literacy rate in Malappuram District, center of Mappila distribution, stood at 91.55% (2011 Census). Lulu Group chairman M. A. Yusuf Ali, 19th richest man in India, is the richest Malayali, according to the Forbes magazine (2018). Azad Moopen, chairman of the Dubai-headquartered Aster DM Healthcare, is another major Muslim entrepreneur from Kerala. During his state visit to Saudi Arabia in 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the Saudi king Salman with a gold-plated replica of the Kodungallur Mosque. Ever since in the Indian Independence from the British in 1947, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in former Malabar District have supported the Muslim League. In south Kerala, the community generally supported Indian National Congress and in the north Kerala a small proportion vote Communist Left. Politically, the Muslims in Kerala have exhibited more unanimity than any other major communities in modern Kerala. Theological orientations/denominations Most of the Muslims of Kerala follow the traditional Shāfiʿī school of religious law (known in Kerala as the traditionalist Sunnis) while a large minority follow modern movements that developed within Sunni Islam. The latter section consists of majority Salafists (the Mujahids) and the minority Islamists. The Sunnis referred here are identified by their conventional beliefs and practices and adherence to the Shāfiʿī madhhab, while the other theological orientations, of which the Salafi Mujahids constitute a large majority, are seen as modern "reform" movements within the Sunni Islam. Both the Sunnis and Mujahids again have been divided to a number of sub-identities. Sunnī Islam Shāfi'ī— mainly two groups (majority of traditional Sunnis in Kerala are Shafiis). Ḥanafī Salafists (the Mujahids)—with different splinter factions (with varying degrees of puritanism). Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (K. N. M) is the largest Mujahid organisation in Kerala. Islamists (the Jama'at-i-Islami India)—representing political Islam in Kerala. Shīiah Islam Culture Devotion and Festivals Because of the lack of ulema, before 1900 Islam among the majority of Mappilas, especially those converts from lower Hindu castes, was highly syncretic and was a mixture of Islamic and pre-Islamic practices, and today it retains many such practices. For instance, Mappilas often worshipped holy men (auliya) or matrys (shaheed) at their tombs (which should be distinguished from praying with the intercession of a vali). Still today it retains some of these practices. These saints were taken out in procession during festivals called nercha, which were organised along the lines of festivals for folk deities incorporating similar music and customs,