment Act The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Banglade ...

, and he organised and attended in many protests against the act. He did not support the hartal was organised by

SDPI The Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is an Indian political party which was founded on 21 June 2009 in New Delhi. The party is considered the political wing of the banned Islamic organization Popular Front of India (PF ...

and said the hartal is needless. He visited the family members of protesters killed in police firing at

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

to express his condolences.

On Babri Masjid Verdict

Musliyar appealed to the ''Islamic Community of India'' to welcome the Supreme Court verdict in the Babri Masjid dispute case before the verdict and accepted after. He said "We respect the Supreme Court. Everyone must strive for peace in India. The victory or defeat over the Babri Masjid incident may be significant to every party, but the protection of India and its sovereignty is much more important." "Babri Masjid is a place of worship for Muslims, but equally important is that all people live peacefully in India."

Organisations

In the late 1980 Musliyar was a leader of the Samastha Kerala Jamiat-ul-Ulema together with E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar but due to personality differences chose to split off a group which came to be known as the ''AP Faction''; the residual group becoming referred to as the ''EK Faction''. Both factions, which are pre-dominately based in Kerela, have set up a set of broadly parallel organisations at both All India and state level, with Musliyar dominant in those of the AP Faction. In January 2018 committees were formed to re-unite the factions with the objective of re-uniting the groups to achieve an improved political influence,. there has been no merger. At the time of his assumption of the title of Grand Mufti of India in February 2019 he was variously described as general secretary of the All-India Muslim Scholars Association for over 25 years, and as general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama.

Honours, awards and international recognition

* Islamic Heritage Award for his service in the protection of Islamic culture and heritage from the Institute of Islamic Heritage, based in the

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. The award was given by the then Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Vayalar Ravi in January 2008. * Jewels of World Muslim Biz Award by OIC Today in 2016 from then Malaysian Finance Minister,

Johari Abdul Ghani Johari may refer to: * ''Johari'' (film), a 2006 Tanzanian film * Johari dialect, a dialect of the Kumaoni language of India *Johari window, in interpersonal communication and relationships People with the name * Azizi Johari (born 1948), Americ ...

. * Ras Al Khaimah Islamic Academy Award for the best Social Worker in 1992. * Indian Islamic Centre Award for outstanding services in the field of Education and Social Services. * Hamil Al Gaith International Holy Quran Award in 2005. * Best Indo-Arab Personality Award in 2006. * He has consecutively been ranked for many years as an influential

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

from

The 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

published by the

Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre is a research centre affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Its publications include: *'' A Common Word Between Us and You'' *'' The Amman Message'' *''Forty Hadith on Divin ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

Works

Works by Musliyar include: * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abubakr, Sheikh Grand Muftis of India People in interfaith dialogue Indian imams Indian Sufis Indian spiritual teachers Islamic religious leaders People from Kozhikode district Living people Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam 1931 births Islam in Kerala Markaz Islam in India Leaders of Undivided Samastha Leaders of Samastha (AP Faction) Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar