Upon declaration of our independence on July 4, 1776, two of the first three heads of states who recognized the sovereignty of the United States were Muslims and one of them was a Muslim from India.

Americans, Indians and Muslims have a connection since the very beginning of our independence. We were all opposed to colonial rule, and fought them and chased the British out of America, but they continued to rule India through divide and conquer for another 150 years.

Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States of America, signing the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship, the first of its kind. Friesland, one of the seven United Provinces of the Dutch Republic, was the next to recognize American independence (February 26, 1782) and Tippu Sultan, the King of Mysore State (India) was the third. According to Dr. Range Gowda, Tippu Sultan's historiographer, the congratulatory letter to America is preserved in a French Library. Tippu celebrated America's independence by bursting fire crackers in Srirangapatna.

What does July 4th mean to Muslims and Indians?

It means everything and the biggest thing is freedom. Islam is indeed about freedom of conscience, justice and liberty.

The Pledge of Allegiance is one of the most cherished statements for Muslims, "One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." There are several verses in the Quran that assert those values, so it's like coming home for Muslims.

The concept of equality is etched and nurtured in the Muslim psyche in every ritual and spiritual practice of Islam. Prophet Muhammad delivered the following words in his last sermon, "All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor does a black have any superiority over white except by piety and good action." Muslims hold this declaration close to their hearts and as American Muslims, "We hold these truths to be self-evident…"

The raging battle among Americans to keep the state and church apart resonates with Muslims living in America as the Quran speaks out to them, 49:13- "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in the sight of God, is the best in conduct. God Knows and is Aware." Indeed, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance of the otherness of others and appreciate a different point of view without having to agree with it.

Honoring merit appeals to Muslims: you can be who you want to be and Muslims bpast about their ability to rise on the basis of their merit. The Prophet tells his own daughter that she will not get a free pass to paradise because she is a daughter of the prophet; she has to earn it on her own through good deeds to fellow beings, such is the emphasis placed on merit and individual responsibility. That is what capitalism, democracy and America are all about.

Every immigrant in general and a Muslim in particular loves the idea that you are innocent until proven guilty. They see the wholesomeness of justice in America and they love America for it. An observant Muslim recites at least 17 times a day that God alone is the judge and we must refrain from judging others.

On July 4, 2015 we will be celebrating the 239th birthday of America. It is time to reflect upon our journey from the historic declaration of independence on July 4th, 1776 to July 4th, 2015.

Our Founding Fathers had a vision and laid the ground work for a sustainable cohesive America for centuries to come, " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

We have come a long way, and still have miles to go to realize the above truths, and to fulfill the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. Indeed, the last two months have packed an incredible amount of events in our history. The pulling down of the confederate Flag in several states after the tragic events in Charleston, South Carolina gives us a lot of hope, the Supreme court's landmark decision to make same sex marriage legal brings freedom to the GLBT community; yet another decision by the Supreme Court brought freedom to those who were vulnerable, the sick and the poor Americans. Thanks to President Obama for making health care a reality for all Americans. The affordable care Act is the law of the land now. 

First, I pray for the spirit of that freedom to be born again, again and again every year, for eternity. Indeed, we are the land of the free and the brave. The whole world looks up to America with admiration, although we still have a few more milestones to achieve.

Donald Sterling, the basketball billionaire and Don Imus, the popular American Radio host and several others faced severe retribution for racial slurs. Rick Sanchez and countless Senators and Congress persons were taken to task for making Anti-Semitic comments. Now thank God for the Supreme Court, no one will dare abuse the freedom of these three communities: African Americans, Jews and the LGBT community.

wo more communities, among many need such freedom; women are still not getting equal pay, and I hope the Republicans will join the Democrats and pass that bill. 

Who is left behind? Hispanic Immigrants and Muslims!

In 1986, President Reagan brought relief to 3 million undocumented aliens through his amnesty program. Now President Obama is working on freeing 11 million aliens from the tension of separation with their family members. As a nation we need to collectively reflect on the issue and do the right thing; legalize those here with agreed upon conditions. 

In recent years, American Muslims have become an easy target for abuse without any consequence. Some US presidential candidates top the list for bigotry, having said that they would not hire a Muslim in their cabinet.

The problem is two-sided: we the Muslims are not connected enough with mainstream society for a vast majority of Americans to stand up for us, empathize with us, or even understand the truth about us that we are no different than them in our endeavors and aspirations of life. We need to get out of our shells and be part of American society. 

We must however express our gratitude to the millions of Americans who have stood up for us, compelled by their sense of justness and fair play after 9/11 and as recently as the Phoenix and Garland rallies.

As Muslims we are making serious efforts to be fully participating and contributing members of American society for the security, peace and prosperity of our homeland. We have unequivocally stood up for free speech.

As American Muslims we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in the U.S. constitution. Our faith reinforces the creed of "One Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

We at America Together Foundation, will take bold congenial steps on behalf of Muslims to get ourselves on a par with the other communities who had previously endured abuse, and with the support of all Americans, we will shame them for their bigotry.

I urge every Muslim to reach out to their fellow Americans to share the joy of July 4th God willing, Muslims will be celebrating July 4th 2016 en masse all over the nation. We are going to be unfurling big plans soon. The more integrated we are, the safer it is for every one of the 318 million plus Americans.

What does July 4th mean to me?

The very first step on American soil puts a smile on an immigrant's face; if not you, it has happened to your parents, grand or great grandparents. It's the exuberance you witness on a baby's face when she stands up for the first time, it is the exhilaration you see when a toddler eats the food on his own for the first time, or the relief written all over the face of a student when he or she graduates. Indeed, it is an expression of freedom I felt upon arrival in New York some thirty five years ago. My journey continues as I get ready to celebrate another July 4th.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist, TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offeringpluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His info is in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net — Mike is also president of America Together Foundation.

Source : http://www.opednews.com

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The sun is slowly slipping down behind the majestic mountains. In just a few minutes it will set. While the city is slowly coming to the evening stand still, you see children wearing scarfs and koufiyyahs (Muslim headdress for males) and dressed in thoabs (long garments) scurrying across the streets of suburbia delivering plates of treats to their neighbours; a custom that could date back to the time when Muslims first arrived at the Cape.

The little plates the children are carryings fill the neighbourhood with smells of samoosas, sweet fritters, pancakes and doughnuts.The smell of Ramadan is now in the air. A few minutes after this hive of activity the streets are desolate almost deserted. And then we hear it, the echoes of the Adhaan coming from the distance.The Mua’dhin’s voice is swiftly carried by the wind. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. No words are sweeter to the fasting person.

There is just something about Ramadan in South Africa; the way we embrace it like the warmth of an old friend. Everyone is more hospitable, inviting and welcoming.

Celebrating Ramadan on the SA iftar tables

We hate to admit it, but we put much emphasis on food during Ramadan. In Cape Town, you will probably be invited out every weekend to family or a friend’s home because people want to share their meals and partake in the celebration of the holy month with you.

In Johannesburg, preparations start a month before Ramadan . This is when the kitchens in most Muslim homes are like a mini production line at a factory as the ladies experiment with every kind of savoury they can think of from cheese and corn samoosas to chicken stuffed croissants.

Interestingly enough though, Halaal butcheries reveal that in the two months leading up to Ramadan they sell almost 500 tons of chicken fillets in Johannesburg alone.

South African Muslims have a rich cultural background. Muslims from India, Malaysia and Java came as slaves to serve the British and Dutch.  While many still cling to traditional foods during Ramadan, a more cosmopolitan approach to food seems to be creeping on to Iftar tables lately.

In Johannesburg and Durban, most of its Muslim population have cultural roots from India so we still find tables having the usual suspects like samoosas, bhajias, (deep fried spinach fritters made with pea flour) and meat pies. But in recent times, we find cocktail pizzas, mini pitas, croissants, spring rolls and sandwiches also becoming a firm favorite amongst the younger generation.

And even in these cold winter months, creamy Bombay Crush milkshake definitely adds a tinge of colour to drab winter tables. Bombay Crush is a rose flavoured milkshake made with full cream milk, vanilla ice cream, rose syrup and, sabja (basil) seeds.

Usually after breaking fast with dates and water, a few savouries are eaten before proceeding to make the Maghrib prayer. After the prayer the main meal is served, which would consist of the usual rice dishes to curries, roti (unleavened bread) or perhaps grilled chicken and steak.

On The weekends in Ramadan we find individuals selling containers of Haleem in Muslim neighbourhoods like Mayfair and Fordsburg. Haleem is a spicy thick barley broth, which is made with either chicken or lamb. The spiciness and flavour is enhanced with a squeeze of lemon just before serving the soup.

This hearty and nourishing soup is a firm favourite in most Indian homes for Iftar. Owner of Simply Delish catering services, Amina Hargey, who is originally from Durban and now resides in Cape Town says, “My brother Zaafar and I would always sit at the table 10mins before Iftar.  We would prepare our Haleem bowls, pour us a glass of Bombay Crush milkshake and decide what we're going to eat first and how many and basically just continuously check the time every four seconds in anticipation.”

Moving down South, we find that the Muslim population of Cape Town is still clinging to food traditions passed down from their Javanese or Malaysian forefathers.

On the 15th night of Ramadan for Iftar, we find many households have boeber bubbling in their stoves. Boeber is a sweetened rose scented milk drink thickened slightly with sago and vermicilli strands. This dish marks the middle of the fast and it is tradition that is celebrated in many homes in Cape Town, till today.

Fatima Sydow, food writer and owner of the Facebook page Cape Malay Cooking with Fatima Sydow says,” Everyone knows Boeber night in Cape Town. The great part of it was everyone would get their share of it even our non-Muslim neighbors.”

Fatima, remembers spending time in the kitchen with her mother as a child in Ramadan, “It would be late afternoon that she would call us to the kitchen to assist her with what would be eaten that evening. And without fail, it was and still this day, a simple split pea and vegetable soup with lamb marrow bones and savories.”

There would be no cooked meals like rice or stews for Fatima. The soup, perhaps a cake and savories would suffice a full meal. 

Times have changed. Life has become rushed and chaotic. Many are still working and some have to still attend school during Ramadan. Currently, we also have to endure planned power outages due to a strained electricity supply. But the spirit of giving remains strong. There is an innate need amongst South African Muslims to keep this month festive. And we do this, the way we always have, with food.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Source : http://www.onislam.net

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Yearly, monthly, daily, hourly, worshippers from around the world meet at the heart of Islam, the Kaaba.

