Kozhikode: The country’s biggest mosque is about to be built at an expense of around Rs 40 crore in the outskirts of Calicut city. The mosque, expected to accommodate 25,000 people at a time, is being built by Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musalyar’s trust named Markaz, owned by the AP faction of Sunnis in Kerala.
The Markaz claims to have the divine ‘Sha`ar-e-Mubarak’ [literally blessed hair] of Prophet Muhammed [SAW] and they have clarified that the mosque is being built to preserve the holy remains of the Prophet. It will be the second of its type in the country after the Hazrathbal Masjid of Kashmir. The Topkapi Museum in Turkey is another place said to be preserving the holy hair.
Markaz has announced that Abbas Alavi Maliki al Makkah, Ahmed al Khasraji [who handed over the Sha`ar-e-Mubarak], Muhammed Iqbal Jaliyawallah and several other Scholars, Sadaths and Ulema from different corners of the world will be attending the foundation stone laying ceremony on 30th January 2012.
Markaz has owned 12 acres of land in the outskirts of Calicut city, from which a complete four acre will be taken up for building the grand mosque. The remaining 8 acres will turn out to be a Mughal style garden providing rich greenery to the Masjid built in the Indo-Saracenic style. The chief architect of 2.5 lakh square feet mosque is Riyaz Muhammed of Indigo Architects, Thrissur.
The mosque besides being a place to worship has been claimed will become a cultural centre as it is expected to possess a seminar hall, library and facilities to accommodate stay for around 1200 people at a time. The very central part of the Masjid would have a prominent minaret under which the ‘Sha`ar-e-Mubarak’ will be preserved.
There were a lot of controversies regarding the credibility of the ‘holy hair’ as most other religious and service groups with in the community questioned the credibility of the Sha`ar-e-Mubarak handed over to AP Aboobacker Musalyar in a function in the Karanthoor Sunni Markaz, by Mr Dr Ahmed Khasraji [UAE], who claims to have even more blessed remains of the prophet with him.
There were a lot of those hot debates very common to the streets and halls of almost all towns and villages in Kerala; with the Salafi, EK Sunni fractions [the parental organisation of Sunni’s from which AP formed a Sunni fraction on his own accusing them of being inefficient in overcoming the Wahabi tactics] demanding him to publicly announce the exact ‘Sanad’ [the way in which the holy remains were inherited to Mr Ahmed Khasraji].
The enmity between the two fractions got even worse with EK fraction being suspicious regarding the new alleged alliance between Indian Union Muslim league [IUML] and the AP fraction of Sunni’s as until now the Samastha board of EK Sunni’s were believed to be the power house of IUML. They accused AP of being cunning to always extract benefits out of the ruling class as he was earlier said to be favouring the left parties.
With the intension of keeping away these threats the EK Sunni’s had undertook immense efforts to campaign against the Sha`ar-e- Mubarak Masjid, showcasing the AP venture as a mere business tactic and a sought of robbery in the name of fake spirituality. They have even demanded IUML to keep away from any alliance towards the AP fraction as well.
Foreseeing further hate campaigns and in order to boost up his companions to derive maximum participation in building the Masjid, AP Aboobacker Musalyar is now on a ‘Kerala Yathra’ [tour] which until now have turned successful with massive campaigns and participation.
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Article by
Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,
