Farook College, Kozhikode

About Farook College, Kozhikode

Farook College Campus, a centre of higher education, marks a breakthrough in the renaissance of Kerala Muslims. In 1948, the year following Indian Independence, Farook College was given life, to light the darkness that crippled the wings of social change of a community which had been subjected to colonial pressure unparalleled in the history of the region. The college, with thirty two students and five teachers at the beginning has now grown into a major centre of higher education with two thousand five hundred students and two hundred and fifty staff on the rolls. Dedicated to the cause of social uplift through education, Farook College stands unique among the educational institutions of Kerala. In addition to being the largest residential post-graduate institution affiliated to the University of Calicut, it enjoys the distinction of being the most advanced co-educational Muslim minority institution in South India, offering instruction at undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as guidance in research in specialized fields. Established as a first grade college in 1948, the stages of its growth and expansion run parallel to the gradual emergence of the Muslim community of Malabar from the morass of orthodoxy and superstition to the heights of enlightenment and social prestige. The story of the college is the story of the community; a story full of struggles and sacrifices, determination and unflagging enthusiasm, a story of co-operative endeavour and multifaceted achievement.

As a token of its commitment to the cause of higher education, the college was selected by the Ford Foundation, New York, to receive a major grant under its project Campus Diversity Initiative. Farook College is the only one in the state and one of the few in the country to receive the grant. The college has been re-accredited at 'A' Grade by the national Assessment and Accreditation council (NAAC), Bangalore, with a CGPA of 3.34 on a four point scale valid from from March 2009. The college has been adjudged by the Government of Kerala to receive R. Sanker Award for the best special grade (Private) college in the state of Kerala for the years 1997 - '98, 1999 - 2000. The college has been identified by the UGC as a College with Potential for Excellence, the only college under Calicut University to receive the status. Farook College has won the Moulana Abul Kalam Azad Literacy Award instituted by Moulana Azad Education Foundation, New Delhi under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India for promoting education among the educationally backward minorities.

The saga of Farook College begins in the early 1940's, in the obscure Anakkayam village in Malappuram District, where a learned man ruminated on ways and means of spreading the light of knowledge among the members of his community who were floundering in the darkness of ignorance. He was Moulavi Abussabah Ahmed Ali, the founder President of the Rouzathul Uloom Association, which established Farook College. The first institution the 'Rouzathul Uloom Arabic College' was started in 1942 in Anakkayam. In 1946 a committee was formed with the intention of starting a first grade college. This committee consisted ofThe Committee had to start from scratches. Land and buildings had to be acquired. Janab Puliyali Abdullakutty Hajee donated 22 acres of the present campus. Even before construction could be completed, an application was submitted to Madras University for recognition as a first grade College. Thanks to the interest taken by the then Vice Chancellor of Madras University, Dr. A. Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar and the generosity of several social workers and philanthropists, recognition was granted in July 1948. The college was named Farook College through a resolution adopted by the Managing Committee on June 12, 1948, a name commemorative of Khalifah Umar Al-Farook and Tippu Sultan's Farookabad.
On August 12, 1948 the college was declared open. It was the only first grade college in the central Malabar at the time of its inception and was originally affiliated to the Madras University. Following the states, reorganization, the college came under the University of Kerala in 1957 and under the University of Calicut in 1968. The College celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1974, the 40th Anniversary in 1989 and the Golden Jubilee in 1999- 2000.