Simerg is an independent initiative dedicated to Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan — their Hereditary Imam — and the Ismaili Imamat, and Islam in general through literary readings, photo essays and artistic expressions
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un “Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return” — Holy Qur’an, 2:156
“Life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing to be shuffled through as best as we can, but a lofty and exalted destiny.” — Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III (1877-1957), 48th Ismaili Imam.
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A TRIBUTE TO AHAMED ISMAIL (1942 – 2025)
Prepared by MALIK MERCHANT (The family of AHAMED ISMAIL and FAROUK VERJEE contributed to the tribute)
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Ahamed Ismail of Vancouver, Canada, on December 5, 2025, at age 83. He is survived by his wife, Nasim; his son, Aly, and his wife, Sarah; his daughter, Feyzi, and his grandchildren, Adam, Alysa, and Latifa.
Ahamed was born on March 8, 1942, and grew up in Musoma, Tanzania. In 1956, he moved to Dar es Salaam for further studies. A defining moment during this period came when his religious education teacher, Karim Master, selected him to recite Qur’anic verses before Mawlana Shah Karim during the Imam’s second visit to Dar es Salaam in 1957, the first being for his ceremonial installation (Takht-nishini).
Ahamed Ismail is seen reciting Qur’anic verses during the opening of the Aga Khan School in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with the school’s patron, Mawlana Shah Karim, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, standing next to him. Photograph: Ahamed Ismail Family Collection. Click HERE for the story.
This event was a profoundly meaningful and happy moment in Ahamed’s life. When he shared his inspiring story with the editor, Malik Merchant, during their meeting in Vancouver, it left a lasting memory on him. Malik’s rich memory of Ahamed is that of a devout murid of the Imam-of-the-Time, demonstrating purity of heart and thought, and being very humble and sincere.
Upon completing his studies, Ahamed returned to Musoma, where he pursued a career in banking. He was then promoted and transferred to Dar es Salaam, where he married Nasim in 1970 in the presence of Mawlana Shah Karim.
In June 1972, Ahamed moved with his wife to Vancouver, where the Ismaili population was only 50 people at the time. Immigrants faced many challenges finding suitable jobs, but with his background in banking and a sound secondary education, Ahamed was able to secure a job with CIBC within a month and progressed in the banking industry to become the branch manager of Van City’s main branch, the largest credit union in Vancouver, where one of his roles was to approve mortgages. Highly regarded by his community, he was sought out for advice on financial and mortgage matters.
Ahamed Ismail and his wife, Nasim, with their children, Aly and Feyzi, in a photo taken in the 1980s. Photograph: Ahamad Ismail Family.
Seeing the potential of Ahamed as a highly motivated and talented individual who could serve the Ismaili community well in an administrative capacity, the newly appointed President of the Aga Khan Council for Canada, Farouk Verjee, and the Hon. Secretary, Bashir Jaffer, enlisted Ahamed into the Council for Canada, which at the time was headquartered in Vancouver. Ahamed did excellent work in his position under the Council’s inspiring leadership. Unassuming in his role, Ahamed played a vital role in the construction and opening phases of the Ismaili Centre in Burnaby. His dedication and efforts were instrumental in preparing for the momentous historic opening ceremony on August 23, 1985, which was graced by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mawlana Shah Karim. The same evening, Mawlana Shah Karim declared to the delight of the Jamath of some 20,000 at BC Place that it would henceforth be the Darkhana — the chief among all Jamatkhanas — of Canada.
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Ahamed Ismail (in beard) is seen following Mawlana Shah Karim, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, accompanied by Princess Salimah, after he arrives in Vancouver for the historic opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Vancouver, in August 1985. Farouk Verjee, the President of the Aga Khan Council for Canada, is seen walking beside Mawlana Shah Karim at left. Photograph: Farouk Verjee Collection.
When Mawlana Shah Karim was departing Vancouver, President Farouk Verjee humbly requested that Mawlana Shah Karim formally appoint Ahamed as CEO of the Aga Khan National Council, highlighting the strategic importance of the role. Mawlana Shah Karim immediately agreed, making Ahamed the first CEO of the Aga Khan National Council of Canada, a milestone for the Ismaili institution.
At the end of Verjee’s term as Aga Khan Council President, Ahamed and Bashir Jaffer accompanied him to his final and most significant meeting at Aiglemont, France, with Mawlana Shah Karim, reflecting on the meaningfulness of their leadership and service. As Verjee notes, “We were very privileged to serve the House of Hazrat Ali during the early years of our settlement in Canada.”
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Farouk Verjee, left, the President of the Aga Khan Council for Canada, introduces Ahamed Ismail to Mawlana Shah Karim, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, as he departs Vancouver after the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre. At President Verjee’s humble request, Mawlana Shah Karim formally appointed Ahmed Ismail as the CEO of the Aga Khan National Council. Photograph: Farouk Verjee Collection.
In May 1987, Mawlana Shah Karim made the significant decision to relocate the Aga Khan National Council’s headquarters to Toronto, marking a substantial shift in its history. A few months later, in August 1987, Ahamed moved there with his family. He worked tirelessly, sincerely, and with dedication. Still, his term with the Council ended in a major disappointment for him and his family, who had uprooted their lives in Vancouver to relocate to Toronto. He then joined Revenue Canada (now known as the Canada Revenue Agency or CRA) and, with his wife, became an Investment Executive at ScotiaMcLeod and an associate at First Associates.
In 2005, while still in Toronto, Ahamed was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which led him to leave his job. His wife also left her position, and they began working as travel agents from home at a much slower pace due to his illness.
In 2011, Ahamed moved back to Vancouver with his wife to be with his son, Aly, and his first grandchild, Adam. His life was deeply rooted in family, and he cherished these moments, spending his last 14 years in peace and happiness, surrounded by the love of his family and friends. He managed Parkinson’s well and, with strength and grace, inspired everyone around him.
However, his health took a turn for the worse. On November 28, 2025, he experienced some severe internal bleeding, which damaged his intestines, and he left this world a week later, on December 5. The news of his passing saddened all those who knew him and worked with him. Abdul Rahemtulla, the Chair of the Edmonton Ismaili Administrative Committee in the 1980s, described Ahamed as a kind, calm, and intelligent gentleman, a good listener, and someone with whom he had the pleasure of working.
The Ismaili community has lost a giant of a leader, a pure-hearted, sincere, and humble individual whose qualities of compassion and humility left a lasting impression. His funeral at the Burnaby Lake Jamatkhana on December 11, attended by hundreds of community members and friends, and his burial at Victory Memorial Cemetery in White Rock, reflect the community’s respect and gratitude for his life.
We pray that Ahamed Ismail’s soul may rest in eternal peace and that his family continues to find strength and courage to face the significant loss of their beloved husband, father and grandfather. Ameen.
Date posted: December 26, 2025.
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We invite our readers to express condolences and tributes to Ahamed Ismail. Please click LEAVE A COMMENT.
“Ultimately, the art of teaching is a mission. Those who embark upon the journey of teaching seek to transform individuals and communities, inspired by a sense of purpose” — Mawlana Shah Karim Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, 2008, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The late South African statesman and leader Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” This profound statement underscores the transformative power of education, inspiring us to believe in its potential to shape a better future. Martin Luther King Jr. also emphasized the importance of education, stating that it teaches one to think intensively and critically.
Education is a powerful tool for building intelligence and character when done right. Teachers are the key figures in this process, guiding students to acquire knowledge, competence, and virtue. The Aga Khan’s quote on teachers further underscores their crucial role.
In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Mbeya, a small town situated in the Southern Highland region of Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania), was blessed with dedicated and enthusiastic teachers who changed the lives of many children of Indian origin who had moved to East African countries from India in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries to towns such as Mbeya.
A UN map showing significant towns and cities in Tanzania, including Mbeya neighbouring Zambia in the south-west of Tanzania.
During the British colonial time, separate European, Indian and native African Schools were established. The Colonial Government funded the schools for the Europeans and Africans; the Asians (or Indians from South Asia), on the other hand, had to build their own education and schooling system. This was a community effort, funded with donations from the community and fees collected from the students. In the 1940s and early 1950s, Indian Public School, a primary school, was the first such teaching institution in Mbeya for the Indian community. The medium of instruction was Gujarati. After primary education, the students continued their education in Dar es Salaam.
A photo of staff and students of the Indian Public School from around the late 1940s. Among those in the photograph are Haji Yusufmia (wearing hat), Mr. Hassam Somani, Mr. Sadru Bhanji Jiwa, Mr. Gulamhussein Mukadum, Mr. Hassanali Dhanani and other teachers.Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Indian Public School teachers Mr Almeida, Mr Lohar, Mr Jagirdar, Mr. Hassanali Abdulla Walji and Vigiabenji Talavia. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Indian Public School girl students with Vijiabenji Talawia. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Indian Public School girl students with Vijiabenji Talawia. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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A photo from the early 1950s of the staff of the Indian Public School, Mbeya. Pictured are G. D. Talavia, Hassanali Abdallah Walji, Mrs. Vijiaben Talavia, K. R. Lohar and Abdulmalek Ali Valla. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
In the late 1950s, the Ismaili Muslim community, a group of the Mbeya Indian diaspora, built the Aga Khan Primary School, which would teach up to the tenth standard. It was part of the Aga Khan Education System and was open to all races. The medium of instruction would be English; it also had facilities to teach science subjects. This educational system, built and sustained by the Indian community, not only provided quality education but also instilled a profound sense of pride and empowerment among the Indian diaspora in East Africa.
Mr. Vallimohamed Sarani (Sarani Master). Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
From the scanty information I obtained for the 1940s, one of the first teachers at the Indian Public School was Mr. Vallimohamed Sarani (known as Sarani Master), who initially taught in Zanzibar. Sarani Master came to East Africa in the late 1920s or early 1930s, joining his uncle in Kampala. He got married in Kampala and then shifted to Zanzibar as a teacher. His children were born in Zanzibar. He left Zanzibar during the early 1940s and started teaching in Mbeya at the Indian Public School for eight years. In 1948, he moved to Nayasaland (now Malawi) and stayed there till 1975. He retired and moved to Texas, USA, to be with his children until 1982. His final residence was in Leicester, UK, where he passed away in 1987 at the age of 84 years.
