JEDDAH, 27 January 2005 — Markazu Saqafathu Sunniyya (Sunni Cultural Center), a charitable organization in Kerala, will adopt orphans from Andaman and Nicobar islands who have lost their parents in tsunami.
The organization has acquired land for building a residential educational institution in Andaman. “Work on the building will commence soon,” said Sheikh Aboobacker Ahmed, also known as Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musliyar. He is the general secretary of Markazu Saqafathu Sunniyya, All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema and Samastha Kerala Jamiatul Ulema.
Kanthapuram said the organization has adopted 250 orphans from Jammu and Kashmir and another 250 from Mewat in Haryana state recently. He claimed that Markazu Saqafathu Sunniyya is one of the largest charitable, nonprofit Islamic institutions in India.
Kanthapuram, who was here to perform Haj, praised the facilities at the holy sites, specially the structural changes around the Zam Zam Well and the modifications of the Jamrat Bridge. The queue system introduced this year at the bridge helped avert accidents, he said.
According to him, some pilgrims who ignored the new system and jumped the queue blocked the path of others and caused problems on the bridge. “They should be stopped from jumping the queue,” he said.
Speaking about the activities of the center, Kanthapuram said the center attracts students from all over India. In all, 8,000 boys and girls are studying Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, arts, science and technology at different schools run by the center. Among them are 1,500 orphans and 1,200 studying Islamic studies; their full expenditure is borne by the institution.
Founded in 1978, the center works for honing the leadership qualities of the ulema in particular and the Muslims in general, he said. The center has been trying to improve the quality of Islamic education among Muslims with the help of Arab and Muslim nations. “Many eminent scholars from various Arab and Islamic countries have visited the center on different occasions,” he added.
The 27th anniversary of the establishment of the center is to be held on Feb. 25-27, 2005. Some 600 scholars are to be awarded the Saqafi degree — a bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies. Many eminent scholars and leaders from different parts of the world will attend the anniversary celebrations. More than 500,000 participants are expected to attend it.
Kanthapuram met many eminent personalities during his stay in Makkah and Madinah and exchanged views on the situation of Indian Muslims.
