India: Home to the World's Third Largest Muslim Population

India is the blessed land upon which the father of humanity, Adam (peace be upon him), descended from the celestial heavens. It is a region abundant in diverse lands, languages, and cultures. The trade relations between India and people of various lands, including the Arabs, have been well-known since ancient times. For this reason, the message of Islam reached this land across various coastal regions of India, spanning from the northern to the southern sectors, during the very lifetime of the Master of the Worlds, Muhammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Many mosques constructed during that period still stand tall to this day.

Towards the end of the first century of the Hijri era, Muslims, under the leadership of a youth named Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Thaqafi from the Umayyad Empire, brought the Punjab region of North India under their domain. Later, in the fourth century Hijri, the numerous campaigns of the great ruler Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi (may Allah have mercy on him)—who maintained a profound connection with the Sufis—became a major factor for the message of Islam reaching the northern territories of India. From that point forward, starting with Sultan Muhammad Ghori and continuing through the era of the Delhi Sultans to Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the mighty Mughal dynasty, various Islamic dynasties ruled the great nation of India consecutively for nearly seven centuries. Despite the rule of powerful Muslim monarchs for seven hundred years, the fact that the overwhelming majority of the population remained adherents of other religions indicates that political movements could not claim a significant role in the propagation of Islam in India. In reality, during this period, it was through the world-renowned Sufi saints that holy Islam spread and flourished throughout the length and breadth of India.

Islam propagated peacefully in India through the missionary efforts of tens of thousands of Sufi saints belonging to numerous spiritual orders, including the Qadiriyya, Rifaiyya, Naqshbandiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Shattariyya, Khalwatiyya, Madariyya, Shaduliyya, and Ba’alawiyya, deeply influencing Muslim cultures. The sole reason why earlier deviant factions like the Khawarijiyya, Rafidiyya, Qadariyya, and Jabariyya, as well as later deviant factions like the Najdiyya, Maududiyya, and Deobandiyya, could not gain significant influence was the strong resistance of the Sufis themselves. Even the Sunni scholarly organizations that arose in the modern era for the protection of Islam were founded, stabilized, and strengthened by firm advocates of at least one Sufi order. In short, the heritage of the Indian Muslim is inseparably rooted in Sufism. If anyone rejects this Sufi connection, they are certainly an adherent of some misguided school of thought.

Today, India has become one of the countries with the largest Muslim populations in the world. Although India is considered to rank after Indonesia and Pakistan when relying on politically motivated statistics, the reality is that even more Muslims reside here than that. A correct assessment suggests that 20 percent of the population, or approximately 250 million Muslims, are spread across the current 28 states of India.

The vast majority of Indian Muslims firmly adhere to the traditional Sunni path. While throughout the coastal regions they follow the Ash'ari creed in theology and the Shafi'i madhhab in jurisprudence, in almost all other regions, they lead their lives in accordance with the Maturidi creed in theology and the Hanafi madhhab in jurisprudence. It is under the leadership of the Sufis, who emerged as the Mashayikh of the previously mentioned various Tariqas, that this overwhelming majority of Sunnis still stand today.

While the Sunnis from Kashmir in the north down to Karnataka in the south adopt the ideological methodology of A'la Hazrat Allama Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi (may Allah have mercy on him) to vehemently oppose the Wahhabi-Maududi-Deobandi-Rafidi neo-movements, the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala follow the methodologies of the Sunni scholars who brightly emerged locally. All of them hold the Sufi orders close to their hearts and are their staunch advocates.

