Article appearing in “100 Great Muslim Leaders of the 20th Century" published by Institute of Objective Studies, India, 2005,
“A civil servant and dedicated educationist, he brought Muslim education and welfare to the centre-stage of national life to uplift the condition of his weaker brethren”
Eminent educationist, scholar and social worker, Aboobucker Mohamed Abdul Azeez was born in Vannarponnai in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka in 1911 in a well-to-do family. He had his early education at Vaidyeshwara Vidyalayam and Jaffna Hindu College. Although he spent the major part of his life outside Jaffna, he was proud of his birthplace and the two schools he had attended. In fact, the childhood years spent in Jaffna had a great influence in his later life.
His maternal grandfather was a successful businessman, his father a leading lawyer, a qadi, member of the Jaffna urban council and the first outstation president of the All Ceylon Muslim League. His family was deeply religious and the young Azeez learnt the tenets of Islam from his grand-parents and his maternal aunt and attended the nearby Allapichchai Quran madrasa where he learnt to read the Quran. Schooling at the Quran school and Hadith college gave the young Azeez a liberal outlook in life. At a later date he stated, “One must follow one’s religion and customs strictly, and at the same time understand and appreciate the religion and customs of others.” It was at the Hindu College that he gathered a good grounding in the Tamil language and nuances of Hinduism.
He entered University College, Colombo in 1929 and graduated with honours in history. He was awarded a government scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge. Before leaving for Cambridge he appeared for the Ceylon civil service examination. His sojourn at Cambridge was short-lived as he had passed the civil service examination and preferred to return home in 1936 to begin a career as a civil servant. Azeez had the distinction of being the first Muslim civil servant of his country, a great achievement for a person from the backward minority community.
A.M.A. Azeez began his career in the civil service as a young cadet at Matale. In 1937, he married Ummu Kuluthum Ismail from the distinguished J.P. family in Colombo. She was the granddaughter of M.I. Mohamed Alie J.P., the first vice-consul for Persia.
During World War II, Azeez was attached to the customs department as Additional landing surveyor. In 1942 he was selected by Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and transferred to Kalmunai as assistant government agent to set up the ‘Emergency Kachcheri’, for accelerating food production. It was in Kalmunai that Azeez first saw the plight of poor, landless Muslims. He gave them grants of jungle land for cultivation. To this day, there is a section of land in the southern part of the Batticaloa district called ‘Azeez Thurai Kandam’. Grateful farmers named it to perpetuate Azeez’s memory. It was also here that he realized that education was a great need for the uplift of Muslims.
He had a stint in Kandy as assistant government agent in the mid 1940s. Here he was able to obtain information regarding Muslims of the Central Province. His final assignments as a civil servant were as information officer and secretary to the minister of health (in the state council), where he was responsible for the establishment of rural hospitals. While in the civil service frequent visits to remote areas helped him to gather information regarding Muslims. He became convinced that the backwardness and poverty of many Muslims could be remedied with education. He noted that the Muslim community “due to educational backwardness was handicapped not merely in the educational sphere but in all spheres of life, and any attempt to improve the situation must give priority to education.” This was the reason why he gave up a promising career in the civil services to take up the post of Principal of Zahira College in 1948.
Muslims began to develop interest in education only in the closing years of the 19th century. Leaders like Siddie Lebbe, the Egyptian exile Arabi Pasha, Wappichi Marikar and I.L.M. Abdul Azeez founded the Colombo Muslim Educational Society in 1891. In 1892, al-Madrasathul Zahira was established on the campus of Colombo’s Maradana Mosque; this was later to become the Zahira College where Dr A.M.A. Azeez became the principal. Dr Azeez put Muslims on the track of modern education. He argued that the Muslim community should acquire knowledge of four languages: without Arabic the Muslims of Sri Lanka would become culturally isolated and lose their rich heritage; Tamil the mother tongue, had to be mastered, so also Sinhala, the language of the majority of the population; and English the world language, too, had to be learnt. The curriculum of Muslim schools should include all these languages, he asserted.
While at Kalmunai, Dr Azeez developed friendship with Swami Vipulananda, an eminent scholar, educationist and the founder of Shivananda Vidyalaya. This friendship continued even after Azeez left the Eastern Province and Swami Vipulananda became professor of Tamil at the university of Ceylon. Swami Vipulananda also encouraged Azeez to accept the post of principal of Zahira College.
