Controversy Erupts in Kerala India as Islamic Scholar Criticizes Mixed-Gender Fitness Program
Indian Islamic scholar Kanthapuram AP Musaliyar criticised popular Kerala fitness programme MEC 7, claiming it promotes inappropriate intermingling of men and women. His statement received backlash from political leaders and activists.
By Abdullahi Yusuf
An Islamic scholar in Kerala, India, has ignited a heated debate after he called a popular fitness program “haram” (forbidden in Islam) due to its promotion of male-female interaction.
Kanthapuram AP Abubacker Musaliyar, a prominent Sunni leader, voiced his concerns about the MEC 7 (Multi-Exercise Combination) regimen, widely practiced in northern Kerala. He alleged that the program encourages inappropriate mingling between men and women, which, according to his interpretation of Islamic teachings, goes against religious boundaries.
The MEC 7 program has gained popularity across towns and villages in Kerala, where participants engage in group fitness exercises. Kanthapuram criticized the initiative, claiming it not only enables men and women to interact freely but also leads women to expose their bodies during exercise. He argued that this practice contradicts traditional Islamic values, where modesty in public interactions is emphasized. “This project has become prevalent everywhere, and the sight of men and women mixing and women exposing their bodies is alarming,” he stated. “It even challenges the belief that men and women seeing each other is ‘haram.’”
His comments have provoked a strong backlash, with political leaders and activists condemning his stance as outdated and regressive. Kerala’s Higher Education Minister, R Bindu, called the remarks “highly reactionary and gender-biased,” adding that such viewpoints have no place in the modern world. “We live in the 21st century, but some people still cling to these obsolete ideas,” she remarked.
The MEC 7 controversy is not new to the region. Earlier this year, a leader from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), P Mohanan, raised concerns about the program’s association with certain religious groups. Mohanan alleged that the Jamaat-e-Islami, with possible links to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was using the fitness sessions as a front for promoting their agenda for an Islamic nation. However, Mohanan later clarified that his remarks were not aimed at the MEC 7 program itself but rather a caution against the infiltration of public spaces by religious radicals.
The debate over the fitness program highlights a broader cultural clash in Kerala between traditional religious views and contemporary social practices, with tensions rising over how public spaces and interactions should be regulated.
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