E. A. Jabbar

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E. A. Jabbar (Malayalam: ഇ. എ. ജബ്ബാർ) is an Indian atheist, humanist, rationalist, speaker and writer from Kerala. He is best known as a critic of Quran and Islam. He is an active member of several rationalist organisations. He was the Vice-president of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham and its Malappuram district secretary for a considerable duration. He was also an editorial board member of the monthly magazine, Yukthirekha, the official journal of the Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham. He was a member of Kerala State Teachers' Association (KSTA), which is the teacher's wing of the political party CPI(M). He started his career as a government school teacher, and retired from service, after which carried on with his activism for free-thought and atheism.

Engagements[]

Jabbar was born into an orthodox Muslim family in Malappuram in Kerala, India but gave up his faith in Islam while studying in the tenth grade after reading the Malayalam translation of Quran. He felt it had many inconsistencies and contradictions, and he did not get satisfactory answers to his questions from his family circle. When rationalist Joseph Edamaruku published his book Quran: A Critical Study (Original title: 'Quran Oru Vimarsana Padanam^[1]') in early 1980, it was subject to widespread discussion, and Jabbar actively took part in many of these debates. Gradually, he became part of the debating circles representing the rationalists. According to Jabbar, "Islam is against democracy, secularism, gender justice and all that makes a modern society".

He began his career as a school teacher and later turned into a popular orator in Kerala. He gathered more fame from his candid blogging and videos in social media and across the "free thinkers" communities in the Malayalam speaking world.^[2][3] He is notable for his videos and podcasts that criticize Islam.^[4] He has done some controversial debates with Islamic scholars in Kerala like M M Akbar, which have viewership by the thousands in social media.^[5]

Books by E. A. Jabbar[]

Jabbar, popularly called as Jabbar Mash (mash is the corrupt usage of the English word master, conveniently indicating that he was a teacher by profession) by his admirers and followers on the internet, has written a few books criticizing Islam and the Quran which have grabbed the attention of many in Kerala, especially the youth.^[6] Jnan enthukondu Muslim Alla, (In English: Why I Am Not A Muslim), is a book we wrote which attracted many readers in Kerala despite being it a booklet having just 62 pages. It was modeled after the book written by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian.

• 2005: Khurante Sasthreeyatha Chodyam Cheyyappedunnu (Mythri Books)^[7]
• 2014: Njan Enthukondu Muslim Alla, first edition in February 2007,(Mythri Books)^[8][9]
• 2018: Islaminte Vargavum Lingavum^[10]

He was the editor of Yukthiyugam Malayalam Magazine published by Yukthiyugam in March 2015.^[11][12]

Debate with M. M. Akbar[]

On 9 January 2021 he and a very popular Islamist scholar who was also the director at Niche of Truth,^[13] M. M. Akbar debated on the topic, whether Quran is scientific or not. Jabbar had been challenging Islamist scholars in Kerala for many years to prove Quran was god's own words. He had ridiculed Quran and Hadiths, stating that they contained nonsense and mistakes. After he turned down many scholars who came forward, he accepted the Islamic scholar M. M. Akbar and agreed to debate him on the subject open-stage. A longstanding rationalist organisation―Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham―arranged the venue and stage to have this debate. The debate did take place as scheduled even after a long speculation of it being called off thanks to Akbar failing to show up^{[citation needed]}, as it happened with other scholars who had challenged Jabbar earlier. A leading newspaper in Kerala run by pro-Islamist management, Thejus Daily, ran a story about this debate in which Akbar was quoted to have said that the debate helped unite the entire Muslim community in Kerala.^[14]

In contrast, both sides claimed victory in the debate, and the video of the debate which went viral was re-used with footage from the original video to prove the success of either side.^[15] Not to mention that the video that appeared on M. M. Akbar's YouTube account proclaimed his victory over Jabbar in the debate.^[16]

The flip side of the program was that M. M. Akbar was criticized for stating that the Quran is scientific with his version of understanding the text. His opponents said that he had reduced the Quran to a mere science book.

During the COVID-19 pandemic^[17]

References[]

External links[]

• E. A. Jabbar Blogs
• Speeches and podcasts of E. A. Jabbar
• Full video of debate between E. A. Jabbar and M. M. Akbar (4 hours)