Positioned inside ­Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the ­Kaaba is Bait Allah, or the House of God, and represents the qiblah, the direction that Muslims face to perform their five-times-daily prayers.

One of the greatest venerations for the Kaaba is the amount of care, respect, art and dedication put into the very fabric that covers it, the sacred kiswah.

This year, like each year for hundreds before it, a new kiswah costing more than US$5 million will be gifted to the House of God on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah month.

Perfumed and woven to perfection, it will welcome more than two million pilgrims performing Haj. Already more than a million people from around the world have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the annual ­pilgrimage.

The result of a great labour of love, the kiswah’s story and history is as deep and rich as the embroidery along its pure silk cover.

Dyed black and padded with white cotton fabric, it weighs more than 650 kilograms.

Quranic verses are beautifully and skilfully embroidered in different calligraphic forms by more than 200 talented artisans in threads of pure gold and silver.

The 14-­metre-long kiswah is embroidered with 120kg of gold and 25kg of silver threads.

Kaaba's Covering Since Prophet Abraham

Since the Kaaba was first built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail, the kiswah had passed through many stages, from different colours – such as white, green, red, a combination of colours and black – to different types of cloth, designs and forms.

Today it’s known and recognised for its beautifully woven piece of the finest black silk in the jacquard technique. The colour and design of the outer kiswah hasn't changed for many centuries.

In early Islamic times, however, the Kaaba was covered with fine multicoloured textiles, but from the late sixth century Hijri (12th century AD), a black drape was adopted.

The custom of incorporating woven, religious inscriptions into the cloth can be traced back to the eighth century Hijri (14th century AD).

Its characteristic zigzag design contains religious quotes executed in majestic Jali Thuluth script. Traditionally, they combine praise and invocations to ­Allah with the Islamic profession of faith (the Shahada): “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is the ­Messenger of Allah”.

Important historic figures and whoever was in control at the time left their own mark and legacy on the kiswah, making this sacred cloth a story of the religious, social, economic and cultural factors that defined a particular time in history.

One rare kiswah exemplifies the great opulence and power of the person who commissioned it, Sultan Suleiman I, better known as Suleiman the ­Magnificent, who was the 10th and longest-reigning sultan of the ­Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566.

Dating back to 950 Hijri (1543/44 AD), and measuring 2.3 metres by 4.8 metres, this part of the kiswah is that of the door cover, known as the sitarah.

Elaborately designed with magnificent colours of red and green against black and gold, it has survived the test of time.

“It is the highest honour bestowed on any Muslim leader to provide the cover for the Kaaba,” says Ahmed Al Mansoori, who owns this rare kiswah, which is currently on display at his ­Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai.

Located in Shindagha heritage area, the museum is a private collection of rare antiquities, manuscripts, artefacts and weapons.

“The green colour is still vibrant, and it is the colour of Islam. The amount of work, detail and design reflects the great era of art and culture by Sultan Suleiman, one of the most ­prominent ­patrons of the Islamic arts and literature at the prime of the ­Ottoman Empire,” says the former member of the Federal ­National ­Council.

“He would commission the best weavers and artisans from around the empire. He wanted the tens of thousands of pilgrims who came to Mecca and to the Holy Kaaba to see this amazing kiswah, and be in awe of it,” he says. “The kiswah is a source of pride for all Muslims, and this particular one is a testament of that golden age of the Ottoman Empire.”

Gifting of Al-Kiswah

In the past, given the chances of fire, floods and risks of damage to the kiswah as it was being transported to Mecca, along harsh desert and mountainous terrain, a spare kiswah was always made in case anything happened to the first one.

During the Abbasid Caliphate (circa 750 to 1258 AD), improvements in the textile industry meant that the materials and techniques used to create a kiswah made it far more durable and last for a year.

Previously, it was changed two to three times a year because it would be torn by worshippers and the weather.

Among those used on the ­Kaaba is the kiswah in Al Mansoori’s possession. Its “spare” can be found in Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.

The name of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman and the year 950 in the Islamic calendar are stated in elaborate calligraphy. It was tradition for whoever made the kiswah to put their name on it as well as the year it was made.

This particular kiswah also has the names of the first four caliphates of the Islamic empire embroidered on it: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali. It also has greetings and words of welcome to all believers who view it.

“The authenticity and the date of the kiswah is confirmed by radiocarbon-dating technology, performed by the University of Tübingen [in Germany],” says Al Mansoori. “We are so lucky to have such a remarkable and sacred relic that reflects our rich Islamic history.”

The kiswah is of such great significance that pilgrims often end up tearing pieces off it as they perform Haj or Umrah, as a souvenir to take back home.

Every year, as per tradition at Haj time, on the ninth day of the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijja (expected to be ­September 23 this year), the ­Kaaba gets a new kiswah.

The older one is either cut up into smaller pieces or given out in full, as gifts to important figures around the world. Some pieces are sold to raise money for charity.

Variety of Contributors

A pre-Islamic figure from the period known as “Jahiliyyah time”, Adnan Bin Edd, a forefather of the Prophet, is said to be one of the earliest figures to have provided a kiswah for the Kaaba.

Following this, the rulers of the different Islamic periods all made it their duty to cover the Kaaba in the finest materials they had within the empire and beyond.

Although in the early period of Islam, presentations of cloths were often made by tribal chiefs, it rapidly became a state responsibility, which it remains.

At various times in the past and under the Central Asian Mamluks of Egypt, the major textile-making centres were in Egypt and Syria. Under the ­Ottomans, the kiswah was put together by specialized workshops in the Turkish cities Bursa and Istanbul.

During the Ottoman times the transport of the Mahmal (Kiswah's Caravan) was restricted to the Cairo and Damascus caravans and when the Albanian leader Muhammad Ali Pasha ruled Egypt in 1805, the manufacture of the Kiswah moved to Cairo.

In 1818, taking benefit from the world-class Egyptian cotton and the skilled Egyptian textiles workers who enjoy a cumulative experience of thousands of years from their Ancient Egyptian ancestors, the institution of Dar al-Kiswah was established in Cairo to make the Kaaba's Kiswah.

The Egyptian-made Kiswah was transported to Makkah in the procession for Hajj pilgrimage made with the Mahmal from Cairo.

Examples of the embroidered cloths, which were generally cut up for sale for presentation, which remains the tradition to this day, have at various times been sold at auction.

Since the early 20th century, all the religious textiles for the holy places started to rise in ­Mecca. In 1927, King Abdulaziz, the founding father of Saudi Arabia, ordered the establishment of Dar al-Kiswah factory dedicated to the manufacturing of kiswah in Mecca.

However, Egypt remained the main and the best source of Al-Kiswah in the Islamic World until 1961.

Mecca's Dar al-Kiswah has maintained the beautiful black kiswah with its gold and silver embroidery, making it one of the most highly recognized and revered sacred textiles in the Islamic world.

“During the blessed Haj season, when Muslims from all over the world converge on Mecca to reaffirm their faith and seek spiritual renewal, it is particularly appropriate that we should explore and learn more about some of the time-honoured traditions associated with Islamic pilgrimage and the holy places,” says Manal Ataya, the director general of the Sharjah Museums Department, which houses many important sacred textiles from Mecca and Medina.

“The custom of a ceremonial covering or kiswah to honour the Holy Kaaba at the heart of the Holy Mosque in Mecca goes back to the earliest days of Islam and tells stories not only about faith and the central significance of the holy city of Mecca in Islamic history, but also about exquisite craftsmanship and the believers – calligraphers, weavers, dyers, embroiderers – that were and continue to be involved in its annual creation,” she says.

Made in 1424 Hijri (2003 AD) is an example of the kiswah’s belt (hizam), measuring 47 metres, and consisting of 16 embroidered calligraphic panels, four on each side of the Kaaba.

This section on display at the Sharjah ­Museum of Islamic Civilization would have been positioned on the back wall of the Kaaba.

Its inscription, in the Arabic calligraphic font named Jali Thuluth, shows verse 26 of chapter 22 (Surat Al-Hajj) in the Quran: ­“Remember when We prepared for Abraham [Ibrahim] the site of the House: ‘You are not to associate anything with Me, and to purify My House for those who circumambulate and those who stand and pray, and for those who kneel down, prostrate.’”

Source : http://www.onislam.net

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Two weeks ago when our dear friend Hamid Abdul Kareem came home in the night to tell me that he  had decided to go on  the Hajj pilgrimage together with his wife, I was pleased that he  has planned to  get closer to the Almighty Creator Allah.

However seldom neither Hamid nor I realized that Allah was waiting to take Hamid to Him from the most sacred soil for Muslims in this planet.
Hamid died of heart failure on his way from Azeezia to Mina on 26 Saturday 2015 and was buried in Makka on the following day-Sunday- after noon prayers.

In that way Hamid is lucky as this is the death that every sincere Muslim long for.It was a shock to his family, friends and the community all of whom find it difficult to recover from the abrupt loss of one of the finest human beings hell bent on helping others.

Hamid, a colorful person with a great sense of humor, was known for turning even the most serious atmosphere during discussions into a humorous one.
He spent his life helping others since his early days. It was this tendency made him a founder   of Centre for Islamic Studies and his deep involvement in the Al Amal International School-to name a few.

He served as the joint secretary of Sri Lanka committee for Solidarity with Palestinian People. There he was very passionate in defending the rights of Palestinians and highlighting the atrocities of Zionist Jews towards Palestinians and the Arabs in the region as well.

He was known for his in depth knowledge on Palestinian-Israeli conflict. As a well read person he contributed a great deal with his writing in promoting the true spirit of Islam and creating understanding between people of different faiths.  As part of this program Hamid, known for his unassuming and simple lifestyle, used do discuss Islam and Christianity with theologians and others of different faiths.

Despite all his scholarly background Hamid, born into a well known business family, remained a businessman till his last day. Once when  I  asked  him  how come a  Memon  like him  from a business oriented community was so much involved in  scholarly activities ,his response in his own sarcastic manner  was that” if you ask a Memon whether he likes to go to heaven or hell ,his immediate response would be “ wherever I can make some money”.