Mr. Ayub Kassammia, assistant to Sarani Master. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Another significant figure in the Indian Public School was Mr. Ayub Kassammia, the second son of the brother of Haji Yusufmia, a pioneer and successful businessman of Mbeya. After completing his studies in India in Kutch/Gujrat, Ayub returned to Mbeya. Initially, he taught at the Indian School organized by the local Indian community. The School was held in a rented house behind Haji Yusufmia’s house. After building the formal Indian Public school and hiring new teachers, Ayub left teaching. He joined the British Army in Nairobi during 2nd World War till the end of the War.
At the end of the 1940s and early 1950s, with the relocation of Sarani Master and his family to Nyasaland, Indian Public Schools hired new teachers from India. In 1949, a husband-and-wife team of Mr. G. D. Talavia and his wife, Vijiaben Talavia, joined the School. Mr Talavia was made the headmaster. The School continued with Gujarati as a medium of instruction, with lessons to teach English at the end of Standard 2 or the beginning of Standard 3.
Farewell to Zarinabenji Virji who left the Indian Public School for Dar es Salaam in 1952/53 after her marriage. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Among other teachers were Miss Zarina Virji (commonly known as Zarinabenji), who taught briefly and moved to Dar es Salaam after marrying Mr. Malek Ratancy, a well-known cricketer; Mr. Kassim Rahemtulla Lohar (Mr. K. R. Lohar); Mr. Hassanali Abdulla Walji of Mbeya (commonly addressed at that time as Hassanali Master and later as Dr. Walji); and Mr. Abdulmalek Ali Valla also of Mbeya.
In the 1940s and early 1950s, children’s schooling started in Standard One. When I joined Indian Public School in 1952, Vijiabenji (as we addressed her) was my first teacher in Standard One. Sudha, the younger daughter of the well-known medical doctor in Mbeya, Dr. Carpenter, joined me in Standard One. Other teachers were also involved in my education, especially Mr. Lohar and Hassanali Master (my father’s first cousin). My mother used to complain to him if I got mischievous or was not following her orders. Hassanali Master was an excellent teacher, especially in health science subjects, but he was also strict. We used to be frightened of him. Sudha and I were only four and a half years old when we joined Standard One, and competing with other older students in early primary School was difficult. Thus, my father always made me take extra tuition from Mr. Lohar, and his help and guidance in those early primary school days can never be forgotten.
Mr. K. R. Lohar was born in Bhuj Kutch, India. He moved to Nyasaland in April of 1950 at the suggestion of his uncle, Sarani Master, who, as I already mentioned, moved from Mbeya to Nyasaland in 1948. Mr. Lohar taught at Zumba school in Nyasaland. In 1952, he married his cousin Khulsum, Sarani Master’s daughter. She was born in Zanzibar, where her father had once taught early in his teaching career. At the advice of Sarani Master, Mr. Lohar and Khulsum moved to Mbeya to teach at the Indian Public School. They have three sons; the eldest, Rhemutulla (Rhemu), was born in 1953; Rafiq in 1955; and the youngest, Hanif, in 1962 — all in Mbeya.
Mr. Dennis H. Noronha was the head teacher at Indian Public School and then at Mbeya Aga Khan School when the school first opened in 1957. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Mr. Dennis H. Noronha as Head Master with Mr. and Mrs. Talavia, Mr. K. R. Lohar, Mr. Hassanali A. Walji and teacher assistant Mr Abdulmalek Ali Valla. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
In 1953, Indian Public School received a new teacher who would become the new headmaster. His name was Mr. Dennis H. Noronha, and he was from India. His leadership and vision would end up being the catalyst for change in the Indian community of Mbeya, transforming the lives of many students. One of his main tasks was introducing English as the instruction medium. He and Mr. Hassanali Walji also introduced a physical program and sports into the school curriculum.
Physical education at Indian Public School, Mbeya with Mr. Hassanali Walji and Mr. D. H. Noronha. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Physical education at the Indian Public School Mbeya. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Mr. Hassanali Abdulla Walji (later known as Dr. Walji) was born in Manyoni, a small town in the Singida district of Tanganyika. He was one of the earliest teachers at the Indian Public School after completing his studies in Dar es Salaam. His main subjects were health science and physical education. Before the closure of the Indian Public Schools and the move to the new Aga Khan School, this local young man decided to go to London, England, to study physiotherapy and Chiropody (podiatry). Studying overseas at that time was a privilege, especially in Western countries. While in Europe, he also had an audience with Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan, the 48th Hereditary Ismaili Imam.
Mr. Hassanali A Walji (Dr. Walji) with Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan; mid-1950s. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
After completing his studies in the UK, he returned to Mbeya. On his return, I still remember that Dr. Hassanali Walji, as he was now known, gave us (the whole student group and the community) a talk on his travel overseas by ship and about the process of studying overseas. At least for me, he sowed the seeds for further education overseas after my studies in Mbeya, and I always remember that talk and thank him for it.
Mbeya is a small town, and for his practice in physiotherapy and podiatry, Dr. Walji moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where he established a very successful practice. He, however, continued with his other main interest in Ismaili and Islamic studies through his extensive reading and self-studying. He was also gifted with a fantastic singing voice, and with his love for Ginans (Ismaili hymns composed by Ismaili Pirs and missionaries centuries earlier), he recited them regularly. Dr. Anil Walji, his son, an Anatomy Professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, inherited that from his father. Dr. Hassanali Walji also became an honorary Alwaez (missionary) in the Ismaili community and preached regularly. His sermons were very well received. It was a significant loss in 1978 when he passed away apparently from a heart attack in Nairobi, Kenya.
It may be noted that the Aga Khan Education Structure in East Africa had started as early as the end of the 19th Century; the earliest center to teach basic literacy and numeracy may have been initiated in 1895 in Bagamoyo, Tanganyika by Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III. In the 1940s and 1950s, under the chair of Princess Joan Aly Khan (the late mother of the present Aga Khan) and with the revised structure, more Aga Khan primary and secondary schools were established in Dar es Salaam in Tanganyika, Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya, and Kampala in Uganda, first for girls and then for the boys. Later, co-ed schools for boys and girls were built for primary education in other East African towns and opened to all races and faiths.
One such School was constructed in Mbeya and opened in 1957 to replace the existing Indian Public School. This new School would cater to teaching from Standard One to Ten.
Mbeya Aga Khan School Education Committee 1957 with the teaching faculty. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
Mr. Denis H. Noronha headed the Mbeya Aga Khan School. He gained quick recognition and respect among students, parents and the school committee, given his tenure as the headmaster of the Indian Public School and his kind concern for the students of this small town, his leadership abilities and his forward thinking for the student’s further education. His advice and criticism were genuine. Indian Public School was closed permanently, and all the teachers from that School moved to the new Aga Khan School. The teaching faculty consisted of Mr. K. R. Lohar, Mr. Almeida, Mr. Jagirdar, Mr. Sadrudin Merchant, Mrs. Aramita Geraldine Narohna and Mrs. Shrin Ratancy.
With the new Mbeya Aga Khan School in operation and open to all races and faiths, Mr. Noronha, as the Headmaster, managed to attract more teachers, and his teaching faculty increased; Mr. and Mrs. Philips and a second, Mr. Philips from India, joined. The two male Philips were distinguished from each other by their heights, and the students referred to them by calling them “Tall” and ‘Short” Mr. Philips. Afterward, Mr. Rawat, Mr. Demelo, and Mr. de Souza joined.
Staff, Mbeya Aga Khan School, 1958-1960. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
With their hard work and dedication, this teaching faculty brought up the standard of teaching per the Aga Khan Education criteria, making it possible for the students to relocate quickly to other schools when they moved to other secondary and high schools in East Africa to continue their education beyond Grade 10.
In 1959/60, Mr. Denis Noronha retired as head teacher of the Aga Khan School. He and his teacher wife, Aramita, opened their own business, providing tuition for school subjects and accountancy courses. He became an insurance agent with an office in the Mbeya East African Airways building. In the 1960s, the Noronha family left Mbeya for good and relocated to Bangalore, India. They opened a private school there, which became quite successful and well-known. Aramita passed away in Bangalore on January 6, 1989. Mr. Noronha and his eldest daughter continued running the School there. Mr. Dennis Noronha passed away on December 7, 2008. Mr. and Mrs. Noronha’s passing was a significant loss to his immediate family and the Mbeya people, who had come to regard them as their own family.
Staff, Mbeya Aga Khan School, 1960-1962. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
After Mr. Noronha left the Aga Khan School, Mr. Naidu took over the head teacher’s position. Subsequently, after his departure in 1962/63, Mr. de Souza became the head teacher. Unfortunately, just six months later, he died of an apparent heart attack. Mr. K. R. Lohar succeeded him.
Mr. de Souza, Head Teacher, Mbeya Aga Khan School, 1963. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
In 1971/72, the socialist government of Tanzania nationalized all the Aga Khan Schools, and they came under the government administration. Mbeya Aga Khan School’s name was changed to Azimo School. Mr. Lohar taught there up to 1972 and left to teach at another school in Mbeya situated in the previous “European” area of Mbeya. He, with his wife Khulsum, moved to Leicester, UK, to join their sons in 1990 and for the treatment of Khulsum’s cancer. She passed away in Leicester in 1990. Mr. Lohar lived in Leicester with his son. In April of 1997, he had a stroke, and two months after his stroke, he was found to have cancer of the throat (he smoked heavily). He passed away on December 1, 1997, at the age of 67 years.
