Malappuram: Salafi splinter groups which have parted their ways from Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM) during the past few years have come under clouds for their alleged radical Islamic views in the wake of the disappearance of a group of men and women allegedly inspired by terror outfit Islamic State. Many have expressed doubt over these groups’ nature of work and radical religious views which attracted youngsters including professionals with higher educational qualifications.
Some of them have made attempts to recreate the living conditions of Prophet Muhammad's time in the seventh-century Arabia. A group of men shunned as neo-Salafis by prominent Mujahid groups had developed such a settlement in a village near Nilambur in Malappuram that further split into many. Few families are still living there ignoring modern lifestyle and amenities.
According to an official of Wisdom Global Islamic Mission, another splinter group focusing on preaching Salafism through the internet, many from different parts of the state who are part of it find a living by breeding goats like the Prophet did. “They have no organised form, but they regularly conduct religious classes in many places,” he said.
Police sources say these groups have no links with any terror outfits. Some of them have fled to war-torn Yemen to experience the life in the desert and are still living there. Last year one of them, Melethil Salman (42), a native of Areacode, was abducted by Houthi rebels in Sana’a and later released. The majority Sunni sect among the Muslim community in Kerala is a bit sceptical about these groups.
“Ideologically they are inspired by Wahhabism and the IS is also driven by the same version of Islam. But in Kerala’s context, we can’t correlate the fact that they have terror links,” says Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu, an EK Sunni faction leader. Another Sunni faction leader N. Ali Abdullah also has the same opinion. “They are very much a part of global Wahhabism having many facets in different regions of the world. But we have no concrete evidence to confirm the terror links of the Kerala groups,” he said.