Hamid has been a journalist with a cause and conviction-a generation which is fast fading under the commercialized and criminalized global political- economic environment. He fearlessly used his pen to fight for justice. This earned him the respect of all alike. Unfortunately Sri Lanka’s Muslim community which, by and large, does not understand the power of the media failed to make better use of him.

May Allah forgive his sins , accept his deeds and  grant him Jannathul Firdouse  .

27 September 2015

Source : http://www.latheeffarook.com

The post My Thoughts on my dear friend Hamid Abdul Kareem By Latheef  Farook appeared first on Sailan Muslim - The Online Resource for Sri Lanka Muslims.

1. Abdul Azeez
2. Abdul A Aziz
3. M C Abdul Cader
4. A M A Aziz
5. Arabi Pasha 
6. MHM Ashroff
7. Badiudin Mahmud
8. Beruwela Masjid
9. M A Bakeer Markar
10. H S Ismail
11. T B Jayah
12. Sir Mohamed Macan Markar
13. Mahmood Hazrath
14. M C Abdul Rahman
15. Gate Mudaliyar M S Kariapper
16. Dr. M C M Kaleel
17. N D H Abdul Caffoor
18. N H M Abdul Cader
19. M C Siddi Lebbe
20. Sir Razik Fareed
21. A M Wapchie Marikar (Baas)
22. ACMA Centenary
23. Baithul Mal Fund
24. Hijra 15 Century
25. 1400 Years of Revelation of Holy Qur’an
26. 125 Years of Hameed Al Hussaine College

Stamps commemorating Muslims of Ceylon

All Ceylon YMMA Golden Jubilee

125 Years of Refai Thareeq Association

Source : http://infocoolmix.com

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FORTY SECOND COMMEMORATION ARTICLE
Dr. A.M.A. Azeez, the legendary Principal of Zahira College, Colombo, was one of the celebrated intellectuals of his generation, who not only led the premier Muslim educational institution to new heights of excellence– both in studies and sports– but also served as a Senator and a member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) back in the 1950s and 1960s.

As a cub reporter for the then “Ceylon Observer,” I had the privilege of watching him in a vibrant verbal battle with a feisty newspaper editor at a diplomatic reception in Colombo in the late 1960s. When the editor criticized the PSC for “not living up to its ideals”, Azeez shot back: “Nor is the Press”, (which at that time was a political tool in the hands of the ruling party). And he was dead on target.

Born on the 4th of October 1911, Azeez passed away on the 24th of November 1973 – at the relatively young age of 62. But he left behind a lifetime of memories – and an intellectual legacy that has stood the test of time. 

There were many events in Azeez’s journey which are milestones in Zahira’s history. But covering the entire spectrum of his achievements could well be the subject of a future doctoral thesis.

So, a tribute to his achievements in a single article will fail to do justice to his enduring legacy. But then, a journey of a thousand miles has to begin with a single step.

When Azeez went on a three-month educational tour of the United States in 1952 – on a Smith-Mundt Leadership Grant—he spent time in some of most prestigious American Universities, including Harvard, Columbia and Stanford.

Perhaps, not in the wildest of my dreams would I have imagined that 20 years later I would find myself as a graduate student at Columbia University in New York reading for my Master’s Degree in Journalism — perhaps the only old Zahirian of the Azeez and post-Azeez era. But, regrettably, I didn’t get the opportunity of telling him that I followed in his foothpath.

During my undergraduate days at Peradeniya, I never missed visiting him at his Barnes Place residence whenever I was in Colombo during my vacation break. We had endless discussions on politics, economics, philosophy, religion and international affairs. 

I was amazed at his repository of knowledge and the intellectual depth of his arguments proving that he was a voracious reader – and where the walls of his home library were lined up with books stacked to the ceiling.
While I was still a student at Zahira, he returned from the United States with first hand information both of the American school system and teacher training institutions.

His itinerary included visits to several US public, parochial and private schools, and schools exclusively designated for native American children in Indian reservations. And this was also the time when he was President of the All Ceylon Union of Teachers.

By the late 1950s, he set up the first-ever Students’ Council at Zahira – a direct result of his visit to the US – in which the students stood on an equal footing with the Principal in offering ideas and proposals for the betterment of the College.

The Council, perhaps the first of its kind at that time, met every fortnight to interact with the principal, the deputy principal and the vice principal. Azeez, who was taking his students into his confidence, not only entertained ideas and suggestions but was also receptive to complaints. 

Clearly, it was a concept far ahead of the times. And perhaps one of the few or the only College to have a strong rapport between the Principal and the students. We met in his office, at least once or twice a month, for an animated discussion over tea and coffee – on subjects ranging from an evaluation of the school’s curricula to the performance of Zahira’s sports teams. We found ourselves in a comfort zone being recognized as part of a team to help accelerate Zahira’s progress.

He also encouraged the publication of Az-Zahira, a monthly college newsletter – cranked out on a Gestetner machine – to tap the latent writing skills of Zahirians. The newsletter was written and edited largely by two editors, A.R.M. Zuhair and myself – both of whom had the privilege later in life to be contemporaries at the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya.

Speaking of Peradeniya, one of the academically spectacular achievements of the Azeez era was 1958 batch to the University’s Arts Faculty – the largest single batch at that time. A record number of Zahirians – nine in all – gained entrance to the then University of Ceylon outdistancing some of the leading public schools in the country. 

The list (all direct admissions) published in the Sunday Times of 23 February 1958 read: 

Zahira College: A.S. Ahamed Farooq, M.T.M. Hilmy Manzil, A.M.M. Mansoor, A.H.M. Nizamdeen, M.S.M. Nalim, M.A. Perera and T.M. Thalifdeen. Added to the list later were Farook Saleem and Rizwy Abdurahman (who gained admission after the Viva). In the same year there were two Zahirians who gained admission to the Engineering Faculty bringing the total to eleven.

During Azeez’s tenure as Principal over 150 Zahirians entered the University of Ceylon.

And all of these achievements were shadowed by the overwhelming figure of Azeez, still the Principal of Zahira at that time and also a member of the University Senate.

As a team, the Zahirians at Peradeniya were affectionately called “the Arab League”. And this included Hamza Haniffa, who had gained admission the previous year.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Zahirians maintained a high profile at the University Campus. The editor of the University Sports Magazine in 1960-1961 was a Zahirian. So was the editor of the University Muslim Majlis magazine.
 
At a popular radio quiz show matching the intellectual wits of the compere against the contestants, the only one to crack the jackpot – a minor fortune of Rs. 1,000 at the time – was a first year Zahirian, who beat a slew of professors and lecturers lined up on stage at the University Arts Theatre, poised to grab the prize money and display their intellectual prowess. 

But the Zahirians who entered the University in the late 1950s and early 1960s did not confine themselves only to intellectual pursuits. The 1958 batch of Zahirians produced a University captain of boxing, M.S.M. Nalim; a two time winner of the first-ever “Mr. Campus” physique contest Hilmy Manzil; a captain of wrestling Hamza Haniffa;  and a captain of athletics Farook Saleem. Joining Farook, both in athletics and rugger, was Rizwy Abdurahman.

Nalim, one of the most accomplished boxers in the campus had a devastating left hook which floored many an opponent.  As result, he reigned supreme as an unchallenged boxer. Derek Raymond, the University boxing coach at that time, who also doubled as a coach for the boxing team at St. Sylvester’s College in Kandy, was an Empire Games boxer. 

When he couldn’t find a challenger for Nalim, Derek was forced to hold exhibition bouts between Nalim and some of the reputed Stubbs Shield boxers from St. Sylvester’s. And that was until the arrival of a versatile boxer from Christian College, Kotte who decided to take on Nalim.  Surprisingly, he went two rounds with Nalim – and on the third round, Nalim knocked him out cold and he had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher— feet first.

The campus was stunned. So, was the Director of Physical Education Leslie Handunge, himself an Olympics boxer of a bygone era. But that devastating punch by an old Zahirian also made history because shortly after that bout, the University decided to ban boxing from its sports curricula. It was an end of an era in the history of sports at Peradeniya.

However, that did not deter the Zahirians because they were equally accomplished in a sport that replaced boxing: Wrestling. Collectively, the Zahirians helped Marrs Hall win the annual Gold Cup for exceptional all-round athletic performance, an achievement whose celebrations reverberated throughout the Peradeniya campus. To be introduced as a Zahirian at that time was a moment of pride and glory. These were all Zahirians nurtured and bred in the Azeez era.
 
Besides the achievements of Zahirians at Peradeniya, the athletic glories under Azeez were legion: the first student to win the Queen’s Cup for rifle shooting; winners of the Tarbat Shield for soccer and public schools championship in wrestling, among many others.
 
When Azeez came to Zahira, the Muslims were known to be lagging far behind in higher education – in Arts, Medicine and Sciences. Just as Britain was once dismissed as a “nation of shopkeepers”, the Muslim community was being offered a back-handed compliment as a community of businessmen.
 
But Azeez wanted the community to go far beyond trade, commerce and industry. As a man of vision, he knew the community was in need of professionals, including doctors, engineers, accountants, writers, scientists, civil servants, architects, diplomats, scholars, journalists and teachers. 

And he reached these goals long before he left Zahira.
 
When he quit the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) to take over Zahira College, Colombo, back in 1948, he sacrificed a potentially bright professional career in the cause of his community. If Al Haj T.B. Jayah, the first Principal, laid the foundation for Zahira, Azeez built the super-structure. 

Outside Zahira, Azeez fathered the Ceylon Muslim Scholarship Fund and the All-Ceylon YMMA Conference, two of his other legacies to the Muslim community. In public life, he was appointed Senator in 1952 and was bestowed with the title of Member of the British Empire (MBE). 

At the same time, he was a member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and was also elected to the University Senate. In national politics, he was a member of the working committee of the United National Party, only to quit in 1956 over the Official Language Bill.

But his monumental achievements were at Zahira, which prompted a former Sri Lankan President to describe Zahira as “one of the greatest public schools in our country”. 

(Thalif Deen was a student of Zahira College, Colombo during the Azeez era. He graduated from the University of Ceylon with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 1962. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, New York and obtained his Master’s Degree in Journalism. He has won many awards in journalism and shared the Gold Medal  for coverage of the humanitarian and development work of the United Nations in 2013. A former military editor of Jane’s Information Group in the US, he is presently the UN Bureau Chief & Regional Director for Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency)

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160 years ago, during the Great Famine in Ireland, the Ottoman Empire sent £1,000 sterling (about $1,052,000 today) and 3 shiploads of food to Drogheda, Ireland.