Mr. K .R. Lohar, Head Teacher, Mbeya Aga Khan School, 1964. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
In the mid-and late 1960s, Tanzanian-trained teachers and teacher assistants joined the team. To name a few (who were from the Mbeya Indian community), they were Miss Gulshan Dharsee, Miss Nurjehan Karim Lalji, Miss Fatma Bandali, Miss Gulzar Razak Hirji, and Mr Sadrudin Ali Valla. Mr Salim Dawood, originally from Dar es Salaam, also took up a teaching position at the Mbeya Aga Khan School. He would later move to the Aga Khan Primary School in Dar es Salaam, where he taught maths. Mr. Dawood passed away in Toronto in 2019. The native African teachers also joined the team.
Local trained including African teachers at the Mbeya Aga Khan School in the mid 1960s. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
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Local trained including African teachers at the Mbeya Aga Khan School in the mid 1960s. Photograph: Dr. Mohamed Manji collection.
The population of Mbeya Indians by the 6th decade of the 20th Century was about one thousand. Practically all the children who attended Mbeya Indian Public School and then Aga Khan School were born in the Southern Highland region of Tanganyika, of which Mbeya was the main administrative town. With this small population, Mbeya produced eight Medical doctors, one lawyer, eight registered nurses, five Chartered/Certified Accountants, four engineers, two legal secretaries, one with an Agriculture degree, and many more with college certification. This proud result of the Mbeya student’s achievement resulted from good schooling and ongoing guidance during the 1940s,1950s, and 1960s, which were done by those mentioned above, very dedicated and committed teachers of Mbeya. They were our Mbeya’s education heroes. They sparked the value and importance of education for students and society. I should state that Mr. Denis H. Noronha played a significant part in this. He brought the change in the early 50s by making English the medium of instruction, changing the curriculum to a UK one, recruiting good teaching staff, and advising the students and their parents regarding further education. He groomed the students to think far ahead. With this foundation, teachers like Mr. de Souza and Mr. K. R. Lohar, who followed him as a head teacher, continued to use the same approach and policy.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in May 2008. Photograph: Gary Otte/The Ismaili.
At the Foundation Laying Ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy in Dacca, Bangladesh, in 2008, His Highness the Aga Khan stated, “Ultimately, the art of teaching is a mission. Those who embark upon the journey of teaching seek to transform individuals and communities, inspired by a sense of purpose”. Secondly, in a speech at the Aga Khan University in Karachi in 2000, His Highness said, “Teaching is one of the most valued professions because it opens minds to greater self-awareness as well as to the knowledge that gives learners greater control over their destinies.”
This statement proved very true for the Mbeya students of the 1940s, 50s, & 60s when they had to emigrate to the West in the early 1970s because of the “mopping up” measures in the way of the “Acquisition of Building Act 1971” brought by the socialist government of Tanzania. Indian-owned buildings, farms, etc., were nationalized without compensation. The economic security of the Indians was jeopardized because of the Africanization of businesses and jobs. Things became difficult to live there, and thus, the Indian population left Tanzania in large numbers. The students were able to resettle in countries like Canada, the USA, the UK & Australia, and they have done well in their jobs, practices and businesses. Some of us have achieved good positions at various institutions and academic positions at multiple Universities.
On behalf of all Mbeya students and their parents, I want to thank the teachers who taught us and prepared us for the future. We students also pray for the peace of the souls of all our departed teachers.
Date posted: August 14, 2024.
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Acknowledgement: The author would like to thank Cynthia (Noronha) Mascarena, Mr. Vincent Noronha, Mr. Rhemtulla (Remu) K. R. Lohar, and Mr. Karim Nurdin Popat Kassam for their help and information for this article.
Feedback: We welcome feedback from our readers in response to Dr. Manji’s informative piece about Mbeya teachers. Please click Leave a comment or send your comment to mmerchant@simerg.com. We welcome similar pieces about your experiences studying or teaching in Ismaili educational institutions in any part of the world.
Dr. Mohamed (Mo) Fazal Manji
About the author: Dr. Mohamed Fazal Manji, MD, DMRT, DABRT, FRCPC, who is originally from Mbeya Tanzania, is a cancer specialist. He is a Consultant Radiation Oncologist at BC Cancer Agency of British Columbia, Canada, and Clinical Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. He graduated in medicine from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and immigrated to Canada in 1972. He specialised in radiation cancer treatments at Princess Margaret Hospital (Cancer Center as it is called now) in Toronto. He obtained the Canadian Fellowship (FRCPC) and American Board Specialist Certification (DABRT) in Radiation Oncology. He also undertook special courses in Nuclear Medicine and Endocrinology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. He became the first Canadian trained Ismaili Radiation Oncologist in Canada and probably in North America. He has been working at BC Cancer agency since 1977. He spent time abroad, working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to help modernize the Radiation Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center. He spent 12 years at this tertiary hospital for cancer and other diseases. He was also involved in the planning and development of Radiation Oncology Departments at the Aga Khan University Hospitals in Karachi and Nairobi and spent some time working at both places. He has contributed to many peer review publications, abstracts, book chapters and also lecture presentations nationally and internationally. Dr. Manji is also a recipient of 2022 Royal College of Physician & Surgeon of Canada’s M Andrew Padmos International Collaboration Award.
He is the son of Rai Fazal Manji of Mbeya Tanzania, who served as a member of Aga Khan Supreme Council of Tanganyika in 1950s and Raibanu Rehmat Fazal Manji, daughter of Alijah Mohamed Hamir who, in early 1930s, built an iconic Jamatkhana in Iringa, Tanzania, and donated to Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah unconditionally. Appointed by His Highness the Aga Khan, Dr. Manji served as the first Member for Health on the first Aga Khan Ismaili Regional Council of Ontario and Quebec in 1973 under President Riaz Jethwani.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un “Surely we belong to God and to Him we return” — Holy Qur’an, 2:156
“Life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing to be shuffled through as best as we can but a lofty and exalted destiny.” — Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III (1877-1957), 48th Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.
Amirali Alibhai Bhatia (b. March 18, 1932), a long-serving education administrator in the Imamat institutions of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, in Tanzania and the UK, as well President of the Aga Khan Council for the UK from the late 1970s until the early 1980s, has died in London, England, at the age of 91.
Mr. Bhatia was bestowed with the title of Vazir by Mawlana Hazar Imam during his tenure as the President of the UK Aga Khan Council. Mr. Bhatia also served as member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Ismaili Studies, which was created by Mawlana Hazar Imam on December 13, 1977.
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Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, and Begum Salimah look on as Vazir Amir Bhatia, President of His Highness the Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for the UK, addresses members of the community at the Aga Khan Council dinner in honour of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Silver Jubilee visit to the UK in July 1983. Photograph: Ismaili Forum, December 1983.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, addresses the new graduates at the University of London Institute of Education during his Silver Jubilee visit to the UK in July 1983. Seated in front row is Diwan Sir Eboo Pirbhai. Looking on, in the inset picture, are Amir Bhatia, President of the UK Aga Khan Council, and Anil Ishani, both of whom were members of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Ismaili Studies. Photograph: Ismaili Forum, December 1983.
Mr. Bhatia was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997 for his numerous contributions in the UK, and was amongst the 15 peers appointed from 3000 nominations to the House of Lords in 2001 during Tony Blair’s term as the Prime Minister of the UK. He then took his seat in the House of Lords (The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the United Kingdom’s parliament. The members of the House of Lords are not elected by the public, but are appointed by the monarch, appointed by the Prime Minister, or are hereditary peers. To become a lord in the House of Lords, one can be appointed as a life peer by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.)
Mr. Bhatia was thereafter referred to as Lord Bhatia and actively contributed in the House (see excerpts from 3 of his more than 150 oral statements, below). He ceased to be a member of the House of Lords in 2023 due to non-attendance. Several years earlier, in 2010, Lord Bhatia was mired in a controversy when he was found to have broken the House’s expense rules. He was suspended from the House of Lords for eight months. Aside from this and another similar controversy a few years later, and his indifference to an important sister Ismaili Institution in the 1980s, Vazir Bhatia was an outstanding administrator, and a very organizerd, hard-working and conscientious leader. In one of his speeches made at an event in London attended by the editor during the mid 1970s, Vazir Bhatia spoke about his role as Tanzania’s education administrator. He said that when he assumed the position, he studied all the files from the mid 1930s onwards to learn about the developments that had taken place in the education sector within the Ismaili community. The late Vazir was meticulous in all his undertakings.
Mr. and Mrs. Merchant are pictured in front at left in this photograph submitted to Malik Merchant, editor of Simerg, by Lord Bhatia. Other recognizable faces in the photograph are Mr. Dina and Mr. and Mrs. Hasni Remtulla. Photograph: Lord Bhatia.
In recent years, Lord Bhatia was in touch with the editor of Simerg, commending him on his 3 websites, and also spoke to his mother, Mrs Merchant (d. 2021), to convey his condolences when her loving husband, Jehangir, died in 2018. To the editor’s surprise, Lord Bhatia shared a picture of Mr and Mrs Merchant when they were teachers at the Aga Khan Girls Secondary School in Dar es Salaam. Lord Bhatia wrote: “Dear Malic (sic): Here are some photos of your parents. I thought you would like them as you may not have them.” Indeed, I had never seen the photos before, and will treasure them for the rest of my life.
A very compact summary of Mr. Bhatia’s services is posted on the website of United Religions Initiative (URI). Readers are also invited to read an article published in 2004 in the UK Muslim magazine, Emel, entitled A Week in the Life of Lord Bhatia.
We convey our deepest condolences to the family of Vazir (Lord) Amirali Bhatia and pray that his soul may rest in eternal peace. Ameen.
We invite our readers to offer their condolences and tributes to Lord Bhatia by clicking on LEAVE A COMMENT
As part of this brief tribute, Simerg researched the UK Parliamentary Hansard and found transcripts of some 167 spoken statements made by Lord Bhatia between 2013 and 2121 on a wide range of subjects. We have excerpts from 3 statements that are important to our readers; they show Lord Bhatia’s insights into important issues of the day.
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Elton, for initiating this timely debate on the persecution of people of faith in this century.
