Undivided Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama
The undivided Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (the Samastha) was the principal Sunni-Shafi'i scholarly body in Kerala. It was organised in the aftermath of the 1921 Mappila Uprising as a response to the growing Salafi Wahabis movement in Kerala. The body witnessed an organisational division. There are two groups with the same name Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama existing now. They are Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK group) and Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (AP group) formed after the split in 1989. Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK group) is headquartered at  Chelari, near the University of Calicut. Sayed Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal is the current President of the Samastha (EK group). K. Ali Kutty Musliyar is the current General Secretary of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK group) A forty-member 'mushawara' is the high command body of both Sunni groups. The administration of Islamic education in Kerala is not managed by Government of Kerala. The two Sunni bodies run thousands of mosques, madrasas (institutions where children receive basic Islamic education) and Arabic Colleges (the equivalent of north Indian madrasas). They run regular Malayalam and English medium arts-and-science and  technology ("professional") colleges also. Ordinary Sunnis of Kerala are largely identified with either the "EK" or the "AP" group. History. Early years. Samastha Kerala Jamiat-ul-Ulema, or the Samastha, was organised in 1926 as a response to the growing Salafi movement in Kerala. A nascent form of the Ulema was formed in Kozhikode in 1925. This was organised by Maulana Pangil Ahmad Kutti Musliyar and Varakkal Ba Alavi Mullakkoya Tangal with K. P. Muhammad Miran Musliyar as the President and Parol Husain Maulavi as the Secretary. The Ulema was formally constituted on 26 June 1926 at Town Hall, Kozhikode . Educational activities. Madrasa in Kerala refers to institution where children receive basic Arabic language and Islamic instruction. As of 2008, the Samastha run over 10,000 Kerala madrasas with around one million students (the Salafi movement-oriented groups run around 500 Kerala madrasas). Around 72,000 teachers are registered with these madrasas. The Samastha also run a chain of Arabic Colleges in Kerala (equivalent of north Indian madrasas). Both the Sunni organisations are running regular Malayalam and English medium arts-and-science and technology ("professional") colleges also. Both groups run educational institutions outside the Kerala state too. Publications. The Samastha is known  for publishing a short-lived Malayalam monthly magazine in the late 1920s. The periodical — known as "al-Bayan" — was first printed in 1929 (Arabic-Malayalam script). The magazine reinvented itself in Malayalam Script for a short period in the 1950s. A. P. and E. K. groups. The two 'traditional' Sunni groups are named after the initials of leading scholars of each group. Both of them were the leading scholars of Samastha Kerala Jamiat-ul-Ulema, until they were divided in 1989 over some differences of opinion. Led by A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar 6 members separated themselves(their argument) from the 40 -member mushawara in 1989, forming a parallel organisation.