Ireland was ridden with famine and disease between 1845 and 1849. Also known as the Great Hunger, this famine had lasting effects: at least one million people died due to famine-related diseases and more than one million Irish fled, mainly to the United States, England, Canada, and Australia.

The Islamic State (Ottoman) ruler at that time Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid declared his intention to send £10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only £1,000 sterling, because she had sent only £2,000 sterling herself. The Sultan sent the £1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 3 ships full of food. The British administration tried to block the ships, but the food arrived secretly at Drogheda harbour.

This generous charity from a Muslim ruler to a Christian nation is also important, particularly in our time when Muslims are often unfairly accused of human rights violations. Likewise, the appreciative plaque and overall reaction of the Irish society in return for this charity deserves to be applauded. We hope that the Turkish-Irish friendship sets a model for peace among different nations.

In commemoration of the Ottoman aid, Drogheda added the Ottoman crescent and star to its coat of arms. Their football club’s emblem retains this design til this day.

Source : http://muslimvillage.com

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Archaeologists working in southern France have identified three graves that are believed to represent the oldest Muslim burials ever found in Europe, dating to the eighth century.

The skeletons at medieval site at Nîmes were found facing Mecca, and a genetic analysis showed their paternal lineage was North African, said the study in the journal Plos One.

Furthermore, radiocarbon dating shows the bones likely date from the seventh to ninth centuries, suggesting they came from the Muslim conquests of Europe during that period.

“Given all of these data, we propose that the skeletons from the Nîmes burials belonged to Berbers integrated into the Umayyad army during the Arab expansion in North Africa,” said the study.

The findings add a new dimension to knowledge about the era, which had been limited to history books and rare bits of archeological data.

“We knew that Muslims came to France in the eighth century but until now we did not have any material evidence of their passage,” Yves Gleize, an anthropologist with the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research and lead author of the study, told AFP.

The graves were first discovered in 2006 near a major roadway in Nîmes as construction workers were digging an underground parking garage.

A careful analysis in the years since has shown that the men were all laid on their sides, facing in the direction of Mecca, according to traditional Muslim burial rites.

One was in his 20s when he died, another in his 30s and the third was older than 50. Their bones showed no sign of injury in combat.

Another Muslim grave site has been found in Marseimulle, but it dates to the 13th century. One found in Montpellier may date to the 12th century.

Source : https://www.theguardian.com

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In its millennia of history, the inhabitants and rulers of the city of Jerusalem have changed countless times, from ancient pagans to Biblical Israelites to Byzantine Christians to Ottoman Muslims.

The Ottoman Turks took control of the city in 1517, absorbing it into their empire, which stretched across swaths of North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Walls built around the perimeter in 1538 by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent contain what is today called the Old City, which is divided into Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian Quarters.

These photos capture the city in the final years of Ottoman rule, when it was the seat of an administrative district called the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, part of a broader region called Palestine. During this period, successive waves of Jewish immigration tipped the population of the city to firmly Jewish-majority.

In 1917, four centuries after first coming under Ottoman control, the city and surrounding territory was captured by the British, and a mandate was established. 

The British administered Mandatory Palestine until rising Arab and Jewish nationalist tensions led to the Civil War and Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1948 and the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948. 

[See image gallery at www.sailanmuslim.com]

Source : http://mashable.com

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Maximus Jayantha Anandappa (MJA) has marshalled compelling inferential evidence which leaves little doubt that Sunil Santha (SS) was the Creator of “Hela Sangeethaya” or genuine Sinhala Music (The Island 1st June). Sunil Santha’s senior contemporary Ananda Samarakoon (AS) might be regarded as the forerunner of the “Hela” musical tradition, but the flavor of his music was more Bengali than “Hela”. Pandit Amaradeva’s considered view was, and is, that North Indian Ragadari Music must be the cast-iron foundation of modern Sinhala Music. Predictably, therefore, the flavor of his music is more North Indian Ragadari than “Hela” and given its theoretical foundation, the music that Pandit Amaradeva created necessarily has to be a sub-variety of North Indian Ragadari Music. In fact, Prof. Ediriweera Sarathchandra once declared that Amaradeva’s best music has been composed for his plays, in the Ragadari tradition. It is true that geographically Sri Lanka is an Indian isle, but for Sunil Santa that did not mean Sinhala Music had to be a variety of North Indian Ragadari Music. In the event, SS’s senior contemporary AS nor his junior contemporary Pandit Amaradeva created a music that was distinctly and recognizably Sinhala or Hela. The conclusion is, therefore, inescapable: of the three acknowledged founders of modern Sinhala music, SS was the one who created a genuinely Sinhala Music.

Priority Claims

I must confess that as one to whom music has only been an avocation, my attitude to it has been unashamedly “consumerist”. That is to say, I was mainly concerned with the enjoyment of music. For me, music was something to be listened to and enjoy, rather than something to be researched and talked about. Therefore, such things as the historical aspects of our musical tradition and priority claims did not command my detailed critical attention. I will concede, however, that crass consumerism is not the noblest philosophy to live by and that MJA’s approach to SS’s music is nobler than mine. Evidently he is critically interested in all aspects of SS’s music. This is as it should be in the interests of fairness and justice, if nothing else. Priority claims are important and should be respected. What comes to my mind in this context is the notorious controversy about priority concerning the invention of the calculus. Here is what Bertrand Russell says about it in his History of Western Philosophy: “In 1675 – 76 Leibniz invented the infinitesimal calculus in ignorance of Newton’s previous but unpublished work on the same subject. Leibniz’s work was first published in 1684, Newton’s in 1687. The consequent dispute as to priority was unfortunate and discreditable to all parties”. Note carefully that Newton and Leibniz both discovered the calculus independently. Although Newton discovered it before Leibniz, Leibniz published his results earlier than Newton. The striking similarity of this case, to the matter we are currently discussing will not pass unnoticed.

Discovery or Creation?

Broadly speaking, it is true to say that in science and mathematics, we have “discoveries” rather than “creations”. In other words, in science and mathematics there are “truths” out there waiting to be discovered. If one scientist in a given field does not discover a particular truth another will do so sooner or later. The classic example is the theory of organic evolution which was independently discovered by Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) working in England and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 – 1913) working in Malaya. On the other hand, there can be no such thing as “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” waiting to be written by one playwright or another. If Shakespeare did not write it, nobody else would have done so, and if the last copy of Hamlet is burnt Hamlet will be lost forever. As it is in drama, so it is in music when it comes to major compositions. However, in the field of song (which typically occupies a few minutes) a short musical phrase could occur spontaneously and quite independently in the work of two composers. As MJA has painstakingly demonstrated in his well-researched article published in The Island of 31 May, 2016, this is what seems to have happened with the identical nature of the line “piliganumena apa…” in AS’s Namo Namo Matha and SS’s “olu nelala mala gotala …”.

Conclusion

During these friendly exchanges on the subject we discussed, at least eight separate items of evidence surfaced which establish beyond reasonable doubt that Sunil Santha’s “olu pipila” was created in 1945 or earlier and recorded in 1946 or earlier. Accordingly, to set the historical record straight, Nuwan Nayanajith Kumara’s statement at page 53 of his definitive work on Amaradeva that as the first “radio song” “olu pipila” was first recorded in 1948 must be corrected to “1946 or earlier” in the next edition.

Little is it known that Sri Lanka’s Muslims have made a big contribution to Sri Lanka’s cultural life. They significantly influenced local culture in matters of food, dress, jewellery and pastimes, testifying to the close relations that existed between Muslims and other communities of the island, especially the Sinhalese and Tamils.

Sri Lankan Moors, descendants of Arab merchants who espoused local women, contributed in no mean measure to the island’s culinary culture, attire and ornamentation while their Malay co-religionists whose ancestors hailed from Indonesia contributed not only to local cuisine, but also succeeded in introducing a couple of popular national pastimes. 

Food Items

The Arabs and their Moor descendants have made a small, yet significant contribution to Sinhalese society in matters of food. The aluva, a class of popular confections, have their origins in the Arabic halwa ‘sweet’ suggesting that it were the Arabs who introduced this sweetmeat. This item has been in existence among the Sinhalese for some time. Robert Knox in his Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681) gives alloways as flat sweetmeats in the fashion of a lozenge showing that they were in existence among the Kandyan Sinhalese of his day. A popular beverage sold in Sinhalese wayside booths to this day is saruvat, which is prepared with the juices of various fruits. This drink has its origins in the Arabic sharbat ‘drink’. Benjamin Clough in his Sinhalese-English Dictionary (1892) gives saruvat as ‘sherbet’ showing that it had been known among the Sinhalese for quite some time and may go back several centuries.

Among Muslim introductions to popular food culture may be mentioned the buriyani, a rich rice dish made of fine-grained basmati rice and a copious quantity of mutton or chicken cooked in ghee. Indeed so popular has this meal become that even the local chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken now offers it as part of its regular menu. The same holds true of the dessert known as Vattilappam which is made of eggs, kitul jaggery and spices, which is fast gaining popularity among other communities, so much so that cups of it are now being produced commercially for local consumption. This delectable pudding is perhaps best described by J.P De Fonseka (A Gourmet’s Guide to Ceylon. Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1937) who wrote about it nearly eighty years ago as follows: “The Muslim’s is a sweet tooth. He has a pudding (for which Allah be praised) called wattiliappam, a soft, succulent one of jaggery and eggs and all the spices of the earth, which goes down with a demure sweetness like that of the houris in paradise”.

Relishes and pickles

The Malays too have contributed their share to local culinary fare. One such notable contribution is the Sambola, a preparation of grated coconut, onions, chillies, lime juice and salt very often consumed as a relish in Sinhalese homes. This dish could be traced back to the Malay sambal. Another Malay contribution to Sinhalese fare is the pickle known as achcharumade of fruits such as mango, hog plum and wild olive which has its origins in the Malay achar.  Among the sweets of Malay origin that still figure in Sinhalese festivities is the bibikkan, a baked brownish cake made of flour, scraped coconut, sugar and chopped cashewnuts which has originated from the Malay bikang ‘rice flour cake’. Dodol, an oily, dark-brownish sweetmeat made of rice flour, coconut milk and sugar, jaggery or treacle widely prepared in Sinhalese homes likewise has its origins in the Malay sweetmeat of the same name. Another Sinhalese item of Malay origin, though hardly if ever made nowadays is thesinakku which has its origins in the Malay Cheena-kuve ‘Chinese Cake’, apparently because they were prepared in little cups or bowls of Chinese origin.

