M. Sadulla: The Quiet Translator Who Put Islamic Knowledge into Simple Kannada
Born in Mangaluru's Kandak in 1945, he translated around 30 works from Urdu and Malayalam, wrote two much-reprinted books of his own, and ran the Kannada weekly Sanmarga from behind the desk.
Short in height, long in work
Kannada has a saying: murthi chikkadaru keerti doddadu. The figure may be small, but the work is large.
A tribute published by Radiance News used the proverb for M. Sadulla, and it fits what he left behind.
A boy from Kandak
Sadulla was born in 1945 in the Kandak area of Mangaluru, the third son of Abdul Jabbar Ibrahim and Mariyamma. The tribute says he lost his father young.
He studied at Badriya Educational Institution and passed matriculation with distinction at Rosario Educational Institution. His first job was as an accountant.
Alongside work, he studied. His teacher was Moulana Syed Yusuf, the imam of Kachi Masjid in the Bundar area, from whom he learnt Quranic studies, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic and Urdu.
A father's example
His father, Abdul Jabbar, was known in Kandak as Ijjabaka and admired the Jamaat-e-Islami founder Syed Abul Ala Maududi. According to the tribute, Ijjabaka was the first person to translate the Quran's opening chapter, Al-Fatiha, from Urdu into Kannada. Sadulla resolved to follow in his footsteps.
Why the language mattered The tribute says there was a "noticeable lack" of Islamic literature in Kannada in those years. Sadulla's answer was to translate from Urdu and Malayalam into simple Kannada, and to write original pieces, so that Kannada readers could reach the material without knowing those languages.
The desk at Sanmarga
The Kannada weekly Sanmarga has been in circulation since April 1978, according to a Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Mangalore page. It carries Quran, Hadith, Seerah, moral stories, poetry and discussion of social and political questions. The same page, written in 2010, says it had reached readers in Karnataka, Goa and the Gulf.
Sadulla was one of its pioneers. He served as its manager and publisher until his death.
Another Mangaluru writer, Ibrahim Saeed, is also recorded as writing for Sanmarga, so the weekly drew on more than one pen.
The books
Works Linked to M. Sadulla in Public Sources
| Work | What it is | What the source says | |
| Tafhim-ul-Quran (Kannada) | Translation of an Urdu Quran commentary | He "contributed significantly" to its translation | |
| Sahih Bukhari (abridged, Kannada) | Hadith collection | Translated by Sadulla over one year; 925 pages with nearly 2,000 hadith | |
| Dari Deepa ("Guiding Light") | Hadith collection | Reaches thousands of readers, Muslim and non-Muslim | |
| Namaz Shafi'i Krama | Original book on namaz | Very popular; published multiple times | |
| Kannada Kaliyiri ("Learn Kannada") | Original book | Very popular; published multiple times | |
| About 30 translated works in all | Translations into Kannada | Total from the tribute; no full list found |
The abridged Sahih Bukhari was released at Town Hall, Mangaluru, by Shanthi Prakashana, the Kannada publishing house of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and its first copy was handed over by Mufti Ashraf Ali of Darul Uloom Sabeelur Rashad. Kannada University (Hampi) vice-chancellor Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambara and writer Marul Siddappa were among those present, according to Islamic Voice. The report calls it a valuable addition to the corpus of Islamic literature in Kannada.
At the time of that report, Shanthi Prakashana said it had published 250 Kannada books.
One book on learning Kannada Among Sadulla's original works is Kannada Kaliyiri, a book on learning Kannada. It sits alongside his religious titles, which suggests a writer concerned with readers' command of the local language. The sources reviewed do not describe its contents, so we do not say more.
The man behind the desk
Those who knew him, the tribute says, remembered his simplicity, discipline and few words. He did not take much interest in public debates or speeches. People who met him were struck by his integrity and the range of his knowledge.
He was also, in the tribute's account, a careful student. Though a scholar of the Quran and Hadith himself, he attended other scholars' classes and listened closely. Even when unwell, he would correct mistakes in recitation as family members read. Anyone could phone him with a question on the Quran and get a prompt answer.
A legacy in plain language
M. Sadulla died on 22 August 2022. The books remain in print in the sense the sources describe: reissued, read and passed on.
His real contribution is easy to miss because it is not loud. He worked on the step between a text in one language and a reader in another. For readers in coastal Karnataka, that step often decided whether a book was read at all.
FAQ
1. Who was M. Sadulla?
A translator, author and publisher from Mangaluru (1945-2022) who translated about 30 works on Islam into simple Kannada and was manager and publisher of the Kannada weekly Sanmarga.
2. What is Sanmarga?
A Kannada weekly in circulation since April 1978, covering Quran, Hadith, Seerah, moral stories, poetry and social issues. It is published from Mangaluru.
3. Which books did he write himself?
Two of his original works, Namaz Shafi'i Krama and Kannada Kaliyiri (Learn Kannada), are described as very popular and reprinted several times.
4. What did he translate?
He contributed significantly to the Kannada translation of Tafhim-ul-Quran, translated an abridged Sahih Bukhari, and worked on hadith collections such as Dari Deepa.
5. When did he die?
On 22 August 2022.
6. Was he the first to translate Islamic works into Kannada?
Not on the record we found. The tribute credits his father, Abdul Jabbar, as the first to translate Al-Fatiha from Urdu into Kannada. Sadulla is described as a pioneer of Sanmarga and a leading figure in Islamic literature in Kannada.
