Mulla Asghar Memorial page

	"I don't pray for His acceptance of my amaal as much as I pray for the opportunity to serve. And the day He grants me a new opportunity to serve, I believe the previous ones have been accepted. And I hope till my last breath the opportunities are there and when the Almighty calls me back, I will be able to tell my Lord, Thank You for giving me life, Thank You for giving me life." Mulla Asgharali M.M. Jaffer Click here to listen to the quote (or right-click to download). (Format: MP3. Size:96KB) The Legacy must continue... He has left a legacy of service to humanity that is exemplary, and an inspiring example of resolute will to fight poverty, disease and ignorance. This legacy must be preserved. It is for this purpose the World Federation has launched the MULLA ASGHAR MEMORIAL FUND. Now, your heartfelt sentiments and words of tribute for him can and must be translated into action by your active participation Click here to read the appeal or Click here for payment details
Funeral Report and Pictures
Book of Condolences

Commemorating Mulla’s 10 year anniversary

21 March 2010 marks the 10 year anniversary of the passing away of  Marhoom Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer.  Even though a decade has passed, the memory of Mulla Saheb is still alive in people’s minds, through his word and literature which will remain etched in history.  Mulla Saheb’s tireless efforts and contributions to Islam and the community will resonate in the minds of individuals for years to come.  May Allah (swt) reward him in the hereafter.

The World Federation of KSIMC would like to remember Mulla Saheb through tributes from family, friends, colleagues and those who have been touched by his efforts.  We welcome you to send your thoughts and tributes to communications@world-federation.org and we will publish a selection on our website.

Please recite Surah Fateha in the memory of Marhoom Mulla Agshar and all our marhoomeen.

Tributes:

I don’t miss Mulla Asghar

Introduction

21 March 2010 will mark the 10 year anniversary of the sad demise of arguably the most well-known and influential Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri that has ever lived: Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer. To mark this occasion the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri community will be busy in preparing all manner of tributes and commemorations to pay respect and homage to his memory.

We will see articles and tributes from those former colleagues, friends and family members who were close to Mulla at The World Federation, Stanmore Jamaat and beyond. Former members of The World Federation’s Secretariat, former fellow World Federation Office Bearers, and friends, will be telling us all about the life and times of this personality. The general theme will be of course how much they ‘miss Mulla’.

They may speak about how they remember him and how he added to their lives. We may hear stories of his hat, his chair, and his desk. We may also hear about his character, his personality and how he dealt with the difficult and challenging situations of his life.

But to a thirty year old like me, such accounts are either about static objects that have no relevance to me, or about characteristics, whilst commendable, offer little value to me without some proper contextualisation and background.

I want to know more about this man, but on my terms, not on the terms and memories of those who belong to a disconnected age.

A Thought Regarding ‘Personalities’

I have often mulled over the lives and times of the great personalities of history and how they have managed to etch themselves into the memory of humankind. They are honoured, respected, idolised, hero-worshipped. At times they are criticised and vilified. But one thing is for sure: they have left their mark.

The Shia Ithna Asheris know this all too well. Our entire culture, identity and religious practice revolves around the celebration and commemoration of our heroes, and the utter condemnation of the rogues of history, their sworn enemies. This cycle begins at the very beginning of time as we know it and continues throughout time: the stories of Adam and Shaytan, Habil and Qabil, Ibrahim and Namrud, Musa and Fir’awn, Prophet Muhammad and Abu Sufyan, Imam Ali and Muaviya, and the most emphatic symbolism of all of these: Imam Husayn and Yazid.

That humans behave in this way is a statement of fact. The question that intrigues me is: why? Why are we attracted and repulsed by people? Why do we find comfort in choosing a side? To me, it seems this practice of remembrance of great personalities in either acceptance of their nobility or in rejection of their evil is an intrinsic human quality. We seem to naturally yearn and seek the solace that we find in the noble ones of history and we are comforted knowing that we are not on the side of evil. Islamic evidence suggests that such a phenomenon relates to our souls and the natural inclinations that Allah has placed in us: that we naturally cling to goodness and shun evil.

An Optimistic Insight

In such a situation, whilst we will abhor and despise the actions of the evil ones, we must offer thanks to Allah that he has allowed us to recognise the good by contrasting it with the evil. For had the evil been absent the good would not have shone for us in the way that it does.

The Memory of Mulla Asghar

Whilst the tributes and accolades focus on how people ‘miss’ Mulla, for me the experience is very different. I will not say I ‘miss’ Mulla; nay, I cannot say it. This is simply because I did not ‘know’ Mulla in order for me to be able to say I ‘miss’ him. I did not live in North London. I did not frequent Hujjat Stanmore. I was not involved heavily in community work by the time he died. I was not a part of any jamaat or federation executive committee that rubbed shoulders with him at community conferences and seminars. When he passed away I was a twenty year old student, busy with a temping job, trying to save for my wedding.