Among other Muslim groups that have contributed to local culinary fare are the Bohras who were instrumental in introducing a well known item known as godamba rotti, a sort of thin bread made with wheat flour, which is commonly made in local eating houses. J.P Fonseka in his Gourmet’s Guide to Ceylon tells us that “Borahs specialise in godumba roti, a creation of eggs and flour” suggesting that this item was introduced by this group of people. A further embellishment of the godamba rotti is seen in what came to be known as kottu rotti prepared by mixing chopped godamba rotti with a rich mix of vegetables, meat and eggs. This dish too was invented by local Muslims, for commercial purposes to be served in their eating houses. It has today become a very national dish transcending ethnic barriers and has even had Sinhala songs dedicated to it. Such is its popularity.

Sweetmeats

The popular local Candy floss known as Bombay Muttai ‘Bombay Sweet’ was introduced by Indian Muslims known as Moplas. This is supported by Fonseka’s 1930s reference to Bombay Muttai “That gossamer-like creation looking like the venerable beard of a holy patriarch” being in the hands of the Coast or Indian Moors who resorted here for trade. Tudor Jones (These people make Ceylon. Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1935) is more specific, telling us that the Moplahs (a type of Indian Moor) go about the streets carrying round tin boxes on their heads. “In the boxes they carry Bombay muttai for the Moplahs have a monopoly in this”.

Another item which seems to have its origins in the Moplahs or at any rate the Coast Moors is what is popularly known locally as Muscat, an oily sweetmeat made of clarified butter, wheat flour, sugar and cashewnuts and coloured red, green or yellow. Fonseka mentions in his 1930s account of the fare of the different peoples of his day the muscat of the Coast Moors, who being a mercantile community traded in this commodity and possibly produced it. The item takes its name from the capital of Oman Muscat where this sweet seems to have been produced in large quantities. Andrew Crichton (History of Arabia.1833) refers to the people of Muscat preparing “an esteemed sweetmeat, named hulwah, from honey or sugar, with the gluten of wheat, and ghee, and a few almonds”.

Articles of Dress

Among the articles of dress introduced by Moor merchants to Sinhalese society may be mentioned the headgear worn by Kandyan men in the olden days. Robert Knox in his Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681) refers to the Kandyan Sinhalese wearing caps as a habit.  Even temple paintings of the time of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1782) represent chiefs wearing white caps. This fashion could have arisen as a result of the influence of Muslim merchants,

It is also possible that Muslim traders introduced the moṭṭappili, a shawl used to cover the head and the upper part of the body which figured prominently in the attire of Kandyan women at one time, especially in the days of King Rajadhi Rajasinha (1782-1798) and after as is borne out by temple paintings in Degaldoru and Mulgirigala among others. Luxurious lace work known in Sinhala as kasav ‘gold lace’, ‘gold fringe’ also seem to have been introduced by Muslims since the very term derives from Arabic qasab ‘fringe or lace of a garment’.

The Malays too contributed significantly to local attire. Among these is the sarong, the traditional lower garment of local Sinhalese and Tamil men which differs from the dhoti of India in being a tubular lower garment worn from the waist downwards. The Sinhala term for the garment sarama as well as the local Tamil term for it saram have originated from the Malay sarung or sarong. Likewise, the Sinhala term for ear-studs karabu has its origins in the Malay kerabu showing that it were the Malays of old who introduced this class of ornaments.

Nose Rings

Although the Muslim cultural contribution to local Tamil society has not been very significant, the introduction of nose ornaments is notable. No ornament on the face of the earth enhances a woman’s allure so much as a nose ring or stud. As such this is a very important contribution of Muslims to feminine culture. As shown by Dr. A.S.Altekar in his Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation (1938), nose ornaments were unknown in India throughout the entire Hindu period and was clearly borrowed from the Muslims. In fact, nose ornaments are attested amongst Muslim peoples, especially Arabs, for several centuries. For instance, Sir Richard Burton in his Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah (1893) refers to the Bedouin women of Arabia wearing nose-rings. The Qashqadaria Arabs of Central Asia believe that nose rings were worn by their ancestress Hagar, and that Abraham was so charmed with them that it became a tradition among Arab women. Especially interesting in the local context is a horde of jewellery excavated in Anuradhapura in the 1940s which included a lady’s nose ornaments in association with a necklace with gold coins in Arabic characters struck in the name of a tenth century Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad (Report on the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon for 1946. Senarat Paranavitana. 1948).

Yoga Vallipuram (Traditionally Yours. Times of Ceylon Annual 1964) tells us that the mookuthi or nose stud in shapes like crescent moon or star was once considered an essential ornament for married Tamil women. “Today” she says “only girls brought up in orthodox families have their noses pierced for these studs”. She adds: “But if today’s bride does not wear the mookuthi, she certainly does the tiny droplet called pullakku which hangs from the end of her nose, just above her lip”.  Vallipuram’s reference to the pulakku or nose-pendant is interesting as both the name and form of the ornament suggests an Arab origin. Captain F.M.Hunter (An Account of the British Settlement of Aden in Arabia. 1877) refers to the Bulakh which Arab women wear as “a flat gold crescent, chased and stamped, studded with pearls, having a fringe of pearls on the outside; it is worn suspended from the central membrane of the nose by a semicircular wire which joins the horns of the crescent”. Thus it can easily be deduced that thepulakku worn by local Tamil women had its origins in the bulakh of Arabian women, especially since we know that the Tamil language turns an initial b into a p when borrowing from foreign languages.

Popular Pastimes

The Malays also made a small but important contribution to Sinhalese society by way of pastimes. One such is the rabana, a large circular drum played by women during the Sinhala New Year to the accompaniment of songs known as raban pada. This item has its origins in the Malay rebana, especially the type known as rebana ubi. The Malay term itself seems to derive from the Arabic rabbana ‘Our Lord’, which figures prominently in Islamic devotional music sung to the accompaniment of the drum.

The popular pastime of kite flying also seems to have been introduced by the Malays. The Sinhala term for ‘kite’ sarungalayaseems to be connected to the Sundanese sarenkol ‘a small tubed bamboo, crooked at every joint, diverging at some angle from the preceding one’ or sarang ‘cross laths of split bamboo’, it being understood that bamboo is ideal for making kite frames. This is supported by an observation made by Louis Nell in his Explanatory List of Portuguese Words adopted by the Sinhalese published in The Orientalist over a century ago. He refers to the word gaviam meaning sparrow hawk applied by the Sinhalese of his day to hawk-shaped paper kites for flying, some with an Aeolian contrivance in a vibrating thin ribband of bamboo reed stretched to a bow and emitting a strong sound in a high wind. This, he says, used to be prepared by the Malay population.

Published in Halal World Ramadan 2016 Issue

Source : http://asiffhussein.com

From the 16th century onwards, the European colonial powers made a significant cultural impact on many aspects of Sri Lankan culture. Modern Sinhala was influenced immensely by its contact with three European languages, the languages of the colonisers: Portuguese, Dutch, and English. Prior to the Colonial invasions, Ceylon’s strategic location at the southernmost part of the sea routes that connected Asia with the Mediterranean Sea brought in many Arab, Persian, and Indian sailors and merchants. They left an indelible cultural imprint on the country by changing the social, cultural, political, economic, and linguistic outlooks of the country.

Abraham Mendis Gunasekara, in his Comprehensive Grammar of the Sinhalese Language (1891) enumerates approximately 400 loan words from Tamil, 231 from Portuguese, 112 from Dutch, and 76 from English. Sannasgala (1976: p. 87) stated that most of the Sinhala words derived from foreign sources were either Portuguese, Dutch, English, Malay/Javanese, Tamil, or Arabic.

Sinhala belongs to the larger umbrella Proto-Indo-European language group, which includes languages of the West like Greek, Latin, German, French, English, Lithuanian, and Russian. The Proto-Indo-European parent group branches off into Indo-Aryan, which includes Sanskrit, Pāli, Hindi, Bengali and, of course, Sinhala. The Indo-Aryan language group arose due to the migration of Indo-Aryan speakers from India, as early as 5 BC. Over the centuries, Sinhala has undergone significant phonetic and semantic changes. Since the Sinhala language is a member of the Indo-Aryan family, it is not difficult to connect its vocables with cognate Indo-European forms.

The evolution of Sinhala can be divided into four eras (Geiger, 1938) :

• Sinhala Prakrit (200 BC to 4th century to 5th century AD)
• Proto-Sinhala (4-5 AD to 8 AD)
• Medieval Sinhala (8-13 AD)
• Modern Sinhala (13-20 AD)

Modern Sinhala (13-20 AD)

The modern Sinhala language contains many Portuguese and Dutch terms. It is believed that many Portuguese loans would have entered Sinhala after the departure of the Portuguese from the island in 1658. The Portuguese, unlike the later Dutch and British, integrated well with the locals. They intermarried with the daughters of the land and birthed a new language, Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, which flourished as a lingua franca in the island for over three and a half centuries.

The Dutch language has also influenced Sinhala considerably in the fields of law, administration, and commerce. This is not surprising, considering the fact that it was the Dutch who introduced the Roman Dutch Law, which survives today as the general law of the land. P.B Sannasgala has cited numerous Dutch loans pertaining not only to legal, administrative, and mercantile matters, but also to food, drinks, clothing, and personal ornamentation, games, household goods, and utensils, etc.

This article seeks to dig a little deeper into the linguistic affinity between Sinhala and other foreign languages by exploring the etymological origins of many loan words borrowed from Portuguese, Dutch, and English. [Sources: Tagus to Taprobane: Portuguese Impact on the Socio-culture of Sri Lanka from 1505 AD by Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, and Zeylanica: A Study of the Peoples and Languages of Sri Lanka by Asiff Hussein.]

