Established in 1969, the Calicut-based Itehadul Shiban lil Muslimeen(ISM) is the youth wing of the Kerala Nadwath ul-Mujahin (KNM), aleading Kerala-based Islamic reformist movement. Since its inception,the ISM has played a crucial role in promoting Islamic awareness aswell as social, educational and economic development among the Muslimsof Kerala, who form around a quarter of the state's population. It hassome 600 units all over Kerala as well around 20 'Indian IslahiCentres', in various Gulf states, where Malayali Muslims, or Mapillasas they are commonly known, live in substantial numbers. It has over15,000 active members, aged between 15 and 40, and the number of itssympathizers runs into tens of thousands. A large number of ISM'smembers are government school Arabic teachers, Kerala being the onlystate in India where Arabic is taught in public schools. Businessmen,journalists, doctors, engineers, college lecturers and ulema comprisemost of the rest of the ISM's membership.The ISM's sphere of activities is wide, not being limited to Islamicpreaching alone, explains ISM President Mujeeb ur-Rahman Kinalur. Some500 part-time Quranic Learning Schools function under its aegis allover Kerala. The ISM's preaching wing, 'The Truth', promotesinter-faith dialogue and Islamic missionary work. Its Unity FamilyCell provides pre- and post-marital counseling to married couples andconducts mass, dowry-free marriages for the poor. Its Programme onEducation and Career Enhancement provides counseling by trainedresource persons to students about higher studies and job prospects.Its Yuvatha Book House is one of the largest Islamic publishing housesin Kerala. Its Academy of Studies and Research conducts studies andconferences on issues related to Islam, Muslims and inter-communityrelations in Kerala. Its weekly newspaper, Shabab, has a circulationof some 50,000, making it one of the largest Muslim papers in thestate. Besides articles on Islam, it provides news about communitydevelopment initiatives, scholarships, job and higher educationopportunities and government schemes. Podava, the ISM's monthlywomen's magazine, has a circulation of more than 10,000 and among itsregular contributors are Hindu and Christian women. Two medicalassistance centres in Calicut and the roughly 200 Pain and PalliativeClinics that the ISM runs in various parts of north Kerala benefitseveral thousand patients, Muslims, as well as others, every day. ItsSocial Welfare wing builds houses for the poor, provides relief attimes of natural disasters and grants some 500 scholarships to poorstudents every year. The ISM's Gulf Cell conducts a Malayaliconference in some Gulf state or the other every year, bringingtogether Malayali Hindus, Muslims and Christians to celebrate andinteract. Interestingly, almost all these many activities of the ISMare undertaken by volunteers.'In short', says ISM President, 35-year old Mujeeb ur-Rahman Kinalur,'we are trying to relate Islam to our daily lives, enabling us to liveas members of a very plural society. Promoting social justice andinter-community solidarity is one of our man tasks, and this isreflected in our understanding of Islam and in the work we do'. 'Ourservices are not restricted to Muslims alone', he says. 'Instead, weseek to reach out to others as well'. Kinalur explains that this urgestems 'from a realization of one's duty to other human beings,irrespective of their religion'. 'Such an attitude', he adds, 'alsohelps Muslims live harmoniously along with others in a multi-religioussociety'. 'So, for instance', he explains, 'many Hindus come to ourclinics for treatment. This is just a humanitarian task, not amissionary strategy. But through our service we establish close bondswith people of other communities and that helps them see Islam inpractice. Islam cannot just be preached through words or writingalone'.The ISM's state council meets every six months to chalk out plans foractivities throughout Kerala. District, zonal and local units thenformulate activities accordingly. 'This year', says Kinalur, 'wedecided to launch a mass campaign against communalism and extremism,both Hindu as well as Muslim, that threaten the multi-cultural fabricof Kerala'. 'We held literally hundreds of seminars and publicmeetings throughout the state, where our workers as well as Christianand Hindu social activists and leaders from various political parties,spoke against communalism and stressed the need for inter-communitysolidarity. Not just Muslims, but others, too, attended these meetingsin large numbers', Kinalur relates. 'Hindu and Muslim extremism feedon each other. Today in Kerala these forces are raising their headsand we need a joint struggle against them and cannot afford to remaincomplacent', he explains.Another major concern of the ISM is the struggle against Westernimperialism. 'True religion and genuine spirituality cannot co-existwith the sort of hegemony that the West, in particular the UnitedStates, seeks to impose on the rest of the world', Kinalur says. ThisJanuary, the ISM joined hands with various leftist groups to organizemass rallies throughout Kerala against George Bush and Americanimperialism, in which thousands participated. 'Our opposition toWestern imperialism goes beyond what the West is doing in Iraq,Afghanistan and other Muslim countries. We are fundamentally opposedto Western economic hegemony, the nexus between the Indian rulingclasses and the West, and the agenda of so-called globalization, whichis naked and crass capitalism and consumerism, which only benefits therich and further impoverishes the poor', Kinalur says.Kinalur was elected President of the ISM this January. He tells meabout some of the plans that he has for the organization in theimmediate future. 'We want to organize seminars on the Kerala Muslimmodel so that Muslims in other parts of India can learn from ourexample. We want to translate some of the works of leading KeralaMuslim reformists into Urdu and English so as to make other Muslimsfamiliar with reformist trends in our part of the country', he says.'We also plan to launch regular discussion programmes in our units towhich we would invite community activists, politicians and writers,irrespective of religion, to discuss issues of contemporary socialconcern'.'Islam, as we understand it', Kinalur tells me as we conclude ourmeeting, 'means being constructively engaged in society, working forgeneral welfare, especially of the poor, irrespective of religion, andthis we are trying to do in our own humble way'.
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