There are a number of national and international treaties on this subject; I will not repeat them because the noble Lord has already referred to them. Despite that, these treaties continue to be violated.
When I was introduced to the House of Lords, I took my oath with a Holy Koran and quietly started with the word “Bismillah”, meaning, “In the name of Allah, most beneficent and most merciful”. I have never differentiated between faiths. As a Muslim, my closest friends have been Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jews and those of no faith. The Holy Koran, in surah 2, says: “The Apostle believeth in what hath been revealed to him from the Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one of them believeth in God, His angels, His books and His apostles. ‘We make no distinction (they say) between one or another of His apostles’”.
As an ex-trustee of Oxfam, I met another trustee, Ansel Harris, and we became very good friends; our children and spouses became good friend as well. We travelled together to Israel, India and the Middle East. We learnt about the practice of each other’s faiths and shared each other’s jokes and stories. Ansel and his wife Lea were to attend my introduction to the House of Lords—but Ansel had another appointment, with his maker.
I attended the funeral and saw very little difference between Muslim and Jewish rituals. A few weeks later, there was a memorial service in Hampstead Town Hall. I was asked to speak and made my speech. Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was present, and after a few days he wrote an article in the Times. I have deposited the full article in the Library, but will quote a few sentences:
“At the memorial service recently, one of the speakers was Lord Bhatia, whom he had come to know through his work for Oxfam. It was clear from the tone of his tribute that the two men shared a moral vision and had been close friends.
“What held them together, one a passionate Jew, the other a no less committed Muslim? The short answer is that they cared for something larger than their respective faith communities … When they saw disease, poverty and despair, they didn’t stop to ask who was suffering; they acted.
“They knew that tears are a universal language, and help a universal command. They saw faith not as a secluded castle but as a window onto a wider world. They saw God’s image in the face of a stranger, and heard His call in the cry of a starving child.
“Does faith make us great or does it make us small? On this question, much of the future of our world depends. Jews, Christians and Muslims can live together in friendship, so long as we never forget those things that transcend religious differences – of which human suffering is one.
“When we focus, not on ourselves, but on those who need help, our separate journeys converge and we become joint builders of a more gracious world”.
To conclude, whenever someone attacks Christians, I feel that they have attacked my faith. This is my contribution to this important debate. The world will be a better place if attacks on any faith are dealt with by the full force of the law. These attacks on faith are made by a small number of people who, in the name of their faiths or for political or personal gain, attack other faiths.
My Lords, the statement made by the Prime Minister on 3 June 2013 is correct and has been echoed by the leaders of the Labour Party and the Lib Dems. Terrorism and extremism has existed in people from all faiths and religions. The important thing to understand is that such terroristsform a very small part of the faith groups.
If one looks at the Muslim communities in Britain, there is a huge silent majority who abhor violence in the name of their religion. They are peace-loving British citizens who practise their faith and contribute to the welfare of their own communities, the wider communities and the United Kingdom. They oppose the attacks on innocent civilians. No religion advocates violence. Those who commit violence should be dealt with by the police and other law-enforcing agencies.
Turning to Islam as a faith community, I wish to say that Islam, although it is the fastest-growing faith in the world, is little understood or not understood at all in the West. There is a deficit of understanding of Islam. Islam is a peaceful faith and occasionally, like all other faiths, it is hijacked by a handful of radicalised people for their own perverted personal or political reasons and ambitions. Islam reveres all the prophets — Christ, Moses, Abraham and others. Muslims are shocked when the prophets are ridiculed or abused on the altar of freedom of speech and expression.
Freedom of expression is a democratic right, but it carries responsibility. Our democracy is based on the rule of law, and those who break the law should be dealt with in the courts. Our courts are independent and magistrates and judges ensure that justice is not only delivered but seen to be done.
Turning to the Muslim community in Britain, I ask the Minister whether more could be done to support newly arrived spouses and partners from different parts of the world who come to join their families. In order to integrate them into the wider communities, they need to learn English. There are thousands of Muslim women who need to learn English to be able to communicate with the wider community and participate in civic society. They also need to be able to communicate with their own children who go to school. I believe that English and the ability to use a computer with internet connectivity are the two tools that will bring such isolated groups of women from the margins to the mainstream.
English and computers will enable the mothers to understand what their children are doing with their computers when they return home from school. Are they doing their homework, or are they playing computer games or chatting with undesirable people? The Minister should consider talking to some of the charities who work with these isolated groups of women to explore how additional funding could be given to those charities to help these isolated groups of women.
My Lords, this year’s International Women’s Day is like no other. As countries and communities start to slowly recover from a devastating pandemic, we have the chance to finally end the exclusion and marginalisation of women and girls. Women must have the possibility to play a full part in shaping the pivotal decisions being made right now, as countries respond to and recover from the pandemic. These choices will affect the well-being of people and the planet for generations to come.
To do this, we must break down the deep-seated historic, cultural and socioeconomic barriers that prevent women taking their seat at the decision-making table, while ensuring that resources and power are more equitably distributed. However, having a seat at the table also leads to problems. The question is whether the women are heard or not. Unless the table has equal numbers of men and women, having a seat will not work.
Different countries have different attitudes to women. Disappointingly, there is a known attitude in some families that, if a girl is born, it is considered as a problem. Science now enables families to find out early in pregnancy whether it is a boy or a girl. The women are often encouraged, and in some cases forced, to abort. I came across an article written by a prominent lady researcher in India. She talked about a family who had a boy and a girl; as they grew up, the girl related to the researcher: “If you look at me or my mother, we are both weak and not in good health. My father and brothers are very healthy. If they are ill, the best doctors or hospitals are used. If I or my mother are ill, only the local untrained person is called in. At mealtimes, my brother and father are served first. My mother and I get the leftovers”.
Unless such attitudes are dealt with, women will always be second-class citizens in their families –and unless legislation is in force, things will not change. I hope that this International Women’s Day will highlight such problems and get Governments to give equal rights to women.
Date posted: January 16, 2024.
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We invite our readers to offer their condolences and tributes to Vazir Amir Bhatia by clicking on LEAVE A COMMENT. If you encounter a technical issue submitting your comment, please email it to mmerchant@simerg.com, Subject Lord Bhatia.
“That Which Defeats” (Kileme) is what the Wachagga people traditionally called Mount Kilimanjaro. Whereas the deceptively gentle slope of Africa’s highest elevation looks easier to climb than steeper peaks, it regularly defeats physically fit individuals equipped with 21st-century gear and supported by teams of guides, porters and cooks. 30,000 eager souls from around the world attempt to scale “Kili” annually but altitude sickness, dehydration, and exhaustion prevent many from reaching the summit. The dormant volcano’s most powerful weapon is psychological — it tricks the human mind into surrendering. Compared to the 90% success of those leaving from the Mount Everest Base Camp, only 45% from Kilimanjaro’s Base Camp make it to the top. Around ten people die on Kili every year.
In pushing themselves to their extremes climbers become sharply aware of their relationship with nature and life itself. The attempt’s enormous exertion involves an intense engagement of the entire human being — body, mind and spirit — regardless of whether one reaches the summit. The words of Aga Khan III, Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah, resonate with this experience:
“Struggle is the meaning of life; defeat or victory is in the hands of God. But struggle itself is man’s duty and should be his joy.”
Dedicated and persistent striving enables perceptions of deep, concealed truths about oneself.
Today, as I gaze at Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains, my thoughts turn back to December 1973 when Kilimanjaro itself taught me how to ascend it. Fifty years later, I still strive to understand the enigmatic experience during which the mountain forced a humbling introspection. Kili crushed my 17-year-old self’s delusions and repositioned my attitude towards nature to make the ascent possible. The event became a landmark on life’s uneven terrain and a point of re-orientation during times of difficulty.
Stumbling Upon Arrival
Eruptive activity 2.5 million years ago in the Great Rift Valley began forming the world’s highest free-standing mountain above sea level. Three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira, crown the colossus that geographically covers 1,000 square kilometres and from base to summit holds five eco-climatic zones (cultivation, forest, heather-moorland, alpine desert, and arctic).
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Students from Aga Khan High School, Nairobi, who attended the Outward Bound Mountain School of East Africa in 1973 and 1974. From left, Karim H. Karim, (author of this piece), Mahmud Mitha, Nashir Abdulla, and Amin Ahmed. Photograph: Karim H. Karim collection.
Mountains hold a universal mystique and to some, they beckon as a personal challenge. Aga Khan High School, which I attended in Nairobi, had held annual mountain-climbing trips for senior students, but these ventures had been discontinued by the time I reached the upper levels.
Some students looked to the Outward Bound Mountain School of East Africa, whose brochure said that its strenuous 23-day courses, including Kilimanjaro climbs, were “based on a spiritual foundation” and as an opportunity for self-discovery through self-discipline, teamwork and “man-management.” The school’s motto, “To Serve, To Strive and Not To Yield” is adapted from the line in Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, whose original wording reads: “To serve, to strive, to find and not to yield.” Ironically, it was “to find” that was vital to my Outward Bound experience.
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Outward Bound badge (left) with the motto “To Serve to Strive and Not to Yield” and Outward Bound pin. Photographs: Karim H. Karim collection.
Alexander Pope, another poet, famously remarked that “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” How foolish I was, never having climbed so much as a hill or gone camping, to think that I would tackle Africa’s highest mountain. Whereas my athletic performance in my early secondary years had been above average, the high school’s physical education program was non-existent at upper levels. I had become used to the comfortable and spoiled life of a middle-class South Asian teenager in a household where African servants did most of the physical labour. Even the doctor who provided my fitness certificate to attend Outward Bound was somewhat skeptical, but that did not spoil my dream of reaching Africa’s summit.