Casados

The Portuguese kings banned women from accompanying navigators to the colonies. This naturally led to intermarriage with the indigenous women of the land. Portuguese ‘casados’ were the married soldiers (soldados in Portuguese) who were permanent residents of Ceylon. The Casados and Topazes (children from Portuguese native marriages) were not part of the regular army. They were only expected to take up arms in defence of their homes or during a major emergency. However, they sometimes volunteered for particular military operations. The Sinhala verb kasada bandinava comes from the Portuguese past participle casado meaning ‘married’. The Portuguese doucasado was corrupted into dikkasada, Sinhala for divorced.

Parangi Names And Titles

As a result of Portuguese intermarriages with the local women, Portuguese surnames and personal names were introduced to Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankans have Parangi (from ‘Farangi’ meaning ‘foreigner’) surnames like Abrew (Abreu), Almeda (Almeida), Aponso (Afonso), De Mel (Melo), Perera (Pereira), Ruberu (Ribeiro) etc. These people could be descendants of the Portuguese or of those converted to Roman Catholicism who acquired Portuguese names at baptism.

The Sinhalese also had several titles for men and women which were used according to the age, rank and qualities of the person (Knox, 1681 : p. 291). The Portuguese introduced new titles to Sri Lanka. The title of Dom (i.e Sir) and Dona (i.e lady) were bestowed upon chieftains and their wives who converted to Christianity at baptism. Dom and Dona are used as prefixes to personal names. For example, Dona Katarina and Dom Juan. Dona Catherina (also known as Kusumasana Devi) was Queen of Kandy in the sixteenth century who later became the Queen Consort to King Wimaladharmasuriya I after the defeat of King Rajasinhe I. Gajaman Nona was a famous Sri Lankan poet who lived in the south of the country around the time the Dutch rule ended and early British rule began. She was baptised Dona Isabella Koraneliya Perumal. Sri Lankans added Dom or Dona to their names at baptism, to signal their pre-eminence.

Do you remember the famous song by the Gypsies from the late 90s, “Signore” ? The term ‘Senhor’ (lord or gentleman) became ‘Sinno’ in Sinhala and it is used even today in the rural areas of Sri Lanka. The feminine equivalent, Segnora, however, is not used. Instead, Nona is used for younger ladies and nona mahaththaya for older ladies in aristocratic families. According to Nell (1888), even 100 years ago, Sinno (derived from Senhor) was used to address Portuguese-speaking men who wore western clothes and Nona was used to address European and burgher (Eurasian) ladies.

Portuguese And Dutch Influences On Cities And Street Names

Many town and street names used today also find their origins in either the Dutch or Portuguese languages, some examples being:

Gal Bokka (from ‘Galio Boca’, or ‘Galle Buck’)

Santumpitiya (from ‘Sao Tome’, ‘Saint Thomas’), now Gintupitiya

Grandpass (from ‘Grando Passo’) ‒ In the book Changing Face of Colombo by R.L Brohier, there is an interesting story which explains the origin of the name Grandpass:

As in the long years of hitherto past, at that period too the Kelani Ganga, which sweeps round north Colombo to roll its waters into the sea was unabridged. The river was at no season of the year fordable and there were two points where ferries were established. The Portuguese bestowed the connotation “Passo Grande” (present Grand-Pass) to the crossing at Nakalagam. The second crossing was called Pasbetal, literally pass of the boats, was not far from Grand-Pass, but neared the mouth of the river.”

Milagiriya (from ‘milagres’, meaning ‘miracles’) (Hettiarachchi, 1965)

Bloemendahl (Vale of Flowers) – In the enclave of the Kelani Ganga and off its left bank, which lay north of the Cinnamon plantation, there were extensive areas of grass fields and swampy land which extend southwards from Bloemendahl. Most of it was once owned by a Hollander, and named after him : “Vender Meyden’s Polder” (Pasture lands reclaimed from the marshes). The name still remains in old deeds to recall the fact that it was in Dutch times drained and used as a model farm.

The language of the colonisers lent their influence to other aspects of Sri Lankan life, too, such as:

Job Titles And Trades

• Minindoruva ‒ Port. medidor, meaning ‘surveyor’
• Sapateruva ‒ Port. sapaeteiro, meaning ‘shoemaker’ (Port. Sapato ‒ sapattuva, ‘shoe’)
• Alugosuva ‒ Port. algoz, for ‘hangman’ or ‘public executioner’
• Pederēruva ‒ Port. pedreiro, ‘mason bās’ (Dut. baas)
• Tolka mudalali ‒ Dut. tolk, ‘interpreter’

Judicial Administration

• Sitasiya ‒ Dut. citacio, ‘citation/court summons’
• Kondesiya ‒ Dut. condicao, ‘conditions’
• Notasiya ‒ Dut. noticia, ‘notice’
• Perakadoru ‒ Dut. procurador, ‘proctor’

Clothing

Jeththukara is an adjective in Sinhala that is used to describe something fancy or fashionable. Jeito in Portuguese means ‘fashion’. As Sri Lankan women married Portuguese men, they adopted the Portuguese style of dress. Their sense of fashion was a hybrid of European origin. We could assume that the conversion to Roman Catholicism might have provided an impetus in Sri Lankans to emulate Portuguese clothes. The Portuguese influence on Sri Lankan attire can be traced through the modern Sinhala lexicon.

Beeralu is a lace-making craft that is still practiced in Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Pillow Lace or Beeralu derives from the Portuguese word bilro (bobbin). The wig/false hair worn by Portuguese women was called cabelleira, havariya in Sinhala. Other attire-related words that find their origins in the Portuguese language include:

• Avana ‒ (Port. abano, ‘fan’ )
• Piyara ‒ (Port. poeira, ‘powder’)
• Calesama ‒ (Port. calcao, ‘trouser’)
• Bastama ‒ (Port. bastao, ‘walking stick’)

There are also borrowings from Portuguese describing Sri Lankan jewellery, and terms associated with sewing and cutting, such as:

• Arungal ‒ (Port. argolinha, ‘ear-ring’)
• Bottam Kasiya ‒ (Port. kasa de botão, ‘button-hole’)
• Pathorama ‒ (Port. padrao, ‘pattern’)
• Mosataraya ‒ (Port. mostra, ‘design’)
• Lensuva ‒ (Port. lenco, ‘handkerchief’)
• Alpenetiya ‒ (Port. alfenete, ‘pin’)

Vegetation And Cuisine

In many ways, it was the Portuguese who transformed the island into the tropical paradise that Sri Lanka is often described to be. They introduced plants to their colonies during their voyages by transplanting fruits and vegetables from one continent to another: oranges, pineapples, maize, manioc, and tobacco are good examples of this. In 1658, the Portuguese were ousted by the Dutch, who subsequently colonised the coastal regions of Sri Lanka. They were amazed by the variety of vegetation in the island at that time. Among the everyday Sri Lankan food names that were influenced by the Portuguese are:

• Kaju – (Port. caju, cashew)
• Anoda – (Port. anona, custard apple)
• Masan –(Port. maça, apple)
• Manyokka – (Port. mandioca/tapioca, cassava)
• Sidaran – (Port. sidrao, citron)
• Artapal – (Dut. aard-appel, earth apple)
• Pipinna – (Port. pepino, cucumber)

The Portuguese also introduced many recipes into Sri Lankan cuisine. Even the word kussiya (kitchen) comes from the Portuguese word cozinho.

The Portuguese ‘pudim’ is an egg custard with sauce (Wright, 1969). However, in contemporary Sri Lanka, pudim is a general term that embraces a variety of desserts.

Doce means ‘sweet’ or ‘candy’ in Portuguese. The sugar-glazed melon candy, aka puhul dosi, is a Sri Lankan delicacy loved by nearly everyone.

In Old Portuguese, bread was known as pan. Other food and food-related words influenced by Portuguese include:

• Peththa ‒ (Port. fatio, ‘slice’)
• Forno ‒ (Port. forno, ‘oven’)
• Paralu (Paan) ‒ (Port. farelo, ‘wheat bran’)
• Keju ‒ (Port. Quiejo, ‘cake’)
• Bora (Saw Bora) ‒ (Port. Boroa, ‘semolina’)

Note: The Portuguese “g” corresponds to “k” in Sinhala, e.g. peekudu (Port. figado, ‘liver’) and vinakiri (Port. vinagre, ‘vinegar’).

Some Sri Lankan kitchen utensils also have Portuguese etyma:

• Garappuva (Port. garfo, ‘fork’)
• Guruleththuva (Port. gorgoletta, ‘earthen vessel’) ‒ the word derives from the old French gargole meaning ‘throat’ or ‘waterspout’, which is perhaps from garg-, imitative of throat sounds.

Other terms:

It is no secret that Sri Lankans love their booze, and whether that was thanks to colonial influences or not is up for debate ‒ what we do know, however, is that the colonisers did lend us a few interesting words to use in relation to drinking:

• Bebadda in Sinhala means drunkard. It comes from the Portuguese word bebado.
• Thabaruma is a tavern/bar which comes from the Portuguese word taberna.

Other words include:

• Rathinya (Chinese firecrackers) ‒ this word is likely to have its origins in the Portuguese ratinho meaning ‘little rat’ and was probably so called due its appearance: the fuse for lighting the cracker resembles a rodent’s tail.
• Kapothi! (finished, destroyed, lost) is a Sinhala expression influenced by the Dutch word kapot meaning ‘broken’.
• Isthirikkaya (iron) comes from the Portuguese verb esticar and Dutch strikjzer meaning to ‘stretch and extend’.
• Pagawa ‒ from the Portuguese paga, meaning bribe/payment.
• The Negombo fish market (Lellama fish market) is a place where you can haggle with the fishermen. Lellama comes from the Portuguese noun Leilão meaning auction or sale. Keval karanava (to haggle) has origins of (Dutch. kibbel). Vendesiya (public auction) derives from the Portuguese word vendas (sales).
• Kakkusiya (toilet) is a word that has Dutch origins. The literal translation of the Dutch word Kak-huis is ‘excreta house’.
• It is believed that the Sinhala verb udav karanna comes from the Portuguese noun ajuda (ayudar in Spanish) meaning ‘help’.
• Lasti (getting ready/being prepared) is a Sinhala verb which could be a loan word from the Portuguese lesto meaning quick, brisk, or ready.
• Kenthiya (anger) is a corrupted word of the Portuguese adjective quente which means warm or hot.
• Ranchuva in Sinhala means ‘a group’ ‒ the American Spanish rancho is a ‘mess-room’, originally, ‘group of people who eat together’. In Portuguese, rancho bears a similar meaning (Port. rancho, ‘soldiers’ quarters’).

