OBITUARY
Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed
(15 June 1921 – 25 April 2016)
Founder Member of the Constituent Council
of Rabita Al-Alam al-Islami
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Mohamed
Haniffa Mohamed was born on 15 June 1921 to an illustrious family of Sri Lanka.
He spent his long life for the service of Islam and his community of Sri Lanka.
I had the opportunity to meet this great leader of Sri Lanka so many times when
he used to come to attend the meeting of the Constituent Council of the Muslim
World League (Rabitat al-Alam Al-Islami) in Makkah Al-Mukarramah.
I
used to meet and interview him about the Muslim situation in Sri Lanka as well
as about his viewpoint on world Muslim situation as an editor of the Muslim World League Journal. I still vividly remember
those days when I used to sit long long hours at his room in Hilton Hotel
Makkah and also in Safa Palace Makkah. I enjoyed my meeting with him when we
were sitting and discussing about interfaith activities at Safa Palace during
the First International Dialogue Conference in Makkah initiated by the then
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
M H
Mohamed was a versatile dedicated leader of the Muslim community. I want to
divide his activities into three categories –international Muslim Ummah,
religious and Muslim Affairs and political activities. So far his national
political activities are concerned; he held most of the important political
positions in the Government of Sri Lanka. Mohamed
Haniffa Mohamed, Municipal Councillor, Member of Parliament, Minister who held
several portfolios (although at different times), and one time Speaker
of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed - Ancestry
Amongst Such early migrants from the
Peninsular Arabia during the rule of the Sinhala Monarchs - That is, long
before the South Indian Kings and the Catholic Portugues invaded Ceylon - were
the ancestors of M H Mohamed. One such person was Saint Al Quthub As Sheikh
Ismail Moulana Al Yemeni Seilani As Zebeedi wal Abbasi (Nasab) wa Siddique
(Hasab), known as Arabi Appa, who migrated from Yemen together with Seyyed
Abdul Qadir Moulana and settled down in Ceylon.
A great Islamic and Arabic scholar and a widely respected
theologian. Arabi Appa was direct descendent of Seyyidina Abbas (RA), who
was an uncle of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as well as Seyyidina
Abu Bakr Siddique (RA), the first caliph of Islam. His immediate ancestors were
As Seyyed Sheikh Shaoosi Ar Rabahiyyi Zebeediyil Abbasi wa Siddiqui, as Seyyed
Salih Abdullah, As Sheikh Salih Moulana and Sheikh Izzadeen Moulana.
M C Raheman's fifth child, Abdul
Azeez, the maternal grand father of M H Mohamed, married Yeha Umma, a
grand daughter of As Sheikh Abdul Azeez Moulana, who was one of the sons of As
sheikh Ismail Moulana Yemeni (Arabi Appa).
The Abdul Azeez Yehya Umma Couple had one daughter and their only
daughter Ummu Hafeera was given in marriage to N M M Haniffa Proctor and Notary
Public..
First
in so many respects
Because of his ancestral background and heritage, M H. Mohamed has
devoted himself to the cause of Islam and to the service of the Muslim community
both nationally and internationally. He was the first in so many respects in
the history of Sri Lanka. He won the Ward in the Colombo Municipal Council and
on 12 January 1960-63 was elected the first Muslim Mayor of Colombo. He was in
the Colombo Municipal Council from 1947 to 1965.
Again he was the first to hold the portfolio of Muslim Religious
and Cultural Affairs in J.R. Jayewardene’s government.
Membership
of Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami
(World
Muslim Congress)
Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed was member of international Muslim
organisations, such as Rabita Al-Alam al-Islami (Muslim World League) and Motamar
Al-Alam Al-Islami (World Muslim Congress). Mr. Mohamed Iqbal wrote about this:
“My late father and others in the 1950s and early 1960s with the YMMA attending
Islamic meetings. The reawakening of the World Muslim Congress in Karachi,
Pakistan by the sole and dynamic efforts of the late Dr. Haji Inamullah Khan and the late Grand Mufti His Holiness
Amin Al-Hussaini was one such meeting and my late father introduced my uncle to
Dr. Haji Inamullah Khan when he visited Sri Lanka.”
“The Late Dr. Haji
Inamullah Khan appointed my uncle to the World Muslim Congress and both of them
were also inducted as founder members of the Muslim World League (Rabita) in the
Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” mentioned Iqbal.
Founder
Member of Muslim World League
(Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami)
RabitaAl-Alam Al-Islami was launched under the patronage of King
Faisal bin Abdulaziz in 1962 in Makkah al-Mukarramah. M H Mohamed was associated
with this organisation from the very beginning and was its Founder-Member of
the Sri Lankan chapter of the organisation. He was a Member of the Constituent
Council of the Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, the highest decision making body of
the international Muslim organisation.
His
Religious Activities:
Hajj
Pilgrimage for Sri Lankans
Coming from a deeply religious family, M H Mohamed did not neglect
his religious functions, associations or activities. He was the first Muslim
minister in the Sri Lankan cabinet. He was entrusted with the cabinet portfolio
of Muslim Affairs. Being Minister in Charge of Muslim Religious Affairs in J.R.
Jayewardene’s government, he addressed the issues of the Hajj pilgrimage of Sri
Lankan Muslims in the most efficient manner. Writing about this Hajj
delegation, Mohamed Iqbal, his nephew wrote: “It became my task to assist him
to draft documents on the performance of Holy Hajj by Sri Lankan faithful and
their visiting both holy cities of Makkah and Madina in Saudi Arabia. The Hajj
Committee of the YMMA and other bodies were duly recognised and formalised.
