A humble human being who believed in the power of education
Sri Lanka as a whole and the Islamic society in particular have lost a pure character, a renowned lecturer, a great orator, a zealous patriot and above all a devout Islamic leader, with the passing of A.L.M. Ibrahim of Uyanwatta, Mawanella. He peacefully breathed his last in Colombo on March 29.
He hailed from a reputed family in Uyanwatta, four miles away from Mawanella. He was born in 1937 and had his schooling at Nooraniya Muslim Maha Vidyalaya in Uyanwatta. He joined the Ghafooriya Arabic College of Maharagama in 1948. Young Ibrahim was a brilliant scholar; he completed his Al Aalim education in nine years and got the degree in Islamic Studies in Arabic. Ghafooriya proudly appointed him as a lecturer as he emerged with flying colours in the final examination.
Having completed two years of service at Ghafooriya, he was recruited in 1959 as a teacher of Arabic under government service. In 1963 he completed his Trained Teacher’s Certificate at Attalachenai Teachers’ Training College and dedicated himself to serve as an Arabic and Islamic teacher. A first-class graduate of the University of Peradeniya he taught Islamic Civilization to the undergraduates of the University of Peradeniya and the University of Kelaniya in 1973.
After completing over 15 years of service at the university he took wing to Saudi Arabia in 1987 to further his education.
Undoubtedly, his biggest achievement was becoming the leader (Ameer) of Sri Lanka Jamathe Islami Movement in in 1987. He worked tirelessly to make his contributions to get the Tabheemul Quran translated into Sinhala. This effort along with the contributions of other Islamic scholars paved the way for getting the Al Quran and the Thabseer translated to Sinhala.
The greatest service that he rendered educationally is the establishment of several Arabic Colleges including Islahiyya Colleges for both males and females and the Convent of Aysha Siddeeka Ladies College in Mawanella. His influence with Arab countries helped in forming several Islamic educational institutions.
Today a good number of Aalims are produced in the Sinhala medium due to his dedication to the promotion of Islam. He built bridges with other communities with the establishment of Thanveer Academy where students of Islamic studies and Arabic are taught in Sinhala.
His knowledge of Arabic, Tamil, Sinhala and English helped him to write a number of books promoting Islam, peace, tolerance and unity in diversity. During his tenure as the Ameer of Jamathe Islami Movement, a Sinhala magazine titled as Prabodhaya and an English publication called Trend were published besides other publications in Tamil not only to spread the religion of Islam but also to promote ethnic harmony and good relations among all communities.
His complete belief in ‘Knowledge is power’, made him along with the other leaders of the Jamathe Islami Movement open the Islamic Book House, a bookshop in Maradana. He took the initial steps of having contacts with Islamic universities in the Middle East region and today a batch of Sri Lanka students annually gets entry to the Islamic University of Madeena in the KSA due to his contacts and the influence. This is true of the Islamic universities in other Gulf countries as well.
As an intellectual, he rendered yeoman service to draw up the syllabi of many Islamic institutions. He was a member of the committee that gave advice and guidance to well-known philanthropist, late Naleem Hajiyar for the establishment of Nalemiya Higher Educational Institution in Beruwala in 1974. He has the distinction of designing the first syllabus of this leading Islamic institution.
He was a simple and humble human being. He always stood on his own feet by setting a great example of Islam to the world. May Almighty Allah grant him JannatAl-Firdaus. Our prayers are for his family to recover from this unbearable grief of his demise. - N.U. Abdul Razzak Udayar