T.B. Jayah and A.M.A. Azeez, were responsible for transforming Zahira College into a leading national school. In the school magazine Crescent , of March 1923 Jayah stated, “The problem before us then is to evolve a system of education which would be in harmony with the tradition of our religion and at the same time respond to modern conditions.” Azeez who concurred with Jayah, was willing to borrow from any other educational system to improve the existing system so long as it did not undermine Islamic values. Zahira College became known as an institution where one could receive a good education in an Islamic environment. It could be said that Jayah laid the foundation (from 1921 to 1948), and Azeez built on that. Azeez’s tenure as principal (1948-1961) was known as the ’golden age of Zahira College’. During this period it was not only a leading school in the country but also the foremost Muslim educational institution, which drew students from Maldives, India, Pakistan, Singapore and even from Kenya. Zahira College excelled in studies, sports, scouting and other extra-curricular activities.
Dr A.M.A. Azeez’s efforts to uplift and improve Zahira College could be considered to a great extent as his contribution to Muslim education. Many of the changes he introduced in the school were followed in other schools. One of his first tasks was to establish a good library, followed by expanding his staff to include many young graduates and trained teachers. The teachers were from all communities and professed various ideologies. The students were also drawn from all communities. Many school societies were formed , notably the Iqbal society, where students were introduced to the world of poet-philosopher, Dr Iqbal and other Islamic writers, philosophers and poets. He encouraged students to follow university education; for those not so fortunate, provisions were made for vocational training. Noting the importance of trade and business for the Muslim community, he established a commerce section for those who wished to follow a career in business, a very significant move as many of today’s businessmen benefited from this.
Dr Azeez noted with concern the general lack of interest of Muslim education. He felt that only higher education could transform this ‘community of traders’ into one with professionals and other educated people. He tried to change things through his speeches and writings. During his principalship many students entered university and were qualified as accountants, administrators, doctors, lawyers, engineers and scientists, while many others became journalists and academics. In 1952, Azeez visited the USA on a Smith-Mundt scholarship for six months. As presidents of the All-Ceylon union of teachers and of the All-Ceylon headmasters’ conference (1951 to 1953), Azeez made significant contributions to school curricula and teacher training.
He believed that women should have equal right to education. At a time when Muslim girls were not allowed to follow higher studies, he encouraged parents to educate their daughters. Setting the example in his own family, he convinced them that it was as important to educate girls as boys. He was also critical of the prevailing dowry system and suggested if girls were educated, this degrading situation would be overcome. His efforts met with success.
As an eduacationist and a man of vision, he established in 1945 the Ceylon Muslim scholarship fund. The aim of the fund ‘was to see that no Muslim scholar, capable and deserving in any part of the island is deprived of the education he or she deserves for want of money’. Assistance was given as interest-free loans, which the students must pay back when they are in a position to do so. With repayments and annual donations from past scholars as a gesture of gratitude, the CMSF could continue forever as a revolving fund, with the charity of the donor lasting forever as donations are recycled over and over again. This organization was supported by leading Muslims at the time, and was one of the earliest charitable organizations to be incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1946.
In 1948, Dr Azeez arranged for four scholars to attend al-Azhar university in Cairo to obtain a religious education. The CMSF has helped over 2,000 poor students to pursue higher education, While on a visit to Egypt in 1947, Dr Azeez studied the youth organizations there and on his return formed the All-Ceylon Y.M.M.A. Conference. He also tried to develop the capabilities of Muslim school dropouts.
Along with a few interested people, he initiated a convention of the existing Y.M.M.A’s in Colombo and formed the Young Men’s Muslim Association Conference. He gave it proper constitution and a meaningful motto, ‘Faith, Unity, Discipline’. Today, the All-Ceylon Y.M.M.A. Conference is one of the respected NGOs in the country with a wide network of branches and an impressive record of work, at the same time helping to promote inter-communal amity.