The first Hajj delegation proposed
by M H Mohamed received the approval of the Government of Sri Lanka in
1965.This Hajj Committee set up by M H Mohamed is still in existence.
National
Hijra Council
He was appointed by the Government as chairman of the National
Hijra Council, which worked not only for the welfare of Muslims, but also
contributed towards establishing communal harmony. Towards this, he organised
two international seminars in Sri Lanka on the "Universality of
Islam" and arranged a dialogue between Muslims and Christians, with top
delegates from international Muslim organisations represented at these events.
M H Mohamed, through the Islamic Centre in Maligawatte, which he was credited
to have established, periodically invited Ulemas, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu
clergy for events intended to promote communal harmony, mentioned Dr. M. Haris
Z Deen.
Islamic Centre in
Maligawatte
M H Mohamed established Islamic Centre in Maligawatte, Colombo in
1965. Through this centre, he invited periodically Ulemas, Buddhist, Christian
and Hindu clergy for events intended to promote communal harmony. Besides
Islamic centre, he has established many Jumah Mosques, Muslim orphanages,
Muslim Ladies Arabic College, Islamic Centre for physically handicapped Girls
School and college and Arabic school.
“Besides the Islamic
centres, the following few stand out as iconic; construction of the Dewatagaha
Jummah Mosque, Kataragam Mosque, Kirulapana Jummah Mosque and various other
development projects undertaken including Naleemiya Institute at Beuwela,
Muslim Orphanage at Makola, Kal eliya Muslim Ladies Arabic College, Islamic
centre For physically handicapped at Thihariya, Zahir College Colombo, MICH
Colombo, Madrasuthul Falah Kattandudy, Al-Hijrah and Khairiya Girls school,
Zahira College Kalmuni and Ghaffooriya Arabic School in Maharagama,” wrote
Nissther Annis, former President of Sri Lankan Islamic UK Association.
IDB Scholarships for Muslim
education
M H Mohamed initiated many projects for the education of Sri
Kankan Muslims through the Islamic centre. He was behind the arrangement for
the educational scholarships for the education of Sri Lankan Muslims from the
Islamic Development Bank (IDB). It is learnt from his son, Azahim Mohamed who
lives in London that more than 150 students went for higher studies with this
scholarships in two years and this IDB scholarship is still in existence and
Sri Lankan Muslims are benefitted from this. “The number of Muslim doctors,
engineers and other graduates, qualified and in the process of qualifying who
assembled in the UK and conducted Janaza prayer for him in his absence bears
testimony to the "generosity in silence" that Marhoom MH initiated for
the education of Muslims through the Islamic Centre, mentioned Dr. Haris.
Musalla
for Indonesian Hajis
The Musalla (place of
prayer) constructed in Katunayake, in honour of the Indonesian Hajis who died
in the air crash, is also an initiative by M H Mohamed. These will remain as
monuments to the eternal memory of Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed the versatile
charismatic politician.
Political
Life of M H Mohamed
M H Mohamed was a household name in Colombo politics. “a former
Speaker and onetime a stalwart member of the United National Party, entered
into politics and remained in that enterprise during that ‘golden era’. After
entering the Colombo Municipal Council in 1947, after his father Proctor
Haniffa bade adieu to his lively political career, M H Mohamed contested the
same Ward, Maligawatte that his illustrious father represented up to then.
After a vigorous campaign for which Mohamed had built a fairly reasonable
reputation, M H Mohamed was victorious as an independent candidate and entered
the exalted corridors of power in the prestigious Colombo Municipal Council,
wrote Dr. Wickrema Weerasooria in his write up M H Mohamed – a Muslim icon of a
bygone era.
Writing about the political achievements of M H Mohamed, Dr.
Weerasooria mentioned, “Mohamed’s political achievements are simply unique.
From a mere Member of the Colombo Municipal Council to end up as the First
Citizen of Colombo (Mayor) and then go on to win a parliamentary seat and hold
many Cabinet portfolios under both Dudley Senanayake and J R Jayewardene and
then end up as the Speaker of the House of Parliament when R Premadasa was the
President of the country are no mean achievements. Only those who have so
succeeded know how difficult the road was! By any conventional standard,
Mohamed was an overachiever. But the humility with which he accepted all
accolades and praise held him good stead in good times as well as in bad times.
As the Speaker of Parliament, the exemplary manner in which he undertook to
handle the “infamous” impeachment motion against the then President Premadasa
will go down in our parliamentary history.”
M H Mohamed
First Muslim Mayor of
Colombo 1960 - 1963
Member of Parliament of
Sri Lanka 1965 - 2010
Sri Lanka Cabinet
Minister 1965 to 1970, 1977 to 2010
Including the first to
hold the cabinet rank as Muslim and Cultural affairs.
Chairman Islamic Centre
Chairman World Mosque
Council
President Asian Islamic
Council
Senior Vice President
Motamar Al Alam Al Islami
(World Muslim Congress),
Karachi
Member, Constituent
Council of Rabita Al Alam Al Islami,
(Muslim World League)
Makkah
Member, Scholarship
Programme Committee for the Asian Region of the
Islamic Development
Bank, Jeddah
Mohamed Haniffa passed away on 25 April 2016 at his home in
Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 95 years.
M H Mohamed lost his
wife, Noor Naseema early, and two of his children Shaha preceded him. Sadly,
his son Haniffa succumbed to a heart attack a week after the demise of MH. His
surviving children Mohamed
Hussain Mohamed, Hassan, Ummu
Haniffa, Azahim, Thufa and Shaul
Mohamed and the number of
grand- children and Great Grand- children will certainly miss him. May Allah
Grant Him a Special Place in Paradise.
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