However, Wahhabism, Rafidism, Maududism, which is a blend of the former two, and Deobandism, which amalgamates all of these, exist both covertly and overtly in the great nation of India as enemies of the traditional Sunni Sufis. Among these, the most dangerous is Deobandism. Although they may claim to be Ash'aris in theology, Hanafis in jurisprudence, and Qadiri, Chishti, Naqshbandi, or Suhrawardi in spirituality, such claims are merely nominal; their Sunni affiliation is merely a shortcut to lead people towards Wahhabism and anti-Sufism. Many scholars and scholarly organizations that established relations with this group under the misconception that they were traditional Sunnis gradually distanced themselves from their genuine, traditional Sufi orders. They also played a major role in conveying this enmity to the general public through the organizations they lead. Even so, it is the Sunni scholars under the leadership of the Sufi orders who recognized the true colors of such individuals and have continued to provide leadership in protecting genuine Islam.

The Arrival and Growth of the Tijaniyya Tariqa

The holy Tijaniyya Tariqa first arrived in the South Indian state of Kerala—the very land where the message of Islam first gained strength through the venerable Cheraman Perumal (may Allah be pleased with him), who embraced holy Islam in the presence of the Master of the Worlds (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and acquired the title Tajuddin. It was a few youths, leading an expatriate life in search of a livelihood in the Arabian lands, who brought this great Tariqa to India. The late Sidi Muhammad al-Amin ibn Abdur-Rashid Ravuthar al-Barumi (may Allah have mercy on him), who resided in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, was the first Tijani in India. It was from Shaykh Yaqub ibn Ahmad Sanusi (may Allah have mercy on him), who was serving as an Imam at a mosque near Karama Park in Dubai, that he received the Tariqa between 1998 and 1999. However, at that time, he did not have any significant knowledge regarding the primary details, fundamental conditions, or etiquettes of the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa.

After a short period, an individual named Muhammad Yaseen, a native of Kattampally in Kannur district, pledged allegiance (Bay'ah) to the Tijaniyya Tariqa at the hands of the world-renowned Tijaniyya Muqaddam of Mecca, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Jakkani (may Allah be pleased with him). Upon receiving the Ijazah of Taqdim from the same great figure, the individual named Muhammad Yaseen became the first Muqaddam in Kerala. Through him, who had returned to his homeland, a group of people entered the holy Tijaniyya. Later, the late Shaykh Mahmud ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Fartawi (may Allah have mercy on him), also from Kannur district, joined this great Tariqa, and with him receiving the Ijazah of Taqdim, a large group entered the Tijaniyya Tariqa.

However, within a short period, the man who was the first Muqaddam, Muhammad Yaseen, deviated from the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa and became a fierce opponent of this great path. Furthermore, relying on him, the scholarly organization led by a person named Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Ahmad—which is one of the four scholarly organizations in Kerala—officially issued a Fatwa against the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa. Consequently, the majority of the factions who had received the Tariqa from him abandoned it. Nevertheless, under the leadership of Shaykh Mahmud al-Fartawi, the Tijanis reorganized. They moved forward with whatever service activities they could manage. Shaykh Mahmud al-Fartawi (may Allah have mercy on him) authored an Arabic work titled As-Sahmul Mursal, in which he provided replies to the allegations raised against the holy Tijaniyya. This book was indeed a major endeavor in the history of the Tijaniyya in Kerala.

Even though things were like this, the early Tijanis in Kerala remained inattentive even to the foundational conditions of the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa. Many breaches of etiquette that would expel one from the Tariqa used to occur from their side. The reason for this was the absence of Muqaddams who could accurately evaluate matters and who had studied the Tariqa from authentic sources.

