The Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen was formed as a result of renaissance activities among Keralite Muslims led by scholars and clerics such as Sheikh Hamadani Thangal, K.M.

Although the Mujahids often visited the scholars of Saudi Arabia, the movement differed from both the militant Puritanism of the Arabian Wahhabi reformation as well as the "Neo-Mu'tazilism" of the culture-oriented North Indian Muslim modernists like Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan.

Instead, it was closer in spirit to the Arab Salafiyya movement, advancing a Keralite adaptation of reformist doctrines that focused on awakening Pan-Islamic consciousness; which became a major reason for its popularity.

By the 16th century AD, with the arrival of colonization led by the Postugese and the colonial modernity they gradually declined to a culturally, economically, and educationally deprived condition.

[9] Apart from Sayyīd Sānāullah, the works of other scholars such as Chalilakath Kunjahamed Hajji (d. 1920), Shaikh Muhammad Hamādāni Thăngâl (d. 1922) provided the impetus for theological reformation amongst the Mappila Muslim Ulema.

With the help of a Malabari Mappila, Vakkom Moulavi was introduced to the popular Pan-Islamic journal Al-Manar, published by the influential Salafi scholar Mùhāmmád Ráshīd Rîdâ (1865 - 1935 C.E) from Cairo.

Advocating the teachings of Rashid Rida and Ibn Taymiyya, Vakkom Moulavi attacked Madhab partisanship, condemned Taqlid, calling upon Muslims to shun un-Islamic customs by directly returning to Qur'an and Hadith; and establish Islamic Unity.

Modelled after Al-Manar, Moulavi would publish numerous journals and magazines with the purpose of spreading Islamic message, in a way that would directly reach the common masses, through three languages Malayalam, Arabic and Arabi-Malayalam.

K.M Moulavi played an important role in the proliferation of various Islamic publications like Al-Irshad, Al-Islah, Al-Murshid, etc and was a regular contributor in Rashid Rida's Al-Manar.

His fatwas were widely requested all across Kerala due to his immense knowledge of Qur'an and Hadith; as well as his juristic mastery of Shafi'i and Hanafi madh'habs (legal schools).

By force of his charismatic personality and widely accepted scholarly credentials, Moulavi was able to overcome newly developed opposition to the Islahi movement.

The annual meetings of Kerala Muslim Aikhya Sangam gained attention by the participation of international Islamic scholars such as Marmaduke Pickthall.

Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen officially formed on 20 April 1950 in a meeting held at the office off "Al Manar" Magazine at Calicut.

This division in KNM happened in 2002 when a faction led by Hussain Madavoor split from the parent organization over a number of ideological and organizational issues.

KNM have a number of feeder organizations under the religious leadership of Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama (KJU) to achieve its objectives at all levels of society.

MSM conducts annual meetings for students of various fields of study, such as: The female wing is known as Muslim Girls & Women's Movement (MGM), which was formed in 1988.

International scholars of repute, religious leaders of all communities, heads of states and governments addressed various sessions of the mega conferences.

With a student strength of 2500 during the academic year 2007-8, JNE has grown into a large campus spread over 27 acres of land and sufficient infrastructural facilities.

A rich blend of qualified and experienced academics and researchers drawn from various disciplines handle the sessions for the students undergoing the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at JNE.