The Outward Bound campus occupied 27 acres on the Kenyan side of the Kilimanjaro rain forest near the small town of Loitokitok in Maasai country — a bumpy four-hour bus ride from Nairobi. Excited would-be mountaineers were dropped off for Course L154 held from November 29 to December 22, 1973. The contingent was met by instructors who told us to embark immediately on a cross-country run. I jogged along with the group but, after a while, could not keep up with the bigger, fitter colleagues. My lungs strained, and though I strove to push myself it wasn’t long before I found myself gasping on the ground. The goal to be at the mountain’s top had stumbled at its base. I looked up at Kilimanjaro and the large Kibo peak seemed to be mocking me.
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Tanzania map (Shaded Relief), 2003, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. Simerg has added an annotation — the location of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is shown with an orange diamond. The mountain is very close to the Kenya border. The approximate distance from the small town of Loitokitok (not shown) in Kenya, where the Outward Bound Mountain School of East Africa was located, to Kilimanjaro is 140 km. Please click on map for enlargement.
Students were assigned dormitories according to designated “patrols.” Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had been allocated 20 participants each, but something was lost in translation and the Tanzanian coordinator sent 60. Rather than send 40 back, the British warden decided to let all stay and the course was hurriedly reconfigured into two sections, whose activity schedules were staggered. Consequently, students in my section were given little preparatory training before they were sent up the mountain for the Solo Expedition. This did not bode well.
The Pangs of Failure
The course’s students were all Africans except for three South Asians and most of the instructors came from the US with a few from Tanzania and Uganda. Additional patrols were formed due to the unexpectedly large contingent and assistant instructors were put in charge of some patrols including mine. Participants were assigned responsibilities; I was appointed quartermaster, responsible for distributing supplies.
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Group photo of the Nelion Patrol, with Karim H. Karim sitting at the bottom left. Photograph: Karim H. Karim collection.
The Solo Expedition involved a trek up to the altitude of 12,000 feet where each student spent a night alone on the mountainside. This major activity was normally scheduled for the course’s fifth day, but our section had to embark two days early. Nonetheless, we excitedly started our trek up Kilimanjaro, crossing the border into Tanzania, going past farms and into the rain forest. As the heat and humidity pressed on us in the early morning, a blur of black and white fur suddenly appeared on tall trees — it was a Colobus monkey swinging over us. We wondered how many other animals watched our contingent passing through their territory.
Vegetation became sparser and the air got thinner and cooler as we climbed higher into the heather-moorland zone. Rucksacks felt heavier at the sharper incline and feet began to slip on the rocky terrain. Most carried around 40 pounds of weight but I had unthinkingly over-packed mine and was taking frequent breaks, which slowed the patrol down. Then, without saying a word, one person took my bag and distributed several of its contents among the patrol as I, the quartermaster, sat on a rock feeling very embarrassed. (I learned later that such an experience was not uncommon in Outward Bound courses.)
The patrol reached its destination in the late afternoon. We were to spend the night alone on the rocky slope half a kilometre from one another. Each student had only a few food supplies, three matchsticks and a well-worn sleeping bag. The instructor designated our respective spots on the mountainside, and I resolved to put the day’s humiliation aside to make the best of the situation.
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Snow-capped Kibo peak of Kilimanjaroat left with the Mawenzi peak at right, picturedin 1936 from a landing ground near Moshi, Tanzania (then Tanganyika). The plane was en route to Arusha. Photograph: Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection, US Library of Congress.
Looking upwards, Kibo’s snowy peak gleamed closer than ever before and on the other side was the vast mountainside sloping downwards. It was getting dark, and I set to gathering firewood. Never having made a campfire in my life, I diligently assembled a pile of sticks that would warm me in the night. With the wood and kindling arranged in a neat pile, the fire was all set to be lit. The evening sky was clear except for the small clouds that were swiftly riding up the mountain and through my small campsite. I struck the first match and put it to paper to start the fire. The flame fizzled out as soon as it touched the kindling. No matter, I told myself — there are two more left. The second match also went out at the paper. Only one remained. My hands trembled and I began to pray. But no success again. What went wrong? I realized that I had been foiled by the innocent-looking clouds that had moistened the kindling. My spirits dampened as I set to spend the night on the cold and desolate mountainside with no fire to warm me or my food. The hazy half-moon also gave no comfort. I looked up at Kibo and it seemed to be laughing at me again.
When the patrol reassembled the following morning for the descent, it became apparent that almost everyone had had a difficult time. We trudged downhill, arriving at the school late in the evening. My confidence was severely depleted, and I was overcome with a sense of failure. Many Outward Bound participants experienced mental distress at this stage of the course, but the possibility of escape from the isolated school was slim. The bus came to Loitokitok once a week and communication with the rest of the world was only by a ham radio in the warden’s office. “Warden” indeed! We had found ourselves to be in a prison.
Daybreak at the school began with a cross-country run followed immediately by a plunge into the freezing swimming pool. This rapid hot-cold transition increased the body’s haemoglobin to enhance oxygen intake at high altitude. Participants engaged for some two weeks in various forms of training and activities (which are amply described in the book Kilimanjaro Outward Bound by Salim Manji). The anticipation of the impending climb to Kili’s summit was constantly in our minds and from time to time, we stared at the peak in the distance, wondering about the challenges that it would hurl at us as we attempted to scale it.
The Final Expedition
Sixty students and instructors set out in the week before Christmas for the Final Expedition, taking the Rongai Route on Kilimanjaro’s northern face as we had for the Solo Expedition. Private sector package trips along this way took six to seven days. On Outward Bound’s schedule, the climbers carrying their own loads endeavoured to reach the summit on the third morning and return to the school after spending another day descending.
The course’s activities were designed to toughen students physically and mentally, but a sense of failure from the previous ascent weighed heavily on me. Nonetheless, the aspiration to make it to the top was still very much alive. I had figured out how to climb better and gained more confidence as we rose above the level of the Solo Expedition, but the going got harder as the oxygen thinned. Ultraviolet exposure at high altitude peeled the skin off my face. Objects looked and felt strange. The alpine desert zone, strewn with sharp-edged reddish rocks, appeared like terrain on Mars. An airliner flying near the peak to give passengers a closer view seemed like a surreal sight. I asked a senior instructor during a break whether it was physical or mental preparation that was more important for the climb. He replied that “mental fitness helps you draw on untapped physical resources.” I gazed at Kibo and it seemed to smile.
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This image taken by EO-1’s Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on Jan. 20, 2017, shows snowcap of the volcanic Mount Kilimanjaro. Photograph: NASA’s Earth Observatory.
We reached the base camp on the second afternoon. The large, rugged Outward Bound Hut sat on the desolate rocky saddle between Kibo and Mawenzi peaks at 15,469 ft (4,715 m), where the barren environment’s only visible life was our group. It became dark and cold quickly as the sun passed behind the mountainside, which was now an enormous presence. We slipped into our sleeping bags early as the remaining 4,000 ft ascent was to begin at 2 am. It seemed that we had hardly slept when the instructors roused us. I noticed in the dim light that some water that had spilled from a container near my head and had frozen on the floorboards.
Scaling at nighttime is a vital tactic to improve the chances of reaching Kibo’s summit. Many climbers fail because the slope’s convex shape makes the summit seem closer than it really is. The mountain’s cap remains hidden by the terrain’s curve and as hikers approach what they think is the top they realize that there is more to go. The disappointment hits people repeatedly, and they feel increasingly disheartened. It is in this way that Kili mentally defeats many able mountaineers who make it this far. Attempting the final ascent in pitch dark helps prevent climbers from succumbing to Kibo’s deception.
It was impossible to walk straight up the slope as feet sank into screes — the masses of loose, little stones that cover the peak — so we snaked on the slope in long zig-zag lines. After some time, several colleagues began to fall prey to severe altitude sickness, dehydration, or exhaustion and were forced to turn back. Others pushed on. We had been hiking for four hours under the starry sky when it started becoming brighter and the sun inevitably rose. Looking up, we saw the visible edge of the mountain meet the sky and imagined that we were close to the summit. But this was a mirage: despite walking on and on we would just not arrive. The curve ball that Kibo was throwing at us played havoc with our minds and deeply frustrated climbers surrendered one after another.
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This 3-D perspective view of Mount Kilimanjaro was generated using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), a Landsat 7 satellite image, and a false sky. The topographic expression is vertically exaggerated two times. Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. Date Acquired: February 21, 2000 (Landsat 7).
One-third of the group remained. It was harder to lift our legs because our boots were partially buried in the screes, and we advanced only one step for every three steps that we took. I looked up to find Kibo’s snowcap, but it was not visible from our location on the slope. How close was it? How much more to go? I prayed to find a way for me to reach the goal. To serve, to strive, to find and not to yield.
My mind appeared to slide into a kind of trance and the pain, the exhaustion and the endless climb’s futility slipped out of consciousness. Nothing seemed to matter. I even disconnected with the aim of reaching the top. Nevertheless, the body continued to move forward — but with little awareness of motion. One foot went in front of the other, on and on and on. It seemed that the intense struggle had dimmed the perception of physical agony and mental anguish, and my being had found a way to ignore completely the urge to stop.
When body and mind recede, spirit comes to the fore. Kilimanjaro had battered me for almost three weeks, putting the body through punishing challenges and the mind through deep feelings of frustration and failure. It seemed that I had asked the instructor the wrong question about physical or mental preparation on the previous day because the mountain regularly defeated people with superior physical and mental training. It turns both body and mind into one’s enemies. How was it then that I had survived to this point? It seemed that Kilimanjaro itself was the instructor that had shown me gradually, through a series of defeats, how to tackle the biggest challenge. The failures of body and mind had induced me to look for a way beyond them. Instead of trying to conquer the mountain, I had to have the humility to learn from it. Rather than obey my own body and mind’s command to surrender, my being instead had to turn to nature and bow to it. With that submission, Kili itself lifted me.