That was my situation. I did not have the ability to get to know this man and thus I cannot say I ‘miss’ him. What I can say, however, is that I ‘missed’ him, and in this there is a huge difference. Whilst he was alive, I ‘missed’ him, he passed me by, he was a name to a face I seldom saw. He was a personality, a leader, a legacy in the making, but one that I did not know. I was deprived of Mulla whilst he was alive.

After his death the deprivation continued. Certainly I had an idea that this was a learned man, a man of eloquent letters and words, a man of vision and foresight. But ask me what that vision was and I would have drawn a blank.

It is only after joining The World Federation and submerging myself into community work that I now realise the depth of what I missed. Here it is that I have had access to some of his writings which I have learned from and cherish. But I am one of a very few people that can say this.

For me the true realisation of what this man was came when my department, responsible for Islamic Education, began to fulfil a long-standing pledge of The World Federation: we began to digitally render his speeches from archives covered in dust and cob-webs into CDs and DVDs. It was at this point that I, tasked with the delightful duty of producing summary write-ups for his speeches, began to not only hear Mulla, but to listen to him with my full concentration.

An entire world opened up to me. The content was valuable, no doubt. But I now see beyond the content. In between his discourses he makes references, comments and hints with regards to his position as the eloquent thinker and the leader of a community whom he so carefully protected and nurtured. It was at this point that I realised I had been deprived of something momentous. Not only are his speeches the musings of a competent Zakir, but they contain a message that strikes me at my core. To me, his legacies are not his hat and chair, but rather they are the two neglected legacies:

The Neglected Legacies: Spiritual and Intellectual

Whilst an image is often portrayed ‘out there’ of Mulla being a leader and a community worker, for me the attraction comes ‘in here’ in the form of his ideas and thoughts. It seems clear to me from the reports and articles that I have read that Mulla envisioned a strongly spiritual community. His words below, taken from the book Relentless Endeavours are an inspiration:

“Time has come [for us to] recognize our goal. What do we need? We need a society wherein the worldview is not centred on the West nor on the East, but on Islam as taught by Ahlul Bayt (as). We need a society where every act of good-will is propelled and driven by the sincere intention to please Allah (SWT) and none else. We need a society where taqwa is a way of life, where amr bil ma’ruf and nahi anil munkar are the norm and practice. We need a society where the youths are saved from the rising tide of kufr and its influences, where our men and women follow shariah with pride and without apology.”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 122)

“The community has a choice. Either we have a man with an iron-fist and a firm will, wielding the rod of adalah or a weak, non-practicing fasiq, non-‘adil, so-called democratic leader. Of course, it is for the community to exercise that choice.”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 123)

In this quest he was both visionary and at the same time realistic and bold. At many junctures of life one may become tempted to sacrifice the means in order to reach the end, to somehow bend the rules slightly as there is a ‘bigger picture’ that needs to be achieved. Mulla, however, puts things into context and teaches a very valuable life-rule that provides me with great solace:

“Nobody espoused the unity of the community more than he did, but Mulla always emphasised that while unity could only exist if there was genuine tolerance and understanding, principles could never be sacrificed at its altar. Indeed he often used to observe that: “Compromising on the basic fundamentals will benefit nobody,” and “Weak partners will never make a strong team.””
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 18)

“In his quest to make the core of the community spiritually sound, he was never afraid to stand his ground and hence, many a time he did not endear himself to one group or another that chose to wear a cap that suited its tastes best. Having read a barrage of letters and anonymous circulars ... he used to wistfully paraphrase that, “You can please all the people some of the time, you can please some of the people all the time, but you can never please all the people all the time.”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 19)

However, the legacy that I feel is even more neglected is the intellectual legacy. I am continuously impressed by the depth of thinking of Mulla. But to arrive at such a stage is no fluke. There is evidence of hard work and graft invested by himself for his Lord and his community. Such an approach is surely the best recipe for success. For such an individual to emerge, all silver spoons must be kept away.

A pity, then, that his works are not appreciated nor given the limelight they deserve:
“His life was truly an encyclopedia, yet the actual words he inked on paper remain largely unread. Although he was fluent in Arabic, Farsi, English, Kiswahili, Urdu, Kutchee and Gujarati, his articles and books remained between their covers, undiscovered, except by the connoisseurs of good literature.”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 21)

The Awakening

What Mulla seemed to be calling out for is for the community to embrace a more spiritual and more intellectual position. True to the principles of Islam and the Ulama, he saw the first step in this arduous journey as what I would term ‘The Awakening’. He seemed to be yearning for some like-minded people to join his cause and to help carry the twinned torches of spirituality and intellectualism.

