Uncertainties over the future of thousands of Wafy and Wafiyya students studying on campuses under the Coordination of Islamic Colleges (CIC) have started abating with CIC president Syed Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal deciding to reject the mass resignation of CIC officials led by general secretary Abdul Hakeem Faizy Adrisseri.
In a letter dated March 6, Mr. Thangal requested all CIC officials, including Mr. Faizy, to return to their work ignoring their resignation. More than 130 functionaries of the CIC had quit their posts in the wake of the resignation submitted by Mr. Faizy following pressures from the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the biggest body of Islamic scholars in the State.
The Samastha had trained its guns on Mr. Faizy after a small section within the scholarly body started opposing him for various reasons, including ‘ideological digression’. The Samastha expelled Mr. Faizy from all positions and pressured Thangal to wangle his resignation as the general secretary of the CIC, an apex body that controls eight dozen colleges offering Wafy and Wafiyya degrees.
With Mr. Faizy’s resignation, a pall of gloom hung over the CIC with its functionaries quitting and teachers and students staying away from the campuses. Parents and the public started blaming the Samastha for the impasse that befell the CIC, under which more than 8,000 students were currently enrolled.
Following Mr. Thangal’s letter, the CIC functionaries, including Mr. Faizy, on Wednesday attended to their work. Students started returning to their campuses, and admission and examination procedures resumed. CIC officials told The Hindu that the academic activities, stalled since Mr. Faizy’s resignation on February 22, would be normal within a day or two.
Mr. Faizy on Wednesday offered lectures at Markazu Tharbiyyathul Islamiyyah at Valanchery, one of the main colleges under the CIC, and resumed his work as general secretary of the CIC. Although he had tendered his resignation on February 22, he was still in charge of the secretary as per the CIC bylaws.
Meanwhile, in a social media message purportedly by a section opposing Mr. Faizy and the CIC within the Samastha said that neither the scholarly body nor Thangal had taken any decision in favour of the CIC. It said that the Samastha would explain its stand at a meeting to be held in Malappuram on March 15.
The CIC, meanwhile, decided not to respond to any provocations from anyone. It also asked its members, students and the alumni not to provoke the Samastha or its functionaries through social media.
