The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Pillar of city’s Muslim community
Tributes have been paid to respected Aberdeen community leader, Sheikh Imam Dr Abu Naim Ruhul Amin. Members of the city’s Muslim congregations have praised the influential leader, who came to Aberdeen in 1984, calling him a ‘link’ to those around him.
Abdul Latif, director of the new Aberdeen mosque and community centre project, prepared a memorial statement.
“To say that someone was a ‘pillar of the community’ is usually a cliché but in the case of Sheikh Imam Dr Abu Naim Ruhul Amin it is an absolute truth,” he wrote.
Dr Ruhul Amin was born on September 1 1945, in what was then India, before the end of British colonial rule and the partition of India in 1947. After the partition the country he grew up in was called East Pakistan until 1971 when it became Bangladesh.
He studied law at Dhaka University and obtained an LLB, MM (a qualification in Islamic jurisprudence), MA and EPCS.
He worked as an advocate in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh for 10 years, becoming a judge. He also worked as the head teacher for Feni Aliya School as well as teaching in other schools.
Before coming to Aberdeen he was already a qualified imam and respected scholar of Islam. The title ‘Sheikh’ was accorded to him in light of his qualifications and knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.
During the 1970s the Muslim community in Aberdeen started to grow.
In 1978 four leading members of the community: Mohammed Rafique, Dr Muhammed Qureshi, Abdul Majid Shaheen and Abdul Aziz, purchased the old bank building at 164 Spital. It was converted into a mosque and they invited Dr Ruhul Amin to serve as the imam.
He came to Aberdeen in 1984 and was immediately popular with the community he came to serve. As the imam of the mosque and the head teacher of the mosque school he was pivotal in the development and integration of the community.
He was appointed as a trustee of the mosque in recognition of his commitment.
He continued his studies in Scotland, obtaining a PhD from Aberdeen University.
Dr Ruhul Amin also did a huge amount of charity work, raising funds for many causes in Scotland and Bangladesh.
He founded two schools, a college, a mosque and an orphanage in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Imam Dr Abu Naim Ruhul Amin died on October 24 in Bangladesh after an illness and is survived by wife Takiya and children Jannah, Ahmed, Mohammad, Hammad and Hasan.