“At the moment there is not a single forum whereby a person who has decided to give an impetus to his intellect can take part. If a youth today wishes to discuss his own faith, which is the only vehicle of his survival here and hereinafter according to our faith, there is nowhere he can turn to. And if he happens to put an intellectual question he is immediately branded as a ‘KAFIR’.”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 36)

“Gentlemen, you and I, have all a duty to perform. We need to start immediately what was started in the Age of Renaissance in the European Countries, when the first thing they did was to awaken the masses from deep slumber to the values of literature, art, philosophy and science, thus producing original thinkers ...”
(Relentless Endeavours, p. 55)

Steps Forward

His vision was clear. The words are forceful and powerful. After many years we are starting to see the emergence of the community’s maturity in honouring his memory. The efforts to digitalise his lectures, the publication of some of his writings, and the recent Memorial Resource Centre, are all steps in the right direction. The challenge to us is to ensure the two legacies do not remain neglected and unfulfilled. This is a collective responsibility on an individual and communal level.
Community Service: The Key?

For my personal part, I know that without having taken part in community social work I would have remained deprived of this awareness, and deprived of this love of taking the community to the next levels. The saddest part, however, is that I would never have known that I was deprived; I would have had no idea that such opportunities even existed. And this, I fear, is the situation for thousands of others in our community.

It is therefore the duty of those of us already blessed with the opportunity of serving the cause of the Ahlul Bayt (as) to awaken ourselves, honour the memory of history’s great ones, seek distance from the indecent, realise and hold fast to the legacies they have left, step forward with action, and attract others to this noble cause.

Let’s avert ourselves and others missing the good things in life.

And All Praise is for Allah, Lord of the Worlds

Shaykh Abbas M H Ismail – The World Federation 
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Each man has his own vocation

A man determined to spend his life to serve for the Almighty, nurtures within himself a sense of true giving. Through true giving and receptive acceptances will emerge an enduring quality of selfless service with which to lead and guide. Uniquely, Marhum Mulla Asgherali M M Jaffer had such a quality as a leader. The desire to serve ran deep in the grain of his personality.

Upon reflection, one is not likely to forget his deep and abiding feeling for the less fortunate among us. Nor are we to forget his remarkable ability to contextualise decisions within a historical background. This notable understanding gave him a unique foresight that prepared him and the community he led to endure challenges and controversy as well as appreciate moments of comfort and convenience. This remains an indelible hallmark of his leadership which still continue to enrich our foundational objective “We Exist to Serve”.

Dr Sibtain Panjwani
Secretary General of The World Federation of KSMC, 1996 - 2003
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Today, Sunday 21st March 2010 marks ten years after the passing of Marhum Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer. What made him great is a matter of opinion. Was it his memory? his knowledge? his behaviour? his etiquettes? his principles? his modesty? his frankness? his communication skills? his understanding? his vision? his family? his piety? or something else? or all of the above?

Everyone will have their own ideas and arguments, and as usual, i would have loved to present to you some thoughts in the form of poetry to remember this milestone in history. But today i would like to give poetry a break, and allow prose to take over. Not any prose, but the prose of his speech. The words of Mulla Asghar are with us and will remain with us, as a guiding light forever. What you are about to see, is a website, dedicated to the great man himself, developed very beautifully by some members of the community, although they remain anonymous to most of us, their work does not go unseen by the Lord.

www.mulla-asghar.org

It is an evolving deployment, which if you feel you can add to by sharing your images, videos, audios and comments, please feel free to email the team on info@mulla-asghar.org

Finally, may i request you recite Sura al-Faateha for Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer, Sikinabai Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer & all our marhumeen

Ali Bachoo, London UK
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His Legacy and our future

Ten years have passed since the death of Marhum Mulla Asgherali M M Jaffer. The Community moves on, as it must do. All the questions we may ask and answer we may seek about his contributions towards the cause of Islam, are multiplied tenfold by the fact of death. This only goes to show the depth of our appreciation for him; both as a man and a leader. A man of versatile ability, with the capacity to journey to the depth of his soul in search for understanding and reflection, easily differentiated him as a distinguished leader of our time. There are many facets of his involvement towards the betterment of human society that one can choose to write engagingly about but I believe that his pivotal role in the advancement of the Shia community, particularly in the west and our community in the UK, can be regarded as one of his most significant contributions.