While at Zahira College, it was his dream to set up the Muslim cultural centre in the premises. However, with political changes and the takeover of Zahira College in 1961, this was not to be. He then proposed a Muslim cultural university, which too did not materialize. Ultimately, he was presented with the idea of establishing Jamiah Naleemiah at Beruwela. He was now able to channelise his ideas into this institution, which he did with enthusiasm. Inaugurated in 1973, it is a balanced integration of the rich cultural heritage of Islam with the modern disciplines and methodologies in education. Many students have since graduated from here, obtaining university degrees, joined the administrative service and obtained scholarships to foreign universities. The Naleemiah Institute of Research has also made great progress, one of the more note-worthy being the collection of Arabic-Tamil literature.
Even during his civil service, Dr A.M.A. Azeez remained in touch with learning and research. He was a voracious reader, good orator in both English and Tamil, which talent he used to further his ideals of education for Muslims. He wrote extensively on the Muslims of Sri Lanka, history of education and the educational and cultural problems that concerned the Muslims of Sri Lanka. These writings were read and discussed widely. He also made known the valuable contributions to the Muslim heritage by Siddi Lebbe.
A true scholar interested in research and academic work, in 1966 he attended the conference on Tamil Studies at Kuala Lumpur, where he presented a paper titled Some Aspects of the Muslim Society of Ceylon, With Special Reference to the 1880s. His book The West Reappraised (1964) is of interest to researchers, while his contributions to the Encyclopaedia of Islam published by E.J. Brill of Netherlands (1965) and to Education in Ceylon – Centenary Volume contain in-depth information on Muslims of Sri Lanka.
His Tamil book Islam in Sri Lanka won him the Sahithya award in 1963. He wrote several articles in Tamil on education, Muslims and Islam. He wrote three books in Tamil, namely, Spell of Egypt, East African Scene and Tamil Travelogue, which are considered to be outstanding specimens of works on travel writing.
He had a special interest in Arabic-Tamil, which began in his childhood when he listened to Islamic readings in Arabic-Tamil by his uncle, Assena Lebbe, who was a Tamil scholar, poet and an expert in Arabic-Tamil. Arabic-Tamil is Tamil written in the Arabic script and include many Arabic words. It was used in Islamic discourses up to the end of the 19th century, some of which were read even during the 1950s. Dr Azeez found a similarity between Arabic-Tamil and Swahili. He advocated more research on it as it was very important to Muslims as part of their heritage. He wrote a booklet, Arabic-Tamil our Beloved Tamil, in Tamil. He also advised the compilation of an Arabic-Tamil dictionary. Today such research in Arabic-Tamil is being conducted at Jamiah Naleemiah.
As a scholar and educationist he was recognized in India and Pakistan. In 1955, he presided at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Tamil Muslim poets’ day organized by the Muslim educational association of southern India. In 1973, he presided at the Tamil Nadu Muslim education conference at Chennai. He also participated in various other seminars and workshops, such as international quranic conference in Lahore and the international Muslim youths’ conference in Trichi (India). Dr A.M.A. Azeez was appointed to the court, council and senate of the University of Ceylon in the 1950s where his suggestions and comments were greatly appreciated. In 1980, the university of Jaffna at its convocation awarded posthumously the Degree of Letters (honoris causa).l
In 1952, while he was principal at Zahira College, he was appointed by the United National Party to the Senate (Upper House of Parliament) ‘in recognition of outstanding service to the welfare of the Muslim community’. His main objective in entering politics was to serve the community. In 1956 he disagreed with the UNP over the official language bill. He felt that the rights of minorities were not recognized, and resigned in protest. Later he was appointed to the public service commission, which he served with great distinction.
With regard to his views on the official language bill, he was concerned as an educationist about the repercussions it would have on the Muslim community. He stated, “Unfortunately for our country and the minorities this question (the language question) has been treated as if it were a conflict between two races. The forestage, status and race aspects have been highlighted to the detriment of other aspects.”
Dr A.M.A. Azeez believed fervently that all communities in Sri Lanka could and should live in amity. This was possible through understanding and tolerance. “We best serve Sri Lanka not by the abandonment or neglect of our culture, but by its preservation, protection and promotion,” he observed. A devout Muslim, he practiced his religion without being a fanatic. He worked towards the betterment of the Muslim community and the country with sincerity and dedication. He passed away on November 24, 1973 and was hailed posthumously as a national hero of Sri Lanka in 1986. A commemorative stamp was also issued in his memory.
(Reproduced with grateful thanks from “100 Great Muslim Leaders of the 20th Century”,
Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Mohamed Manzoor Alam, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi, India, 2005, p: 365-369)