The language of the colonisers clearly lent their influence to pretty much all aspects of Sri Lankan lifestyles; so much so that we can safely conclude that Sri Lankans are in fact a lot more multicultural than we may have guessed.

Featured image: A 17th-century painting of Dutch explorer Joris van Spilbergen meeting with King Vimaladharmasuriya in 1602. Image courtesy familypedia.wikia.com

Source: http://life.roar.lk

Sri Lanka’s Muslims are heirs to a rich culinary tradition which has its ultimate origins in Arabia, India and the Malay world. Their cuisine is in a sense ‘international’. Here’s a brief survey of some of their more prominent foods and drinks and their origins.

Buriyani – A favourite rice dish which figures prominently in local Muslim feasts is the buriyani, a rich and delectable dish made with fragrant basmati rice cooked in ghee with meat (usually beef or chicken) and potatoes, spiced with various condiments, scented with rose water and coloured yellow. It may also be embellished with green peas, cashew nuts and raisins.Buriyani has its origins in Moghul India. The very term itself is of Indian origin and has derived from the Hindustani biryani. Abul Fazl in his 16th century treatise on Moghul India, Ain-I-Akbari gives biryan as a meat dish made from sheep with ghi and spices such as saffron, pepper and cuminseed. He also mentions a rice dish known as duzdbiryan made of rice, meat and ghi. The term biryan from which biryani evidently derives is a Persian loan in Hindustani meaning ‘fried, roasted, broiled, parched, grilled’.The earliest reference to its use in Sri Lanka is perhaps an advertisement placed by Kamal Pasha Hotel of Maradana in 1923 in Crescent magazine of Zahira College where we read of ‘buriyani rice’ and ‘fried fowls’ being offered by the hotel, suggesting that the dish would have been introduced from India for commercial purposes and that it was only later that it gained currency as a domestic dish. Elsie Cook (A Geography of Ceylon.1931) noticed the dish figuring among local Muslims a few years later. She says “Their mode of cooking rice, with sultanas and fat, making a dish called burriana, has become characteristic in Ceylon”.

Vattalappam – Vaṭṭalappam is a favourite dessert comprising of a rich pudding made with eggs, coconut milk, jaggery and cardamoms, This brown pudding is prepared by adding a mixture of heated jaggery, coconut milk and ground cardamoms to a stock of beaten eggs after which the whole is poured into bowls and steamed till it assumes a firm consistency. The term is evidently a corruption of the Tamil vaṭṭil  ‘cup’ + appam ‘cake’, hence vaṭṭilappam ‘cup-cake’.  The dish is however unknown to the Tamils. Rather it is in all likelihood a borrowing from the Malay world, having derived from that sweet dish known as serikaya among the Malays of Indonesia and Malaysia. Serikaya is a steamed custard made of eggs, coconut milk, palm sugar and pandan or screwpine leaves, though it is also often consumed as a jam. The similarity between the two however suggests a common origin so that we may have to suppose vattalappam to have originated from this Malay dessert.

This paper deals with a much disputed aspect of Islamic civil law, namely, the position of the wilayat (marriage guardianship) and the legal capacity of Muslim women to contract marriage in accordance with the rules laid down in the Qur'an and the Sunnah or the Prophetic Tradition. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate that Muslim women are conceded the right to contract a marriage at their own discretion even sans the consent of their awliya or agnatic guardians. It will take into consideration the views of the two main schools of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, namely, the Hanafi and the Shafi'i in this matter and examine their respective positions from an Islamic standpoint.

Marriage in Islam could be defined as a civil contract entered into by a contract of offer or proposal (ijab) and acceptance (qabul) by the mutual consent of the bridegroom and the guardian or agent (wali) of the bride in the presence of two adult male witnesses. The wali or marriage guardian is, in the first instance, the father and in the second instance, the paternal grandfather, according to both the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools. This is followed by other close male relatives on the agnatic side, depending on the position of the madhhabs (schools of law) regarding the matter. According to the Hanafis the right of jabr (i.e. the power to impose the status of marriage on a ward) applies to all minors, whether male or female, and no sooner they attain puberty (bulughiyyah), which in the absence of evidence to the contrary is fixed by law at 15 years, they are freed from their wali's right of jabr and may validly enter into a marriage contract at their own discretion.

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The All Ceylon Young Men’s Muslim Association Conference is primarily a Youth and Youth serving Community based organization founded on the 30th April 1950, which has rendered yeoman service to the community over the last 64 years. The Founder was Dr. A.M.A. Azeez, eminent educationist, efficient administrator, erudite scholar, visionary and community worker. 

Aboobucker Mohamed Abdul Azeez was born in Vannarponnai, Jaffna on 4th October, 1911. His  education in the Hindu schools R.K.M. Vaidyeshwara Vidyalayam and Jaffna Hindu College, and his training under distinguished teachers had stood in good stead in his later life, particularly for his invaluable contribution to the community in many spheres. Azeez graduated from the University of London with Honours in History in 1933 and proceeded to Cambridge University on being awarded the Government Arts Scholarship. On his success in the Ceylon Civil Service Examination as the first Muslim Civil Servant, he abandoned his post-graduate studies and returned home to embark on an administrative career in 1935. 

In 1933 Azeez developed a passionate attachment to the name Young Men’s Muslim Association (YMMA), chiefly as a result of reading ‘Whither Islam’ Edited by H.A.R. Gibb, in which it was said that the YMMA movement which had started in Egypt was spreading to the neighbouring countries.

In April 1942, Azeez was transferred at short notice as Assistant Government Agent, Kalmunai, with specific instructions to boost food production, due to the shortage of food during the Second World War. His great achievement, if not his greatest, within two years was lauded. He was transferred back to Colombo in January 1944 and soon after in February he was sent as A.G.A. to the Kandy Kachcheri.

The Kandy Muslim Association, which was inaugurated in 1915, elected Azeez as its President. He proposed a resolution to change the name to Kandy YMMA which was accepted unanimously. He also initiated the publication of ‘Young Muslim’ in 1945. In his Presidential Address on 29.7.1944, Azeez stated that ‘Y.M’. should not refer to ‘Young Men’ in the physical sense of a certain age or age limit, but in the mental sense of the possession of the qualities of idealism, alertness and enthusiasm. Therefore, there is a place in the YMMA for men of all ages, for the young as well as the old. In 1945 Azeez was transferred to Colombo at short notice and assumed duties as Information Officer.

In 1947 Azeez and his wife Ummu visited England. During this trip they spent few days in Egypt and Azeez visited the YMMA in Cairo in February 1947. He made a deep study of its organizational structure and other matters. This gave him the inspiration to initiate a YMMA movement in Ceylon. In August 1948 he retired from the C.C.S. and succeeded Dr. T.B. Jayah as Principal of Zahira College, Colombo, and revived his ideas about the YMMA movement. 

There were many YMMAs at that time, the oldest was the Mutwal YMMA formed in 1917 by H.A. Marjan and M.C.M. Kaleel (later a Cabinet Minister) was the President. M. Lafir Cassim, later a stalwart of the YMMA, first met A.M.A. Azeez in 1948 to discuss about forming the Maligawatte YMMA, which was founded in January 1949. The YMMAs functioned independently and in isolation. They did not have a motto or crest.

On 2.4.1950, the YMMAs of Maligawatte, Central, Aluthkade, Kuruwe Street and Mutwal met at Zahira College with A.M.A. Azeez as Chairman. They decided unanimously to inaugurate the All Ceylon YMMA Conference with the objective of consolidating all existing YMMAs under one umbrella. 

On 30.4.1950 a meeting was held at Zahira College with 67 delegates from 17 YMMAs and the All Ceylon YMMA Conference was inaugurated with A.M.A. Azeez as President and Lafir Cassim as Secretary. It was a historic day. Many leading Muslims joined and supported the movement. In April 1952 the Annual Convention was held at Zahira College and a banquet was held later at “Meadow Sweet” the residence of Azeez. Soon after the first meeting, with the guidance of Azeez the Constitution, Motto, Crest, Anthem and Colour were agreed. 

The Main objective of the Constitution was “to aim at developing a generation of men worthy of the highest traditions of Islam and capable of the highest deeds to serve their country in every branch of modern life”. The Association was incorporated on 22.6.1968 by Act No. 31 of 1968.

The Motto introduced was what was offered by the late Mohamed Ali Jinnah namely FAITH, UNITY, DISCIPLINE. The Crest was introduced with the top portion to show the  KA’BA to denote Islam in the world and the chain around for unity. The lower portion represented Sri Lanka showing Adam’s Peak. The star in the crest was intended to represent the five principles of Islam namely Belief, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat and Hajj. The colours were green and white. The Anthem was brought from Egypt.

The All Ceylon YMMA Conference is the premier Muslim youth NGO in Sri Lanka and continues to render yeoman service with over 100 branches in the Island. To commemorate its Golden Jubilee a stamp was issued in the year 2000. 

The All Ceylon YMMA Conference was another pet project of A.M.A. Azeez. He was President during the first three years. Nevertheless his valuable advice and guidance was sought after until his demise on 24th November 1973.

(Khalid M. Farouk was a past President of the YMMA and is the Secretary of the Dr. A.M.A. Azeez Foundation. He was a student of Zahira College during the Azeez era)

Fuad Koichi Honda, a native of Japan, is known round the world as one of the world’s top contemporary Arabic calligraphers. His works show a level of artistic perfection that has taken him decades to achieve.
He has won many awards for his work, including the International Arabic Calligraphy Contest. His most famous works of calligraphic art use passages from the Koran as their basis.

The experience of living in Middle Eastern deserts also served as an influence to Honda, which has been recognized by major traditional Arabic calligraphers. They praise the way in which he combines the Japanese aesthetic of empty space with strictly traditional letter forms.

Today Honda serves as President of the Japan Arabic Calligraphy Association and teaches at Tokyo’s Arabic Center.

Honda has crossed cultural boundaries with his calligraphy, bringing two different cultures – Japanese and Islamic – together in a way which can be appreciated by both – as well as by the rest of the world.

