TK Abdullah, member of Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and State Council member of
Jamaat’s Kerala Zone, breathed his last on Friday, 15th October. He was 92.
Abdullah Sahib was Kerala State Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami during the period from 1972 to 1979 and again from 1982 to 1984. From the very beginning of Kerala chapter of Jamaat, he was a member of Kerala State Council and from 1972 onwards a member of Central Advisory Council. He was also state executive member of Ithihadul Ulema. A founder member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, he was also the Chief Editor of Islamic Encyclopaedia that is being published by IPH. After Haji Muhammad Ali Sahib and KC Abdullah Mawlavi Sahib, TK Abdullah Sahib was the third most towering personality in Kerala.
TK Abdullah Sahib was born to renowned Islamic scholar Tharakandi Abdurrahman Sahib and Fatima at Ayencheri in Kozhikode district in 1929. He studied at Vazhakadu Darul Uloom, Thirurangadi Jumma Masjid, Pulikkal Madinathul Uloom and Kasaragod Aliya Arabic College. While he was a student, he joined Prabodhanam newspaper. Along with T Isihak Maulavi, Abdullah Sahib translated the first volume of Maulana Maudoodi’s Tafeemul Qur’ān from Urdu into Malayalam. In 1959 he was granted membership of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. In the same year, after the death of Haji Muhammad Ali Sahib, T Muhammad Sahib was named Editor and Abdullah Sahib Sub-Editor of Prabodhanam. In 1964, when Prabodhanam became a weekly, he was named its Editor. In 1992, in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition, Prabodhanam was banned; and in 1994 when it was reinstated, he was declared as its Chief Editor. After the death of KC Abdullah Mawlavi, he was named Chief Editor of Bodhanam. During Emergency, when Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was banned, he was sent to prison.
TK Abdullah Sahib was very fond of Allama Iqbal’s poems; he used to quote from Iqbal’s poetry in his speeches and sermons. Many of his speeches, articles and sermons have been compiled and published. His autobiography entitled Nadannu Theeratha Vazhikal has been published.
He is survived by his wife Kunjamina, sons TK Farooq and TK Iqbal and daughter Sajida.