It felt like an anti-climax to arrive at Gilman’s Point after what seemed to be an interminable journey. Standing at 18,885 ft (5,756 m) it is one of Kilimanjaro’s three summits, the other two being Uhuru and Stella. With my name written in the book kept in a wooden box, I continued with the remaining climbers towards Uhuru Point, the mountain’s highest spot (19,341 ft / 5,895 m), which was 139 meters higher than Gilman and a 5.5 km trek around Kibo’s volcanic rim. My mind continued in a trance-like state. Although I had never previously been near snow, I did not even notice it around me on the Arctic-zone summit. My body seemed to have reached extreme limits, but it kept walking. At one point, when an instructor helped me up after I had collapsed with utter fatigue onto a boulder, my frame immediately resumed walking as if it were a programmed machine.
Thick clouds had gathered ahead on the volcano’s ridge. Instructors assessed it too dangerous to continue and decided that the group had to turn back. There must have been some human emotion left in me because I felt the disappointment of not reaching Uhuru, even though climbers making it to Gilman are formally considered to have scaled Kilimanjaro. The descent took one day and there were blisters on the soles of my feet by the time we made it to the school. Many were surprised to hear that I had made it to the summit.
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On the course’s last day, students went on a final daybreak run and plunge, the warden presented certificates and we said our goodbyes. My mind tried to process the Outward Bound experience on the bus trip back to Nairobi, but it was overwhelmed. Kilimanjaro had put me through a profoundly humbling process of self-realization. I seemed to be in a state of shock, from which it took months to recover. Half a century later, I have finally been able to write about the 23 days in 1973 that made a life-long impact.
Date posted: December 27, 2023.
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Karim H. Karim
About the author: Karim H. Karim is Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University. He is an award-winning author and the Government of Canada has honoured him for his public service. Dr. Karim has served as director of Carleton’s School of Journalism & Communication and its Centre for the Study of Islam as well as of the Institute of Ismaili Studies. His publications can be accessed at Academia.edu.
Simerg’s series entitled “Books by Ismaili Authors” continues with Calgary based Zul Premji’s recent book “Malaria Memoirs: My Life Journey as a Public Health Doctor in Tanzania.” We follow the same Q/A format as our earlier presentations of books written by Azim Jiwani (Vancouver), Naznin Rahemtulla Hébert (Montreal), Shairoz Lakhani (London, UK), Shelina Shariff Zia (New York), Ali Lakhani (Vancouver), Nizar Sultan (Toronto), Nargis Fazal (Vancouver), Nazlin Rahemtulla (Vancouver), Azmina Suleman (Calgary), Alnasir Rajan (Mississauga), Shafeen Ali (USA), Mansoor Ladha (Calgary), Zeni Shariff (Toronto) and Shamas Nanji (Edmonton). We encourage Ismaili authors from around the world to participate in this series, regardless of when their books were published. See details of the series HERE and submit your responses accordingly to Simerg’s editor, Malik, at mmerchant@simerg.com.
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“This memoir is a rags-to-riches tale full of material on human frailty…It anchors Zul as a superb storyteller…Candid, Honest and Stimulating” — Wafaie Fawzi, Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences, Harvard University
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Simerg’s Interview with Dr Zul Premji
Simerg: What is behind the naming of the title of the book?
Zul Premji: The title of my book Malaria Memoirs reflects my life story from birth to retirement. For almost forty years of my professional career, I devoted my life to control malaria in Tanzania; thus my life story is intertwined with malaria in Tanzania. I believe many migrants from Africa who have settled in Europe and North American would have suffered from malaria illness in their childhood while in Africa. This book gives them the nostalgic experience of such malaria episodes and perhaps may provide some insights into malaria as a disease and a public health threat. Through this book the generation that migrated will be able to relay their stories about mosquitoes, mosquito coils, the bitter pills and bed nets to the next generation.
Simerg: Why would you want me or my family members to read the book, and what will we all learn from it?
Premji: This book is a tale of hard work, honesty, determination, failures and success. It is a humble story of a poor family and how one of the siblings becomes a Professor at the Medical School in Dar es Salaam. For the younger generation, it is a proof of concept that hard work, honesty and determination is needed to become meritocratic and achieve success in life. To many of my students, this will be an inspirational story of how teaching combined with research can be the most satisfying and effective career path. The book is also for those who are aspiring health related careers to think beyond clinical medicine like surgery, cardiology etc. and think the impact one can make in Public Health, infectious diseases, role of social sciences in disease control and overall research to prevent and minimize human suffering. This is a book that echoes, first, positive thinking in the midst of poverty, disease and suffering and, second, that there are no short cuts to success.
Simerg: What inspired you to write Malaria Memoirs?
Premji: Upon retirement and relocating to Calgary, Canada, I started to reflect on the work I did at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam. I realized through research how we were able to lower the malaria prevalence. In the process, I built a strong bond with my students and research team, hence this motivated me to write how all of this was done. The result was my biography. Another reason was the constant curiosity my grandchildren exhibited; they wanted to know everything about life in Tanzania, about my work and how I ended up being a medical doctor. The short clips of my stories have contributed to this book.
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Cover page of Zul Premji’s book “Malaria Memoirs: My Life Journey as a Public Health Doctor in Tanzania.” Paperback, published by Mawenzi House, Toronto, 2021, 144 pp.
Simerg: How can I purchase the book and what are its available formats?
Premji: The book is available in softcover and e-books, e.g., Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Google Books. It is widely available directly from the publisher, Mawenzi House, Amazon Canada, Amazon USA and Chapters/Indigo.
Intentionally, the book is not of several hundred pages and is devoid of irrelevant details but the main relevant messages are clearly illustrated. In this era of screens and fast flashy digital clips, reading culture is fast becoming historical. Keeping this in mind, one can easily read this book overnight and feel the author’s pulse.
Simerg: How did you find a publisher for the book?
Premji: I had no clue of how to find a publisher for my book especially in Canada, because malaria cannot be an attractive topic in the cold Canada where there is no malaria. However, through a mutual friend I got connected to the Toronto based Mawenzi House.
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EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
“Tremendously interesting and entertaining. Prof Zul’s Malaria Memoirs is a truly Tanzanian story to which the average person can relate” — Billy Ngasala, Professor, Muhimbili University Hospital, Dar es Salaam
He speaks with the authority of someone who has met with success. With prose that’s well paced and matter-of-fact, Malaria Memoirs reads like an intimate conversation with a friend, someone who has lived a dedicated life full of achievements and is ready to share — in Compelling People – The Malaria Guru, from rags to research, review by Rachel Gerry, Literary Review of Canada, November 2021
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Simerg: Did you hire an editor, an illustrator or did you do all the work by yourself?
Premji: I wrote the first draft on my own and later the publisher did a wonderful job in editing my initial draft.
Simerg: How long did it take you to write Malaria Memoirs from start to finish and to begin marketing it?
Premji: I think the whole process of writing, editing, printing and distribution took about two years.
Simerg: Would you like to offer further thoughts about your book?
Premji: The book is based on three phases of my life, the early phase in Morogoro, Tanga and my secondary education at a mission school in the south part of Tanzania. The second phase is how through sheer hard work and commitment I pursued medical career and the last phase is my professional life, spent mostly in research and teaching medical students. After retirement, I worked for only three years as Chair of Pathology at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi and my not so pleasant experiences and observations are clearly explained and the needed remedial actions.
Date posted: June 30, 2022.
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Dr. Zul Premji
Zul Premji was born in Iringa, Tanzania, and attended school in two towns before obtaining his medical degree from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam. He later took an MSc in Medical Parasitology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians in London, and a doctorate in Infectious Diseases from Karolinska, Sweden. His specialization included clinical trials, antimalarial drug resistance and malaria case management. Over a career of more than forty years, he has held numerous academic positions in Tanzania, and has been an advisor to National Malaria Control. He now lives in Calgary, Alberta.
We welcome feedback from our readers. Please complete the LEAVE A REPLY form below or click LEAVE A COMMENT. Your letter may be edited for length and brevity, and is subject to moderation.
Calling all Ismaili Authors
We encourage Ismaili writers to introduce their books in a similar format as has been done in the post above. Please also see the series launch article and submit your responses to Malik at mmerchant@simerg.com. All submissions will be acknowledged. If a writer has published multiple books, each book will be highlighted in a separate article, and not combined with other books into one post. All writers should include a brief profile with a portrait photo.
The Ismaili Authors’ Series so far (in chronological sequence, oldest article first):
Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
Submitted by LAYLA MOLEDINA and Members of LATE MUKHI FAZAL MOLOO (MOLEDINA) Family
Mr. Fazal Moledina arrived in Zanzibar from Kutchh Nagalpur, India, in the late 1930’s at the age of 18 years. He worked hard, saved money and sent money to his mother back home in India. He moved to Morogoro and later worked for Mr. Bhimji Ladha in Chunya, Tanzania. From there he ventured out to Mbozi, 80 kms from Mbeya, to start his own business where he became affectionately known as Fazal Moloo.
In 1945, he married Sakarkhanu from the Walji Haji family of Mbeya during Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah’s Diamond Jublilee held in Dar es Salaam. They had 5 daughters and a son from their marriage.
In Mbozi, Fazal Moloo dedicated a large room in his newly constructed house to be used as the town’s first Jamatkhana in 1955. He was a man with a big heart, and had immense love for Mawlana Hazar Imam. For the next 6 years, Ismailis would gather and congregate at this Jamatkhana, until a new one was established in 1961.
The courtyard outside the first Mbozi Jamatkhana that was hosted in a large room in the house of Fazal Moledina, popularly known as Fazal Moloo. Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
A view of the first Mbozi Jamatkhana that was housed in a large room at the residence of Fazal Moloo for 6 years from 1955-1961.Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
In December 1969, with Mawlana Hazar Imam’s grace, Fazal Moloo was appointed as the Mukhisaheb of Mbozi Jamatkhana. But in February 1970, just three months into his term, he suffered a sudden heart attack on the night of Jumaaraat (past midnight Thursday, when it is already Jumaa, Arabic or Swahili for Friday). Even in this condition, he sought to fulfill his duties as the Mukhi of the Jamat to his utmost ability. While arrangements were underway to drive him to a hospital in Mbeya, some 80 kms from Mbozi, he ensured that all the ceremonies that were to take place in the Jamatkhana that morning would be smoothly completed, including the preparation of Siro — a sweet dish — that is offered in teaspoon-like quantity as Sukreet (which symbolizes good deeds) along with Ab-e-Shifa (water of healing). His final noble service as the Mbozi Mukhi was to ensure that the services that had been rendered by his Jamat were delivered to the provincial Ismaili community leadership in Mbeya.
