Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar at the Markaz Central Campus here on Sunday (September 13, 2026) as part of his five-day visit to India.
Mr. Anwar, who arrived in Kozhikode after attending the BRICS summit in New Delhi, held discussions with Kanthapuram on issues including global peace, education and social development. The two leaders exchanged views on socio-cultural exchanges and discussed the prospects for peace talks among countries involved in conflicts.
Mr. Anwar was also presented with the first Excellence Award instituted by the Sheikh Abubacker Foundation. Mr. Kanthapuram presented the award to the Malaysian Prime Minister at a reception organised in his honour at the convention centre.
Later, Mr. Anwar attended a special prayer gathering. A discussion involving prominent figures from the religious, political and social spheres was also held.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim being welcomed by E.T. Mohammed Basheer, MP, at the Karipur airport during his visit to Keralam. MLAs T. Siddique and T.V. Ibrahim are seen. | Photo Credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN
Along with the senior Sunni leaders led by Mr. Kanthapuram, the Malaysian Prime Minister later 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 was in Markaz campus in September 2022, about a month before becoming Prime Minister, and had visited the Madavoor Makham with Kanthapuram on that occasion too.
The Malaysian government conferred the Hijra Award, its highest honour for Islamic scholars, 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 also came against the backdrop of differences between the two leaders on some social and religious issues. A day before his Kozhikode visit, Mr. Anwar, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, had 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 had 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 visit, 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. Traffic was regulated along key routes to facilitate the movement of the VVIP convoy.
