Bringing the anthropology of Islam into conversation with the anthropology of education, this paper argues for reconsideration of the established discourses on Muslim reformation in Kerala. Such narratives not only ignored the centuries-old cultural and literary tradition (Arabic Malayalam) of Muslims in Kerala but also portrayed the Sunni Muslims of Kerala as anti-reformist and the ‘other’ of Modern Muslim imagination by citing the opposition of Sunni Ulama, the traditional shcolars towards English/ Modern education. This paper explores the historical evolution of Islamic education and impact of integrated education system as a form of new traditionalism among the Sunnis, the traditionalist Muslims of Kerala and one of the oldest Muslim communities in South Asia. Based on an extensive pilot study, the researcher conducted in-depth Case studies in selected traditional Islamic higher education centres managed by the Sunni Muslims of Kerala. Employing Participant and Non- participant observation, Structured and Semi structured interviews, Focused Group Discussions, Case studies, Genealogy, Oral and written narratives and collecting Google form questionnaires the research also examined the discursivity of Islamic education and the changing role of Ulama in contemporary Islam. The paper argues for the conceptual framework proposed by Talal Asad (1986) that Islam in general ought to be approached as a discursive tradition and further argues that if Islam in general ought to be approached as a ‘discursive tradition’, there is no fault in treating the integrated system of education among the Sunni Muslims of Kerala as significant part of an intensive discursive tradition.