The Africa Federation

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I attend Stanmore with my family and I have done so all my life (I am in my 30s). I and my family were always very impressed by Mulla Asghar as a man and as a speaker. He appealed to everyone in a way which very few speakers can do. For those of us who wanted information, he provided it. For those more inclined to spiritual insight and inspiration, he provided it - I believe he called it "recharging the batteries".

He switched seamlessly from poetry to prose, as well as from English to Urdu and other languages - again, this kept everyone happy. In his tone he was always measured, balanced and concise. It was impossible to doubt the sincerity of his intention being always for Allah (swt).

 I remember things he said about certain matters which were unpopular in the community but he did not waver. He clearly never did things for show, or personal glory, or money or influence. This is unfortunately in contrast to many of our UK Muslim community leaders. I would like to add that Mulla Asghar also gave me personal help and advice when I sought it from him. I am not a Khoja but I can say that he made me feel welcome and he was a real credit to Khoja community.

He is indeed missed and I continue to pray for him. I am really glad that there are such hardworking, selfless young Muslims in the same Jamaat digitising his speeches and continuing his legacy, may Allah (swt) reward you all.
 
With salaams and duas
Syed Ali – Stanmore, UK
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Marhum Mulla has left an unending legacy for the community.  With his vision and foresight, he not only steered our community through thick and thin, but also guided the Muslim Ummah with his intellectual discourses, both from the podium and the pulpit.

He always used to say:' Prophets are generally known after they are gone', and how true it is.  His tireless efforts and contributions to Islam and the community, which mostly went unnoticed during his lifetime, will surely resonate in the minds of individuals for years to come.

Though during his lifetime, he controlled all the 3Ms (i.e. Mimber, Mehrab and Madressa), both immaculately and with exceptional ability,  he will always be remembered by the way he has touched each and everyone who came into his contact.

Today, Sunday 21st March 2010 marks ten years after the passing of Marhum Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer.  However, the words of Mulla Asghar are with us and will remain with us, as a guiding light forever.  In fact, he was a man of versatile ability, with the capacity to journey to the depth of his soul in search for understanding and reflection.

 May Allah (swt) bless him with His Rahma and Maghferah and grant him the choicest place in the proximity of 14 Ma'sumeen a.s. Ameen.

Mustafa Mawjee – London, UK
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My knowledge of Marhum's unique abilities as a well read and informed person followed by his friendship, which in later years of his life became intermittent due to circumstances mainly owing to relocations in our individual cases, dates back to Marhum's years in Mombasa, Kenya when he was Hon. Secretary General of the Federation of Khoja Shia Ithnasheri Jamaats of Africa and I was Hon. Secretary of the Federation's Higher Education Board. There was only a few months difference - may be 6 months, a little more or less, in our respective age(s). His timely advisory role, guidance and friendship enabled me to manage the complexities of the then Higher Education Board for a number of years to the satisfaction of other Board members from Kenya, Uganda, the then Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the Federation and to my own satisfaction as to an undertaking well performed in general terms. At times, he reminded me of Marhum Ebrahimbhai Haji Sheriff during whose Presidency of Africa Federation, I was nominated/elected to become the Hon. Secretary of the Higher Education Board.
 
In April, 1970, I had to reluctantly resign from the Higher Education Board together with my other appointments in Dar es Salaam Jamaat and now defunct Tanganyika Territorial Council which managed Haji Mohamed Jaffer Boarding House in Dar es Salaam mainly as I had to proceed to the United Kingdom for a certain length of time for training sponsored by my employers - not knowing clearly of my next occupation within the Anglo/Dutch conglomerate I worked for. On my return, a letter from Marhum was awaiting me in which he had deeply regretted my decision to resign and had insisted that I change my mind referring to a number of convincing examples. Sadly, my responsibilities had changed drastically on my return resulting in main stream Board membership and travels. There was, therefore, no way for me to go back to community service since I knew I would not be able to perform as before - to satisfaction of all in general terms. I did explain to Marhum at length in writing and by phone calls and he finally understood my situation. However, we remained in contact. I recall having visited Marhum in his Stanmore office on various occasions on personal basis when we reminded ourselves of our good old days in East Africa where the community made significant strides from time to time vis-a-vis scarcity of resources.  I must say I was able to notice enormous pressure under which Marhum worked as the President of The World Federation during my visits to him in his Stanmore office.
 
Needless to say, Marhum was a visionary and competently capable of dealing with many complexities under extremely delicate and trying situations. His socio-religious knowledge and command over it was unequalled, to say the least. Marhum's knowledge and command over written/spoken English, Urdu and Gujarati remain unforgettable to me to date. I believe Marhum had also a remarkable command over Arabic and that helped him tremendously in his position as the President of The World Federation.
 
