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Al Bayan(transl. The Explanation) Monthly was the first magazine to be released in the Arabi-Malayalam language, a language used widely till mid 20th century. It was later released in the Malayalam language as well. It was the first magazine to serve as the mouthpiece of Samastha Kerala Jam’iyyaul Ulama.
Al Bayan Magazine was first published as a monthly in December 1929 from Kozhikode. The magazine was founded by prominent Islamic scholar Pangil Ahmed Kuty musaliar who served as its first editor and V.K Muhammad moulavi, the joint secretary of Samastha at the time served as its publisher. In its first issue, the magazine explained its purpose as “a much needed monthly in Arabi-Malayalam language to talk of the beliefs and actions of Ahlu sunnah wa al jama’ah’. It declared its target group as all Muslim men and women and also explained itself as an alternative to all the magazines that demanded an advanced knowledge of the language to the one who wished to read. Through this, it demanded that it looked not at the purity of one’s language but at the purity of intentions. The magazine published information about the activities of Samastha, dissented against reformist movements and gave religious fatwas to the common people. After a few issues, its publication was stopped in 1930.
An association of Sunni scholars in Kerala following the Shafi’i school of thought. Fifteen years after Al Bayan stopped publishing, Samastha held a meeting regarding the necessity of a magazine to dispense information about the ideas and activities of Samastha. Following these discussions in 1950, it was decided to restart the publication of Al Bayan. In October 1950, the monthly was back into publication with Paravanna Muhyuddin Kuty musliar as its editor. N. Abdulla musliyar and O. Abdurahman musliyar were appointed as its sub-editors. After a restart, the monthly described its objective behind republication as “to counter through the written medium, the reformist practices within Kerala Muslims and reclaim their religious knowledge which centred around the Asha’ari theological school of thought and Shafi’i school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence. It continued publication for 10 years. In 1954, the magazine started publishing in Malayalam language as well.
Al Bayan magazine in Malayalam
Al Bayan monthly was published in Malayalam language in 1954 under the leadership of T.K. Abdulla Moulavi from the Bayaniyya press of Parappanangadi.
In a prominent issue, it described its objective behind publication as “an independent monthly to propagate the beliefs of Ahlu Sunnah ”. The monthly stopped publication in 1966 due to financial constraints.
Other Literary initiatives
In 1959, Samasta Kerala Jam’iyyatul Muallimeen published a quarterly magazine ‘Al Mu’allim’. The other magazines that followed were “Sunni Times” or “Sunni Voice” from 1964 and “Muslim” from 1987.