Fazal and Sakerkhanu Moloo with 5 of their 6 children Nurjehan, Zubeda, Gulzar, Naaz, and Anwar. The 6th child, Hamida, a daughter, was in the UK when the photo was taken. Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
Years later…..Mukhiani Sakerhanu Moloo, in green top, with her 5 daughters, Nurjehan, Zubeda, Gulzar, Naaz, and Hamida, and son Anwar. Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
The day following his admission to the Mbeya hospital, Mukhisaheb was in a very cheerful and happy mood. After the family had visited him, the nurse asked him the reason for his happiness, and he replied that he would be returning home on the following day, Sunday. The nurse reminded him that no doctors were available on Sunday to discharge him, and that he would not be able to go back home as was his wish. But Mukhisaheb insisted that he would be going “home”.
On Sunday February 28th, 1970 after finishing his cup of coffee and putting it away, he was called “home,” while he was talking to the nurse. At the young age of 51, the young and dynamic Fazal Moloo passed away and was “ushered in the Abode of Peace.” (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un, “Surely we belong to God and to Him we return” — Holy Qur’an, 2:156).
Letter from the Aga Khan Provincial Council for Mbeya, Tanzania, to the family of Mukhi Fazal Moloo following his passing. Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
Shortly thereafter, Mukhiani Sakarkhanu received a letter (see image, above) from the Mbeya Aga Khan Ismaili Council on the passing of her beloved husband. It was signed by the council’s Honorary Secretary, F.G. Jiwan, and it read:
“It was with deep regret and sorrow that this Council received the shocking news of the untimely demise of late Mukhi Fazal Moloo.
“Late Mukhi Fazalbhai was a pillar of the community, and had for many years rendered his services for the benefit of the Jamat. He was always a sincere worker and the good of the community was always at his heart.
“Mukhi Fazalbhai has left behind him memories of a sincere leader and a self-less worker which will be cherished by the Jamat forever.
“We pray to Khudavind Hazar Imam to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grace you with courage and strength to bear this irreparable loss.”
Then, the family received a very inspirational Talika (written holy message) from Mawlana Hazar Imam through the President and Members of the Provincial Council for Mbeya. In his message of May 5, 1970, Mawlana Hazar Imam conveyed his affectionate paternal maternal blessings for the soul of Mukhi Fazal Moloo, and prayed for the eternal peace of the Mukhi’s soul. Mawlana Hazar Imam also acknowledged the devoted services that the Mukhi had rendered to the Jamat and himself. He offered blessings to the family for their courage and fortitude.
This message from Mawlana Hazar Imam left a deep impact on the entire family, with 6 young children.
Today, Mukhi Fazal Moloo’s dedication and love for Mawlana Hazar Imam has inspired his children, grandchildren and great-grand children, who live in London, England, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, to continue to be involved in rendering services to the Jamat.
Late Fazal Moloo with his wife Sakerkhanu who is now 93 years old, and lives in Vancouver. She teaches Jamati members to make tasbihs (rosaries) and makes and repairs broken tasbihs for Burnaby Lake and Tricity Jamatkhanas in Vancouver. Photo: Late Fazal Moloo Family Collection.
Mukhiani Sakarkhanu Moloo, who is now 93 years old, continues to remain active in Jamati services. She teaches Jamati members to make tasbihs (rosaries or prayer beads) and also makes and repairs broken tasbihs for Vancouver’s Burnaby and Tricity Jamatkhanas. She is fondly known as “tasbih wari bai” (the lady of tasbihs).
The family continues to reflect on the noble life of Mukhi Fazal Moloo — a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather — and draw inspiration from his love, dedication and devotion to Mawlana Hazar Imam. They offer their humble shukhrana to Mawlana Hazar Imam for bestowing Mukhi Fazal Moloo with services to the House of Imamat.
Date posted: May 18, 2021.
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We invite you to submit your memories and tributes to the late Mukhi Fazal Moloo. To pen your reflection please complete the feedback form below or click on Leave a comment.
Simerg invites Ismaili families to submit obituaries and tributes for deceased members of their families. For guidelines, please click Passings.
Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few.
Calgary based Mansoor Ladha, a veteran award winning Ismaili journalist and author of two acclaimed books, was a features editor with the Tanzanian English daily, The Standard (renamed later to Daily News), and interviewed Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, in 1970. Later, after he migrated to Canada, Mansoor became the Administrative Committee Chairman of the Ismaili community in Edmonton, and received Mawlana Hazar Imam during his first visit to Canada in 1978. Please read Mansoor’s story about his wonderful opportunities on Simerg’s sister web site Barakah which is dedicated to Mawlana Hazar Imam, members of his family and the Ismaili Imamat. Please click HERE or on image below to read the full post.
1970: Mansoor Ladha interviewing His Highness the Aga Khan for Tanzania’s daily, The Standard (now Daily News). Photo: Adarsh Nayar/The Standard/Mansoor Ladha Collection. Please click on image for story and photos.
Date posted: May 8, 2021.
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Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
Alwaeza Raisaheba Maleksultan Jehangir Merchant, or Mrs. Merchant as she was known among her students in Africa and the UK, was buried Thursday February 4, 2021, at the same cemetery as her husband Jehangir. Here she is seen visiting his grave shortly after he passed away May 27, 2018. Photo: Malik Merchant / Simerg.
By SHIRAZ PRADHAN
Many thoughts come to mind as I attend Mrs. Merchant’s funeral online from the UK. She passed away on January 21, 2021, at the age of 89, on the same day she was admitted to the hospital.
I have fond memories of the time I had spent working with her at 3-5 Palace Gate in London. While teaching Bait-ul-Ilm classes, I benefited immensely from her knowledge and wisdom.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which also took Mrs. Merchant’s life, is unprecedented and is having a profound impact on our lives. One such impact is that we cannot attend or participate in funerals in the customary way at this time. However, technology has allowed us to participate in the funeral ceremonies from anywhere in the world, albeit in a different manner.
Mrs. Merchant’s face was visible to all of us who were watching throughout the 30-minute ceremony that included Salwats, the recitation of the prayer Astaghfirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilaiyhi (Verily, I seek the forgiveness of Allah, who is my Lord and Sustainer, and I turn to Him in repentance) as well as verses from Ginans and profound quotes of Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III (d. July 11, 1957).
There are guidelines, which vary from one province to another, about the number of people who can be present for the funeral (in Vancouver, the limit is 6 family members) and burial ceremonies at the cemetery (4 family members), masks are mandatory as is social distancing, and if a person had died of Covid-19 the casket must remain closed unless the body has been embalmed.
The six individuals from the family who were present at the Burnaby Lake Jamatkhana were Mrs. Merchant’s son Fahar and his wife Nina, Shellina (fiancé of youngest son Alnoor, who could not attend from the UK), nieces Habiba and Sherezad, and Nasreen, daughter of the family’s extremely close friend Mrs. Sakerkhanu Velji whose husband, Mr. Sadru Velji, was buried just 48 hours earlier on February 2. Due to extraordinary circumstances as well as Mawlana Hazar Imam’s guidance expressing his desire for his Murids to follow public health guidelines, Mrs. Merchant’s eldest son Abdulmalik (Malik) and his daughter Nurin were not able to travel for the funeral.
Story continues below
A reflection by Malik and Nurin Merchant on their mum/grandmother . Please click on image for enlargement.
Following the completion of the funeral ceremonies, which has been dubbed as Rites of Passage, volunteers wheeled the casket across the Jamatkhana Hall into the waiting hearse to the calling of the Muslim Shahadah Lailaha illallah Muhammad ur Rasulullah (I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God) recited by one person, and repeated by the same person as there was no one lined up to carry or touch the coffin (Janazah) due to Covid-19. The live streaming stopped once the coffin left the building into the waiting car. This was truly an emotional send-off for us watching from other parts of the world.
After the four male members returned from the cemetery, Zyarat and Samar ceremonies were performed. Normally, these would be held during the evening Jamatkhana ceremonies where hundreds of people would be able to participate and recite special prayers for the soul of the deceased. Jamatkhanas have been closed across Canada for the last several weeks, as is the case in many parts of the world.
Jamatkhanas in Canada have never before been closed for such an extended period of time. This past year has been particularly difficult for all of us everywhere, and one can imagine its impact on those who attended Jamatkhana regularly.
However, there are some collateral benefits of the pandemic. With the blessings of Mawlana Hazar Imam, our faith has been strengthened. Jamats have come together across the world, helping one another. The magnificent work done by the volunteers has impacted every institution within the Jamat — from arts and culture to economic to health to religious education to social welfare boards and the youth. The undertaking has been enormous. The organization of funerals and the work of the funeral, or the mayat/ghusal committee is simply incredible. Keeping everyone safe under our current circumstance where a virus can spread rapidly is demanding and requires additional hours of care, diligence, organization and work to meet strict protocols and provincial guidelines.
At the onset of Covid-19 pandemic 2020, things looked bleak and hopeless. But, human ingenuity was at work. Scientists all across the world set to work to come-up with vaccines in record time in the fight against the Covid-19. We saw as we entered 2021 that highly effective vaccines have been formulated, and with proper and fair distribution will give hope to humanity in the coming months.
I am grateful that I have been able to participate in Malekbai’s funeral from the UK and I pray that Hazar Imam bless her with Noorani Deedar and grant the family the strength to bear this loss. Ameen and Ya Ali Madad.
A Dignified and Safe Rites of Passage for Mrs. Merchant
Alwaeza Raisaheba Maleksultan Jehangir Merchant (June 9, 1931 – January 21, 2021), age 89. Photo: Shellina Karmali.