Yet, by the immense grace of Allah, Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem, the younger brother of the first Tijani, the late Sidi Muhammad al-Amin, embraced the holy Tijaniyya in his seventeenth year of age. It was from the aforementioned first Muqaddam—who later turned into an opponent of the Tariqa—the individual named Muhammad Yaseen, that he first received the Tariqa. When he became an adversary of the Tariqa, Muhammad Yaseen demanded that Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem abandon the Tariqa, but he was not ready to do so. Instead, through the vast world of the internet, which had become active during that period, Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem began searching for the great saints in Morocco, the center of the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa. Thus, he established a connection with the greatest Tijaniyya scholar and servant of this era, Al-Muhaqqiq al-Kabir Sayyidi Sharif Muhammad Radi Gannun al-Idrisi al-Hasani (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem's relationship with Ustad Sharif Muhammad Radi Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him) became the reason for the authentic form of the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa to reach Kerala. Ustad Sharif Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him) precisely began to explain all matters related to the Tariqa. Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem and those with him began implementing all of them. The book Nur al-Siraj, authored by Suyutuz-Zaman Qadi Ahmad Sukairij al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him)—one of the sun-like scholars of the holy Tijaniyya—had been published along with the validating annotations of Ustad Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him); the honorable master advised Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem to translate it into Malayalam. In reality, it was this book that became the cause for firmly establishing the complete and perfect form of the holy Tijaniyya in Kerala.

Yaseen Kattampally, who received Taqdim from the venerable Allama Muhammad al-Hasan al-Jakkani (may Allah be pleased with him) and later degenerated into a critic of the Tariqa, had never moved on the path of that great master. Both he and the other Muqaddams who were with him at that time did not establish connections with the scholarly saints of Morocco, and instead went in search of certain other individuals who paid no attention to the conditions and Awrad (litanies) of the Tariqa. These individuals, in turn, were accustomed to committing severe errors and various forms of Ziyarah (visitation) that are prohibited in the Tariqa. Naturally, through them, severe errors took deep root among the adherents of the Tijaniyya Tariqa in Kerala, to the extent that they could no longer comprehend its authentic form.

It was while translating the book Nur al-Siraj, authored by Allama Qadi Ahmad Sukairij (may Allah be pleased with him) and published with validating annotations by Al-Ustad Muhammad Radi Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him), into Malayalam upon the great master's command, that Sidi Abdul Aleem realized that the Fuqara who claimed affiliation with the Tijaniyya Tariqa until then were committing grave errors that would expel them from the Tariqa, and particularly that they were extensively practicing the prohibited Ziyarah. Consequently, he informed Ustad Sharif Muhammad Radi Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him) of the gravity of the matter. Following this, Ustad Muhammad Radi Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him) commanded Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem to warn all Tijanis about such errors, advise them never to return to these errors, and proclaim that permission to renew the Tariqa would be granted only to those willing to do so. Thus, although Sidi Abdul Aleem conveyed this message to all those maintaining a connection to the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa, only about forty individuals were prepared to abandon their errors and adopt the authentic form of the holy Tijaniyya Tariqa. As a result, a group of genuine Tijanis who strictly adhere to the conditions of the holy Tijaniyya came into existence in Kerala.

Zawiyatul Fatih al-Tijaniyya: The First Tijaniyya Zawiya in India

To organize the activities of their Tariqa in a systematic manner, these forty or so Tijani Fuqara, under the leadership of Sidi Muhammad Abdul Aleem, set up a temporary Zawiya with the permission of Ustad Sharif Sayyidi Muhammad Radi Gannun (may Allah be pleased with him). For this purpose, they rented a large portion of the second floor of a building in Poovattuparamba in Kozhikode district, where they prepared one room for worship, another for educational purposes, and a third to accommodate Fuqara arriving from distant places. For approximately a year, the operations of the Zawiya were conducted in this temporary location. However, considering the lack of favorable conditions, this temporary Zawiya was relocated to an old house situated in the Chaliyam area of Kozhikode district. The house was owned by the father of one of the Tijani Fuqara, Sidi Rahmatullah. Chaliyam is a land with centuries of Islamic heritage, where Islam arrived during the very early period of the Hijri era. One of the earliest mosques constructed in India is located here. Furthermore, this house is situated near the Maqam of Abus-Sa'adat Allama Ahmad Koya Shaliyathi (may Allah be pleased with him), one of the greatest scholars Kerala has ever seen. It is noteworthy that Allama Shaliyathi (may Allah be pleased with him) had relied upon Rimah, one of the renowned texts of the holy Tijaniyya, in his collection of Fatwas.

