ZANZIBAR NAVI MASJID - GREAT AALIM OF THE TIME
MARHUM AHMED LAKHA KANJI.
Mulla
Ahmed Abdulrasul Muhammad Lakha 1901 - 1989
Marhum
Mulla Ahmed Lakha was one of the distinguished and pre-eminent personalities of
his era. He was a moving orator, an accomplished industrialist, a dedicated
social servant and a pioneer in the advancement of education for both boys and
girls. Above all else, he was a long-standing zakir of Imam Hussein (a.s) for
over sixty years. In recognition of the changing needs of the community, he was
one of the pioneers in making the transition for majaalis recitation from Urdu
to Gujarati.
Mulla Ahmed Lakha was born in Zanzibar in 1901. Upon completing secular
schooling, he joined his father’s business, Lakha Kanji & Company (established
in 1775), whilst also pursuing studies in religion, Urdu, Farsi and Arabic.
Mulla performed Hajj in 1921 and was amongst the last Khojas to have witnessed
the zarihs in Janatul Baqi, over the holy graves of Bibi Fatema (a.s) and the
four Imams (a.s).
In 1920, Mulla Ahmed married Sugrabai Kassamali Alibhai Somji. His two
daughters, Zainab Datoo and Zehra Nasser were among the first women in the
community to have completed high school education with the Cambridge Overseas
School Certificate (COSC). They were contributors to the community both in East
Africa and in London and are buried in the Watford cemetery, London. Like his
father, the eldest son, Muhammad Hussein, joined the family business after
obtaining the COSC. He too had been a zakir for over fifty years, rendered
various communal services and passed away in Toronto in December 2002. His
second son, Abdulrasul became the President of Africa Federation and was one of
the early Khoja barristers from Lincoln’s Inn, London. He practiced in East
Africa and was a Court of Appeal Judge in Kenya. He passed away in Nairobi in
2006. His third son, Muhammad Raza became a mechanical engineer and was involved
in private welfare work in the Mombasa jamaat. He passed away in December
1999. His last son Murtaza also qualified as a barrister from Lincoln’s Inn.
He practiced in East Africa and currently practices in London. He too delivers
majaalis in English and Gujarati, as well as making other communal
contributions. Mulla Ahmed has set an example in the importance of educating
children who, in turn, encouraged others to seek knowledge. He himself served
as the head of private colonial school committees and was a trustee of the Datoo
Hemani communal school in Zanzibar.
Mulla Ahmed is also known for his varied and extensive communal services,
including as a long serving President of the Hujjatul Islam Jamaat in Zanzibar
and for being one of the founders and the first Vice-President of the East
Africa Federation. Thereafter he served for many years on the Supreme Council
of the Federation. In 1970 he migrated to Dar-es- Salaam
with his family, where he served on a number of Jamaat committees, in particular
the Matrimonial Conciliation Committee. Mulla Ahmed was also a consultative
point of reference for the Quran and Fiqh. He had ability to relate complex
ideas in simple terms.
Mulla Ahmed was devoted to public services. He served as President of the
Zanzibar Social Welfare Society, the Zanzibar Society for Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals and the Zanzibar Society for the Blind. On the political front, he
became the President of the Indian Association and was nominated as member of
the Zanzibar Legislative Council. After the partition of India in 1947, he
became the President of the Zanzibar Muslim Association. In appreciation of his
extensive social services, in 1953 he was made a Member of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire (M. B. E.), upon the ascension to the throne by Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The Sultan of Zanzibar also honoured him with medals
for public service.
In a full life, he toured the world experiencing modern air travel and the
wonders of the world, as well as a camel back ride to Mecca. He migrated to
Stanmore, London, in 1988 and was buried in the Brookwood cemetery in June
1989. Mulla Ahmed Lakha had an impressive personality which signified piety and
nobility, a befitting legacy for a zakir of the Ahlal-bayt (a.s).
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