Marhum's memories live with me to date and sadden me from time to time as he is no more. I console myself by reminding me - TO ALLAH (SWT) WE BELONG AND TO HIM IS OUR RETURN - Surat ul Baqrah - 2:156.
 
Gulamabbas Kanji – New Jersey, USA
March 21, 2010
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Often you wonder if you have left a footprint in this world and if so what has it done to contribute or change in people’s lives. Mulla Asgher has indeed left a footprint in this world.   He is just as well remembered today as he was still with us 10 years ago, his knowledge and willingness to listen and work with should be followed as an example today.  Only a few get the opportunity in life to leave such an imprint and he got the opportunity. 

Rizwan Mulla

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While I was studying in India  from 1971-1980, I had several occasions to personally meet Mulla Saheb, mostly in New Delhi .  His style of leadership was something that is in the vogue today.  He was more a facilitator than a judge.  He believed more in empowering than delegating.  He PRACTICED Islam the Original in Letter and Spirit despite his inherent human weaknesses.  He was inspiring and lovable.  He was very concerned about the community's educational status.  Alhamdullillah we have today a Strategy For Capacity Building.in our community.  At the look of it ,it still remains highly under-utilized strategy for our Community.

Mulla Saheb has delivered and migrated.  It is to be seen how we all PERFORM and do justice to his LEGACY!

Dr. Shabir Karim - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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We as a family greatly miss his lectures.  He was an icon for us in shaping our faith. We still listen to his wise lectures which always were full of humour and sound advice for the 20th Century.

May Allah grant him an eternal blessings and place his soul with the chosen ones.

Master Family - Birmingham, UK

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As-Salaamu'alaikum WR.WB.,

I learn that you are collecting thoughts and tributes to Marhum Mulla Asghar and appreciate your kind job as this will be kept as historical record for a good person like the Marhum so that he will be remembered forever.   I would also like to take this opportunity to share my short words of feeling I have about him.

Though I've never met him in person but I've been familiar to his work since 30 years ago with deep impression on his works to serve the communities with tireless efforts.  I think I got a lot of inspiration from his works, lectures, teachings, and so on.   He has left valuable legacy of "being a good servant of God" to all of us and I am confident all of our ages as well as children will learn a lot from his model till our last breath.

May the Almighty God rest his soul in His paradise with our beloved infallible prophet and progeny.

Was-Salaam,
From Zulfiqarali Fakhruddeen –Thailand

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‘I don’t pray for His acceptance of my Amaals as much as I pray for opportunity to serve. And the day He grants me a new opportunity to serve, I believe the previous ones have been accepted. And I hope till my last breath the opportunities are there and when the Almighty calls me back, I will be able to tell my Lord; Thank you for giving me life, Thank you for giving me life.’ ~Mulla Asgharali M.M. Jaffer

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we mark the decade that has passed since the demise of Mulla Saheb.

Mulla Saheb was a beacon of inspiration and knowledge to us all and we continue to benefit to the present day from his vast knowledge, through his lectures and speeches which have been recorded in history for evermore. He dedicated his life to many philanthropic, religious and educational projects, serving the community both as a leader and as a scholar.

We have greatly benefited from the seeds of unity which Mulla Saheb planted many years ago, enabling us to grow together as discrete Jamaats all over the globe, furthering our quest for knowledge and the pleasure of the Almighty, under the guidance of Ahlul Bayt (a.s)

It is our duty to follow in his footsteps to serve the community and to fulfill the vision he sought to implement almost four decades ago after the formation of The World Federation in 1976.  Along with other notable, respectable pioneers of the community, the idea to form a body that would serve the interests of the community was conceived in 1975, primarily as a response to the displacement of many of our brothers and sisters, resulting particularly from the wave of expulsions from Idi Amin’s Uganda in 1972.

His fresh approach and unique style endeared him to the masses to the extent that it has been impossible to plug the huge void he has left behind. During his term as President of the WF in 1991, a resolution was passed to eliminate poverty in the state of Gujarat and within three years, over five hundred flats had been built to accommodate the less fortunate amongst us.

It is without a doubt that had Mulla Saheb been amongst us today, our communities would have reached greater intellectual and moral heights and for that reason his presence is dearly missed.

 May the Almighty grant Mulla Saheb a place in Jannah in the close proximity of the Fourteen Infallibles(a.s) and shower him with His Everlasting Rahmah.

A humble request to recite Sura-e-Fateha.

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN JAMAATS

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