Anwar Ibrahim Meets Kanthapuram at Markaz Campus in Kozhikode

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar at the Markaz Central Campus in Kozhikode on Sunday, as part of a five-day visit to India.

Mr. Anwar reached Kozhikode after attending the BRICS summit in New Delhi. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed global peace, education and social development, and exchanged views on socio-cultural exchanges and the prospects for peace talks among countries involved in conflicts.

At a reception held in his honour at the convention centre, Mr. Anwar was presented with the first Excellence Award instituted by the Sheikh Abubacker Foundation. Mr. Kanthapuram handed over the award to the Malaysian Prime Minister.

Mr. Anwar later attended a special prayer gathering, followed by a discussion that brought together prominent figures from the religious, political and social spheres. Accompanied by senior Sunni leaders led by Mr. Kanthapuram, he then visited the Madavoor C.M. Valiyullah Makham, a prominent spiritual centre in south India.

This was Mr. Anwar's second visit to Keralam to meet the veteran Sunni leader. He had visited the Markaz campus in September 2022, about a month before becoming Prime Minister, and had also gone to the Madavoor Makham with Kanthapuram on that occasion.

The Malaysian government conferred its highest honour for Islamic scholars, the Hijra Award, on Kanthapuram in 2023. At the initiative of the Malaysian government, international Hadith recitation gatherings led by Kanthapuram were held in Kuala Lumpur in 2023, 2024 and 2025, in recognition of his six decades of teaching Hadith.

Kanthapuram had earlier intervened in matters concerning the welfare and employment issues of Indian expatriates in Malaysia, and had also taken up the demand for direct flights from Keralam, particularly Kozhikode, to Malaysia.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of differences between the two leaders on some social and religious issues. A day before his Kozhikode visit, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Mr. Anwar said he did not necessarily agree with all of Kanthapuram's views. He was responding to a question about the cleric's recent remarks that women should remain confined within their homes.

Mr. Anwar described Kanthapuram as a traditional religious scholar who had contributed to the understanding of the Quran, religious tradition and the Prophet, and praised him as a great teacher. At the same time, he said the two did not necessarily share all their views and indicated that he would tell Kanthapuram directly that Malaysia guarantees women equal rights.

Sunni leaders said Mr. Anwar's India visit, including his Keralam trip, was expected to provide fresh momentum to bilateral cooperation in trade, tourism, investment, economic cooperation, education and connectivity. The Prime Minister's visit was held amid tight security arrangements in Kozhikode, with traffic regulated along key routes to facilitate the movement of the VVIP convoy.