VAKKAM ABDUL KHADAR MAULAVI (1873-1932).

Vakkam Abdul Khadar Maulivi was one of the great social reformers who
championed the cause of the Muslims in Kerala. Born and brought up in South Kerala, Maulavi became a scholar in Sankrit, Hindi, Arabic, Tamil and Malayalam.He was the
founder, printer and publisher of Swadeshabhimani.The newspaper under its editor
Ramakrishna Pillai raised a banner of revolt against the government.Maulavi also started
an Islamic journal ‘The Muslim’.He also formed the Islam Dharna Paripalana
Sangham.He also published an Arabic Malayalam magazine Al Islam in 1906. He founded
a printing press at Anchutengu in 1904.
Maulavi was an important social reformer of the Muslims.He realised the
deplorable conditions of the Muslims in Kerala and tried to eradicate the evil customs
among them.To educate them, a number of schools were started at his initiative.The
greatest contribution of Vakkam Maulavi was the starting of the newspaper
Swadeshabhimani. He was fortunate to get the services of no less a person than Rama
Krishna Pillai as its editor.Under their leadership, Swadeshabhimani fought against the
corruption prevailed in the Travancore administration.As the editorials severely criticised
the Diwan Raja Gopalachari, the wrath of the authorities fell on the editor who was
arrested on a charge of sedition and was deported from the state; the press was confiscated.
Thereafter Maulavi started the ‘Muslim’.In 1931 he founded the Islamic publishing House
and a journal Deepika.
Vakkam Maulavi is remembered as a great social reformer, a staunch fighter
against injustice, a great journalist and an up lifter of the community to which he
belonged.The progress of the Muzlim community of Kerala in the educatiuonal and social
field is largely due to the pioneering work done by Vakkam Maulavi.