THE NAI /JUNNI RIFT

 

 What rift in the Kuwwat set up was it that led to the formation of Hujjat Jamaat? 

 

In actual fact the Hujjat members were ancestrally Jamnagri and from hearsay did not see eye to eye with certain Kutchi and Bhavnagri/Mawai members who were prominent and quite dominant in the Kuwwat set up. Besides, they were the later converts (officially) and said to be ‘Fidai’ (among the earlier Khoja Ismailis a staunch group and firm believer in Maula Ali). They were easily drawn to Molvi Gulamhusain (Sayad Aqa) who happened to visit Zanzibar at that time and whose majlises glorified Maula Ali. This to an extent created friction between Sayad Abdulhusain Marashi and Molvi Gulamhusain. The eventual Hujjat members were accused of ‘shirk’ and dubbed ‘musavvat’. They even prayed behind Molvi Gulamhusain in the Kuwwat mosque while the rest would be led by Sayad Marashi. They would wait till Sayed Marashi finished off the jamaat prayers to give way to Molvi Gulamhusain. The situation worsened and Molvi Gulamhusain was reported to the Authority in Zanzibar and given ‘deportation order’. From hearsay Abdulrasul Lakha Kanji was his rescuer and got the ‘deportation order’ waived. The seeds of discontent had been sewn and eventually in the 1890s Hujjatul Islaam Jamaat was formed under the guidance of Molvi Gulamhusain.  

Talking of the ‘Fidais’ not all got converted to the Ithnashri sect but they still professed love for ‘Ahlulbait’ and privately ran a mehfil, ‘Mehfile Muhibbane Husain’, in Mtendeni beside ‘Aladinjo Maro’. The mehfil thus came to acquire the name ‘Mehfile Private’. Leading among them was Abdulrasul Peera who finally after a long time converted himself to the Ithnashri sect and joined the Hujjat Jamaat. Hence Mehfile Private was brought over to Nai Misid.  

Also discord within Kuwwat Jamaat resulted in the summoning and deporting from Zanzibar of a leading community member, Abdulla Saleh, who owned ‘Kiwanjani’ and had converted it into Mehfile Shahe Khorasan.