MOSTLY UNEDITED – ED.
Feriyal Merchant (USA): Ya Ali Madad, Dear family. My sister Kulsum Laiwalla and myself from Silicon Valley CA watched the blessed last rites and ceremonies of our beloved Malek Sultan Aunty who was lying so peacefully in the prayer hall as the heartfelt spiritual paragraph from our Beloved Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah’s memoirs was read by her son Fahar, souful ginans and powerful Salwats recited. Though the hall had a few family physical presence but it was filled with spiritual connections and prayers from all over the world.
Dear Malek Aunty today your earthly body said goodbye, your soul on speedy wings have taken flight to Heavenly abode. You will be missed by many but always fondly remember. As I saw you lie you left me with thoughts of wisdom as you always do. This is a journey all must take alone so be prepared so there is after glow of smile and peace on your face as I saw on yours. Shukar Mowla Alhamdullilah.
Salim and Nevyn Kanji (Toronto):Today, we participated in a beautiful and simple funeral service for our teacher. Thank you for giving us this opportunity. May your mom’s soul rest in eternal peace. May Hazar Imam give you lots of strength and courage to face this great loss. Remember, we are always here for you and your family.
Amin Hooda (Ottawa): Thanks for your efforts at the time when there is a huge personal and family`s loss. Humbled to have attended the live video stream, that was completed in less than half hour, through the recitation of tasbihs and ginans; it was an opportunity for me to benefit from this spiritual connection that you mum, alongside your dad, as a lifelong teacher selflessly nurtured for so many individuals and jamat at large, through their friendship and students. Shukar.
(Nahid) Begum Nurmohamed Shariff and family: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sending me the invite as I was very fond of both mum and dad. They were wonderful people and will live on through you all but also their wider family — those that they taught selflessly over the years with love and compassion. Your mum and I had a bond and I loved and respected her dearly. She is in a wonderful place. Mawla grant her his noorani didar and rest her soul in eternal peace. Ameen. Sending your whole family lots of love and prayers.
Julián Arturo Zapata (Colombia, South America): Querido Hermano Abdulmalik, muy linda la ceremonia del funeral de tu noble Madre Maliksultan. Abrazos Fraternales desde Colombia el Alamut latinoamericano
Translation: Dear Brother Abdulmalik, the funeral ceremony of your noble Mother Maleksultan is very nice. Fraternal hugs from Colombia, the Latin American Alamut.
Shiraz Nasser: Thank you for inviting us to participate in funeral ceremony. Her soul has merged with the Noor. It is time for spiritual happiness. May Mawla accept all your wonderful sewa. Stay safe, healthy, happy, united and continue your wonderful family tradition of spiritually intellect sewa in humility. Love to all.
Mrs. Merchant’s family members pictured on February 4, 2021 in the courtyard of the Burnaby Lake Jamatkhana during the funeral ceremonies held for her at the Jamatkhana. Left to right: Nina and Fahar Merchant, Shellina Karmali, Habiba and Alnashir Rashid, and Sherezad Zinna.
Shariffa Keshavjee (Kenya): Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un “Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.” Thank you for inviting me to join in on your mum’s farewell. May her soul go with the light into Asal Makan. May you get peace and sabar, patience. I once read that sabar is illumination from within, where experiencing patience gives birth to a space. In that space Rab is present.
Alnoor Abdulla (Vancouver): I appreciate and feel privileged to participate. It was a spiritual ceremony. She will always remain special and everlasting in my mind.
Rozmin Fazal (UK): Thank you for sharing the live link to mum’s Mayyat ceremony. It was such a dignified ceremony. May Mowla rest her soul in eternal peace and grant you and the family strength to be able to cope with the loss. Amen.
Anonymous (England): May Mawlana Hazar Imam bless your mum’s soul and may she rest in eternal peace. Ameen. She looked good and at peace. Lovely that everyone there participated individually. I am praying for your mum’s soul and dad. I’m praying for you and the family to have peace in your heart and in your lives.
Abdul Remtulla (Edmonton): Thank you for your invitation to attend on line ceremony. We did and bid her goodbyes. May her soul rest in eternal Peace, Ameen, Warm wishes and Ya Ali Madad.
Azy or Yasmin (Toronto): Thank you for inviting me to participate in the ceremony. I feel honoured indeed. She looked very very peaceful. We lost a great person from the earth but Mowla welcomed her home. Mowla bless her soul with Noorani Didar and bless you and the entire family with strength to face this tremendous loss. Amen.
Muslim Harji (Montreal): Thank you for considering us as a part of your family. Both Nevin and myself attended Maa’s Mayat ceremony and were very impressed with the way it was conducted. We pray for her soul to rest in eternal peace. Ameen Love, Light & Cheers
Nizar Motani (USA):I was able to join the livestream from the beginning. From all the tributes to mourn and celebrate your mother’s amazing service, her endearing personality, and her kind nature — she was clearly an ANGELIC SOUL and is resting in the ABODE of PEACE next to her beloved husband.
Zarina Moosa (Toronto): Thank you for letting me participate in the funeral ceremony of your beloved mother. It was such a dignified and beautiful ceremony fit for an equally dignified and beautiful lady. Shukhar. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. With prayers in my heart for all of you.
Karima, Nasim, Shamshad and Nuryn (Vancouver): Thank you letting us watch, Malekabai’s funeral today. She is at peace, and may Mowla rests her soul in eternal peace, Amen.
Date posted: February 5, 2021. Last updated: February 6, 2021 (Jamatkhana photo added with a reflection by Malik and Nurin).
We welcome feedback from our readers. Please complete the LEAVE A REPLY form below or click Leave a comment. Your letter may be edited for length and brevity, and is subject to moderation.
Shiraz Pradhan
About the author: Shiraz Pradhan is a professional engineer, writer and philosopher. A regular contributor to this website, Shiraz has a keen interest in Judaeo-Christian History, Islamic Studies, Sufism and philosophies of the Vedas and Upanishads. He is currently completing a book titles Amarapuri, the Abode of Eternity. He is the Chairman of the Association of the Study of Ginans which specializes in the preservation, study and research of the ancient Ismaili Ginans (hymns). Shiraz currently lives in the UK with his family.
Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos.
“On November 4, 1966, as Mawlana Hazar Imam’s plane circled the Iringa airport, there was palpable excitement as the leaders of the Jamat anxiously awaited the arrival of our beloved Imam. Mawlana Hazar Imam had taken a break on his extended tour of East Africa to return to Europe to attend to some personal matter. Iringa was the second stop on his return visit from Europe. As the ebullient Imam emerged from his plane, without regard to his evident infirmary, with plastered foot and a walking cane, Jamati leaders’ ecstatic emotions turned to one of unexpected concern. But the Imam was quick to calm the leaders’ fears about his infirmed foot.” — PLEASE CLICK TO READ COMPLETE ARTICLE
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, with a plastered foot, lays the foundation stone of the Iringa Sports Complex during his extensive visit to East African countries in 1966. Please click on photo for an exceptional narrative of the visit as well as more photos.
…Now no one cares, no paint on the walls. Who can save this lovely heritage? So sad to see the weeping walls — Shariffa Keshavjee in a piece for Simerg
A view of the Indian Ocean from the balcony of the Jamatkhana, overlooking the building’s rooftop. Photo: Shariffa Keshavjee, Nairobi, Kenya.
Taking Example of Pakistan’s Baltit Fort, the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana Can be Converted to a Museum Chronicling Ismaili Settlement in Tanzania
The questions we would now ask of Ismaili residents of Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo or anyone who has visited Bagamoyo recently as well as our Tanzanian Jamati institutions are: How are the “weeping walls” of the Jamatkhana doing today? What about the passageway leading to the ocean? How about the tejori (chest) in the Jamatkhana, and what is the state of the Ismaili Flag and sadri (floor mats)? And, finally, how is the Jamatkhana being utilized today, and can the Ismaili community feel proud about its current state and usage?
We look forward to an update on the state of the Jamatkhana with the sincere hope that what was once an eyesore, both outside and inside, has been restored to its former glory. If that has not been done yet, which is what we suspect, and the building is simply languishing and not used as a Jamatkhana anymore, we humbly bring forward the idea to convert the historic building to a museum that will hold important relics as well as portray the history of early Ismaili settlement in Bagamoyo and other parts of Tanzania (then Tanganyika). Many little towns that I have visited during my drives across North America have small museums housed in heritage buildings that wonderfully tell stories about their origins and the people who first occupied them. Of course, the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana building has to be be properly restored for any such project to develop, and this should quickly become a work in progress.
As a Jamat, we have to be mindful of historical buildings and places of worship like the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana, and do everything possible to revive and revitalize our cultural and spiritual heritage before they are forgotten or lost forever due to neglect, lack of interest or apathy.
Time and Knowledge Nazrana: A Major Resource for Creative Projects
Institutions must lead and inspire the Jamat, and the Jamat must in turn respond with zeal and interest. It is a 2-way effort. Perhaps, there is an opportunity for hundreds of Ismaili architects, artists, planners and engineers who pledged their Time and Knowledge Nazrana (TKN) to Mawlana Hazar Imam to take a lead to improve the condition of our historic buildings that are in disarray for good and purposeful use.
That can be properly and effectively facilitated by the TKN leadership team that is based in Toronto, in consultation with Ismaili institutions and local TKN bodies around the world. The transformation of the Baltit Fort in Pakistan that was undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is an example of what can be accomplished with the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana and other heritage buildings of historical importance. There is immense talent and creativity in the Jamat as well as material resources that can be utilized for well planned little museum projects that would not only enrich local history, but also help boost the tourism industry. After all Bagamoyo, with its world class historical sites, has been proposed as a World Heritage Site.
for inviting us to participate in funeral ceremony. Her soul has merged with the Noor. It is time for spiritual happiness. May Mawla accept all your wonderful sewa. Stay safe, healthy, happy, united and continue your wonderful family tradition of spiritually intellect sewa in humility. Love to all.
Simerg - Insights from Around the World 