Although it was a location easily accessible to Tijani brethren from various regions of Kerala, the house lacked a sufficiently spacious room for the growing number of Fuqara to perform their worship. Thus, they decided to renovate the western part of the house and prepare a large, expansive room capable of accommodating about a hundred people for prayer.

On Sunday morning, 28th Dhul Hijjah 1439 / 9th September 2018, the foundation stone laying ceremony for the said room took place under the leadership of Sayyidi Sharif Yahya Ba 'Abud. Emulating the example of Sayyiduna Shaykh Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him) in the construction of the Zawiya, the work progressed slowly by accepting the small contributions of financially disadvantaged Tijani brethren. Realizing that this was the construction for the first Zawiya of the holy Tijaniyya in India, some Tijani brethren from the noble Hijaz were willing to offer a large sum, but they affectionately declined it. However, yielding to their insistence, only one hundred thousand rupees was accepted. Before long, on Friday, 5th Jumadal Ula 1440 / 11th January 2019, the inauguration of the said room was performed under the leadership of Sayyidi Sharif Muhammad al-Habib—the grandson of Al-Qutb al-Maktum Sayyidi Sīdī Aḥmad al-Tijānī (may Allah be pleased with him)—who had arrived in Kerala as our guest from Ain Madhi, Algeria, by conducting the Asr prayer, the Wazifa, and the Hailala.

All praise be to Allah; this blessed abode, which remained active with the service activities of the holy Tijaniyya for about seven years, was endowed as Waqf for the pleasure of Allah on 17th Shawwal 1446 / 16th April 2025. The owner of this home, Al-Hajj Koyassan Kutty, came forward willingly to endow it as Waqf in the name of Allah. Nevertheless, considering the greatness of the holy Zawiya, it was decided to divide it into four shares. Haji purchased one share, and of the remaining three shares, one was purchased by his wife, one by his son Sidi Rahmatullah Tijani and his family, and one by the Tijani brethren, to collectively endow it as Waqf.

It was Al-Ustad Sharif Muhammad Radi Gannun al-Idrisi (may Allah be pleased with him) who named this blessed abode, which became the first Zawiya in the great nation of India, 'Zawiyatul Fatih al-Tijaniyya'. It is indeed the intense attention, intervention, consideration, and guidance of that great master that became the cause for all the advancement of the Kerala Tijanis. He elevated a group—who were heedless even of matters that would expel them from the holy Tijaniyya—into genuine Tijanis. By establishing the prayer in its complete form as prescribed by Sayyidi Sīdī Aḥmad al-Tijānī (may Allah be pleased with him); reciting the Awrad accurately with Tajweed by taking due time; assembling the Tijanis residing in different lands for the Wazifa in their respective localities; exercising extreme caution against matters that would expel one from the Tariqa; maintaining a strict distance from opponents of the Tijaniyya, such as the Wahhabis; respecting people of all Tariqas; standing firm in Sunni ideology; and strengthening the bonds of love among the Tijani brethren—in these various ways, the great master strengthened the Tijanis in Kerala both outwardly and spiritually.

The five daily prayers, Wazifa, Hailala, and religious teachings and studies have been continuously conducted from the very beginning. Soon thereafter, facilities were also arranged for the religious and secular education of boys. Three meals a day are provided free of charge for the Tijaniyya Fuqara, Muhibbs, and students. In addition, all modern facilities have been established there to support the service activities of the Tijaniyya. The Zawiya also has its own publishing house. Under the leadership of Al-Ustad Sharif Muhammad Radi Gannun al-Idrisi (may Allah be pleased with him), an enthusiastic group of young Tijanis, based in this great Zawiya, are marching forward rendering service to Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah—the authentic form of Islam within the holy Deen—by relying on the righteous path, noble messages, and magnificent visions of Al-Qutb al-Maktum Sayyidi Sīdī Aḥmad al-Tijānī (may Allah be pleased with him).