Kunnathery, Aluva: History of a Sunni and Sufi Centre near Kalamassery

Ashraf Gents Hostel

Key facts

OpenStreetMap places Kunnathery Muslim Jamaath about 1.15 km north-west of the NAD Road signal in Kalamassery. Local addresses use Kunnathery or Thaikkattukara, Aluva, PIN 683106.
Madrasa Noorul Irfan Arabic College at Kunnathery says it was founded in 1967 by the Sufi scholar and Arabi-Malayalam poet Sayyid A. I. Muthukoya Thangal.
The college says Muthukoya Thangal was born in 1910 on Androth Island, Lakshadweep. He set up Mahlarathul Qadiriyya prayer centres across Kerala and Lakshadweep, one of them at Kunnathery.
Aluva’s local listings name the Kunnathery Maqam (Mahlarathul Qadiriyya) and the Thangal’s maqbara as Kunnathery landmarks.
The college describes itself as the first institution in India with a dedicated syllabus in ‘Ilm-u-Tasawwuf’, the study of Sufism and spiritual self-purification.

The Aluva Manappuram Siva temple with its tiled roof on the sandy riverbank. Photo: Vis M / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Where Kunnathery is

Leave the NAD Road signal towards Aluva and the houses soon give way to the lanes of Kunnathery and Thaikkattukara. They sit between the Kalamassery–Aluva highway belt and the NAD area. The mosque is on Kunnatherry Mosque Road, and the college, the Qadiriyya centre and the Thangal’s maqbara are within a couple of hundred metres of each other. People who live here describe Kunnathery as a close-knit, traditional Sunni community built around its jamaath (mahallu), madrasa and Sufi centre.

Kunnathery Muslim Jamaath, Kunnatherry Mosque Road, Aluva. Open in Google Maps · Directions from Ashraf Gents Hostel

The Sufi scholar behind Kunnathery’s fame

Kunnathery’s best-known figure is Sayyid Muhammed Jalaludheen A. I. Muthukoya Thangal, called “Bani Shaikhuna” (the founder) by his followers. According to Madrasa Noorul Irfan, he was born in 1910 on Androth Island in Lakshadweep, into a family of Sayyids. He became a shaykh of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, the order traced to the 12th-century scholar Abdul Qadir Jilani.

Teacher. He founded Madrasa Noorul Irfan Arabic College at Kunnathery in 1967 to teach ‘Ilm-u-Tasawwuf’ alongside the usual Islamic sciences.
Prayer centres. He set up a network of Mahlarathul Qadiriyya centres where his disciples meet for dhikr and spiritual practice. The college names centres in Kerala and Lakshadweep, and a 2012 disciples’ blog lists Kunnathery (Aluva), Kolathara (Kozhikode), Androth and Vakkethodi (Manjeri).
Poet. He wrote devotional works in Arabi-Malayalam, the Malayalam language written in Arabic script. The college lists *Thajul Akbar (Yusuf Qissa)*, *Fathima Beevi Wafath Maala*, *Maa’rifath Maala* and *Muhiyiddeen Maala*. These “maala” songs belong to the Mappila song tradition.

After his death the college says leadership passed to his disciple Sayyid Muhammad Kamaludheen, known as Manjeri Shaikhuna (born in 1931 on Androth), and then to his son Sayyid Shihabudheen K. P. Koya Thangal (born on 12 August 1952). Their tombs and the founder’s maqbara at Kunnathery are places of ziyarat (visiting and prayer) for the order’s followers.

Madrasa Noorul Irfan and its sister institutions

The college is registered (it gives the number ER 361/1988) and runs an eight-year Maulavi ‘Alim Irfani course, a two-year postgraduate course, a Da‘wah course alongside degrees such as B.Com and BA History, a boarding madrasa, and a one-year Mappila song study programme. It has sister institutions for Qur’an memorisation (hifz) at Manjeri and elsewhere. See our Noorul Irfan guide for courses and contacts.

Kunnathery and the Lakshadweep connection

Because the founder and his successors came from Androth, Kunnathery has a strong link with Lakshadweep. Students and followers from the islands come to the college, and the institution’s charity work reaches the islands. The college says its supporters sent food and supplies to Lakshadweep families during COVID-19 and after Cyclone Ockhi. With partners, it also ran a medical camp on Androth in 2025 that saw 1,700 patients. Closer to home, it says it supported more than 3,000 families for over a month during the 2018 Kerala floods, which hit Aluva hard.

Aluva’s wider place in Kerala Muslim history

Aluva has a place in the story of Kerala’s Muslim organisations too, though on a different side from Kunnathery’s Sufi tradition. Wikipedia records that the reformist Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangham held a two-day conference at Aluva in 1924, where its scholars formed the Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama. Traditional Sunni scholars responded by forming Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama at Kozhikode in 1926. Samastha later split into the groups known as EK and AP Sunnis in 1989. Today the Kalamassery area reflects that whole history, with traditional Sunni mosques like Kunnathery’s and a Salafi mosque at Mattakkadu a short distance apart.

We describe Kunnathery as a Sunni and Sufi centre based on its institutions’ own descriptions and local usage. We do not state which Sunni organisation the mosque committee is affiliated with. Ask the jamaath office if that matters to you.

Visiting respectfully

Visitors to the mosque and maqbara should dress modestly and remove footwear where asked. Avoid prayer times if you are only looking around.
Ask before taking photographs, especially inside the maqam and around worshippers.
Women visitors should check the arrangements with the committee first, as practices differ between mosques and shrines.
Ramadan, Rabi‘ al-Awwal (the Prophet’s birth month) and the founders’ anniversary gatherings are the busiest times. See our guide to Islamic programmes near Kalamassery.

Kunnathery is a short auto ride or a 15-minute walk from the NAD Road signal. Ashraf Gents Hostel at the signal houses men from many backgrounds, and residents who pray at Kunnathery or at the closer mosques east of the signal can ask the hostel on +91 90746 23855 about routes and timings.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Kunnathery?

Kunnathery is a locality on the Aluva side of Kalamassery, around Kunnatherry Mosque Road and Thaikkattukara, PIN 683106. OpenStreetMap places the Kunnathery Muslim Jamaath about 1.15 km north-west of the NAD Road signal.

Who was Kunnathery Thangal?

Locally, Kunnathery Thangal refers to Sayyid A. I. Muthukoya Thangal (born 1910, Androth, Lakshadweep), a Qadiriyya Sufi shaykh and Arabi-Malayalam poet. He founded Madrasa Noorul Irfan Arabic College at Kunnathery in 1967, and his maqbara is there.

What is Mahlarathul Qadiriyya?

It is the name of the prayer and dhikr centres A. I. Muthukoya Thangal set up for his disciples in Kerala and Lakshadweep. The one at Kunnathery, Aluva, is a local landmark.

Is Kunnathery a Sunni centre?

Yes. Kunnathery is known locally as a traditional Sunni community, and its best-known institutions follow the Qadiriyya Sufi path. Ask the jamaath directly about its organisational affiliation.

Sources

Facts about Ashraf Gents Hostel come from the hostel’s own profile and photos; rates are indicative and confirmed on the call. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. How we write these guides: editorial notes. Map embeds © Google.

Cite this guide: Ashraf Gents Hostel. “Kunnathery, Aluva: History of a Sunni and Sufi Centre near Kalamassery.” Published 8 October 2026. https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/kunnathery-history-sunni-sufi-heritage/ Plain-text (Markdown) version · quoting with a link back is welcome.