Durbanite honoured for selfless service
A DURBAN humanitarian received international acclaim this week when he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Commonwealth University for his selfless service to society.
The doctorate was awarded to Ahmed Vally “AV” Mahomed at a ceremony in Dubai.
Every year the award is handed to illustrious personalities who have distinguished themselves in society through their selfless and outstanding contributions.
Mahomed’s recognition flowed from his stellar leadership as the life trustee of the Jumma Musjid
Mosque in Durban and his philanthropic efforts in providing food and medical supplies to the underprivileged.
Mahomed is a well-known community figure who holds various leadership positions, including chief executive of the Grey Street feeding scheme, vice-chairman of the Islamic Burial Council, chairman of finance for the 1860 Heritage Centre, patron of the Denis Hurley Centre and a member of the interfaith religious council.
He said the latest honour caught him by surprise.
“It is the first award that I have received outside of the country, so I consider it my first international award even though I’ve received accolades from global organisations in the past. It is truly an honour to have received this. I did not see it coming,” said Mahomed.
He said the university did thorough research and were deeply inspired by the feeding scheme run by the Dennis Hurley Centre.
“I consider myself a champion of social cohesion and have been bringing together people across racial and religious groups over the years. They were also impressed by the interfaith model we’ve been using at the centre, and there was talk of adopting this model around the world,” said Mahomed, adding that it was wonderful to share a platform at the ceremony with distinguished politicians, business people and humanitarians who had achieved great things.