Source : http://muslimvillage.com

How Misogynists and Feminists are feeding upon each other to denigrate an Islamic practice that brings untold benefits to women

Headdresses of the Muslims of Old

By Asiff Hussein

Surattu Toppi

The ordinary headgear of the Muslims of Sri Lanka in the olden days was a white skullcap. However the head-dress usually worn by the more affluent Muslims was an altogether different type of head-gear. It was a costly multi-coloured, truncated conical brimless hat or cap made of straw or silk and often adorned with tinsel.

The earliest reference to such a cap is perhaps that of John Capper (Old Ceylon. 1877) who, writing of a Moor shopkeeper of Colombo in 1848, says that his remarkably well shaped head was surmounted by a “little colored cap, like an infantine bee-hive” while Mrs. Arthur Thompson (A Peep into Ceylon. C.1870s or 1880s) refers to some Moormen seen at Hindugalle as “two very fine dignified looking men, with high silk hats of all colours”.  Osborn B.Allen (A Parson’s Holiday. 1885) observes that “The Moormen shave their heads and wear a high cap made of fine grass plaited in colours”. William Wood (Sketches in Ceylon. 1890) refers to the Moormen wearing “strange beehive-shaped hats of plaited straw”. C.F.Gordon Cumming (Two Happy Years in Ceylon. 1892) says that the shaven heads of the Moormen are crowned with “high straw hats made without a brim, and these are often covered with a yellow turban”. Henry Cave (Picturesque Ceylon. 1893) refers to Moormen with shaven heads “crowned with curiously plaited brimless hats of coloured silk”.

The Monthly Literary Register of March 1894 refers to the Moormen of Colombo being distinguishable by their “tall hats glittering with tinsel”. J.C.Willis (Ceylon.1907) says that the Moormen shave their heads completely and wear some kind of distinctive hat, usually the “beehive” which is made of silk of different colours and woven into various patterns. These hats, he says, come from Calicut in South India where they are made. He also notes that owing to their cost (Rs.14 to Rs.25 at that time) they are specially affected by the well-to-do men. Similarly, Alfred Clark (Ceylon. 1910) tells us that the distinguishing features of the Moormen are their shaven heads and curious hats, one type of which was made of coloured plait, brimless, and shaped like a huge thimble. William T.Hornaday (Two Years in the Jungle. 1922) describes the headdress of the Moors as “a tall, rimless straw hat, resembling an inverted flower-pot suffering from an overdose of decorative art”.

An illustration accompanying the description of a Moor shopkeeper in Capper’s Old Ceylon (1877) clearly shows him wearing this kind of cap which is described in the text as being like “an infantine bee-hive”. A fair representation of such hats is also found in John Van Dort’s sketch of Arabi Pasha’s arrival where several Muslims of Colombo waiting to receive the Egyptian exile are depicted wearing these hats along with their long robes (Published in the Graphic of Feb.24.1883 and reproduced in 19^th century Newspaper Engravings of Ceylon. R.K.De Silva.1998). So does a group photo of Ceylon Moors taken in 1901 on the occasion of the Birth Anniversary of Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey reproduced in the Souvenir of the Moors Islamic Cultural Home 1977- 1982 (1983) where we find as many as ten individuals wearing this kind of hat though many are also seen to be wearing the fez.

As for the name by which this hat was known, we have the evidence of both A.H. Macan Markar (Short Biographical Sketches of Macan Markar and Related Families. 1977) and Dr.Tayka Shuayb (Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu. 1993) that it was known as the Sūrat Toppi. Markar refers to the multi-coloured cap that was the fashionable headgear among the Moors before the introduction of the fez as the ‘Surat Thopee’ while Shuayb also refers to these Surat Toppi which he says were made of straw “the outerpart of which is covered with velvet-type multi-coloured threads woven into various designs. Its inside was covered with leather and had a purse-like cavity to preserve important documents and even cash”. A consideration of the above accounts leads us to the conclusion that the hats worn by the Moors, especially of the higher classes, in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries was a tall brimless hat shaped very much like a thimble, beehive or an inverted flower-pot. They were multi-coloured and made of straw and plaited silk and not uncommonly adorned with tinsel.  

The hat though also manufactured elsewhere probably took its name from Surat, a port-city in Western India that gave its name to the soft twilled silk fabric known as surah for which it was renowned.  There is no doubt that the Surat toppi was of Indian origin, and probably originated from Surat itself. This is borne out not only by the etymology of the term, but also by a reference to a similar headgear known as alfiyyah (An Arabic term meaning ‘One thousand’) by Richard Burton (The Lake Regions of Central Africa. 1860) who describes it as “the common Surat cap, worked with silk upon a cotton ground” which was known in Africa at the time and imported from India. He gives three types, the vis-gol or 20-stitch, the tris-gol or 30-stitch and chalis-gol or 40-stitch. These numeral terms, belonging as they do to the Gujarati language, would suggest an origin from Surat which was situated in Gujarat.

The Surat toppi was however not to last long and was gradually replaced by the fez beginning from about the last decade of the nineteenth century.

The Fez

The fez, a red cylindrical cap flat at the top often giving a truncated conical appearance when worn, and often with a black tassle at the top, was evidently an introduction from Ottoman Turkey and its Arab dependencies and caught on among the Moors during the latter part of the nineteenth century.  This headgear though popularized by the Turks is thought to have originated from the city of Fez in Morocco from which it takes its name. Nevertheless, the Moors have traditionally known it as the Turukki toppi or ‘Turkish hat’. It is generally believed that it was the famous Egyptian nationalist leader Arabi Pasha who was exiled to the island by the British in 1883 who introduced this form of headgear to the country.       Ponnambalam Arunachalam (The Census of Ceylon 1902) states that the presence of the Egyptian militant Arabi Pasha and his fellow Egyptian exiles in Ceylon has had the effect of stirring up the Moorish community and has led to “the adoption of the dress of European Turks”. In the photographs of the Egyptian exiles reproduced in Ceylon in 1903 by John Ferguson, all including Arabi, Yacoub, Toulba, Ali Fehmi, Mahmoud Fehmi, Mahmoud Sami and Abdul are shown wearing fez caps.

We may gather from this that it was largely, if not solely due to the influence of Arabi Pasha and his fellow exiles that the fez caught on among the Moors and eventually came to be regarded as their traditional head-dress. What must also be borne in mind is that the fez was the head-dress of the Turkish Sultan who was regarded as the Caliph or leader of the Islamic world, a fact which would have given it added importance in the eyes of local Muslims. 

Robert Walsh gives an interesting account of the origins of the headgear in his Historical Account of Constantinople (1838) which deals with the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-39). Says Walsh: “A distinguishing characteristic  of the turban was a small red cap, called a fez, which covered the crown, and  round which the turban was wound. When this pondrous head-dress was laid aside by the Sultan, the fez was retained, as a remnant of orientalism, but as its circumference was less than that of a saucer, its border was enlarged till it reached the ears, and it became the adopted and distinguishing covering of the head under the new regime”. Walsh also gives the following account of the manufacture of the headgear as it prevailed in his day: “It was originally manufactured at Tunis, and cost the government such immense sums, that the Sultan resolved to establish a manufactory of it at home, and extensive edifices were erected for the purpose. A number of African workmen were invited, and they succeeded in everything except the vivid colour, the preparation of which was kept a profound secret at Tunis. At length the process was discovered by an intelligent and enterprising Armenian; and the establishment, now complete in all its parts, exceeds, perhaps, that of any in Europe. Nearly one thousand females, of all persuasions, Raya as well as Turk, assemble here, and receive the wool weighed out to them. This they knit into caps of the prescribed form, and then return them. They are next subject to a process of fulling, and teazel heads, to raise the knap, then to clipping with shears, and finally pressed under a screw, till at length the texture becomes so dense as to obliterate all trace of knitting, and appears like the finest broad cloth. When it has attained this state, it is dyed by the newly- discovered process, and assumes a hue of rich dark scarlet or crimson. The altered shape of the cap is now a cylinder with a flat top, from the centre of which a thrum of purple silk-thread depends”.

It would appear that the fez had already made its influence felt by the turn of the nineteenth century. In a group photo of Ceylon Moors taken in 1901 on the occasion of the Birth Anniversary of Sultan Abdul Hamid and reproduced in the MICHS (1983) we already come across a few individuals attired in the fez while in a photo of a gathering at Hameedia School Building in New Moor Street, Colombo, to celebrate the opening of the Hejaz Railway to Mecca from Medina by the Turkish Government (1^st September 1908) also reproduced in the same work, we find a majority of persons, especially young persons wearing the fez. Here, the peculiar beehive cap could still be seen worn by a few older individuals. This is corroborated by Willis (1907) who notes that the younger generation of Moormen affect the fez and comments “It is to be regretted that this importation seems likely to supersede the silk toppi which is distinctive of the Ceylon Moormen”.  Indeed, the Moors of the eastern districts who do not seem to have ever known the Surat toppi, certainly knew the Turukki toppi which attests to its widespread popularity among the Moors of all parts of the country.

The fez cap though a Turkish headgear was at the time considered to be a symbol of Muslim identity as is suggested by the so-called ‘fez controversy’ of 1905-1906 when the noted Moor leader and advocate M.C.Abdul Cader was prohibited from entering court with the fez. Pursuant to a notice published in the local newspapers by the Fez Committee, a largely attended representative mass meeting of the Muslims of Ceylon was held on Sunday the 31^st of December 1905 at 4.00 pm in the open air at the Maradana Mosque Grounds, Colombo, to protest against the action of the Supreme Court of the island which prohibited Mr.Abdul Cader from appearing in court with his usual “Mohammedan head-dress – the Fez”. 

The Times of Ceylon of the 1^st of January 1906 had this to say of the meeting: “The clannish cohesion of Mohamedans on questions of their faith, or on questions affecting it, is remarkable and the esprit de corps of the community is an object of admiration and imitation to men of other persuasions. It was that esprit de corps which gathered together over 30,000 men on the grounds of the Maradana Mosque yesterday. From noon, a stream of men was noticeable converging from all parts of the city and massing in their thousands and tens of thousands about the Mosque. As the appointed hour fixed for the meeting drew near the Mosque became almost inaccessible for a distance of a quarter of a mile. Arrived at last on the grounds of the Mosque, the visitor was confronted by a gathering, which in variety of garb, in density, in numbers, in orderliness and in enthusiasm has seldom, if ever, been seen in one spot in Colombo, since the demonstration on the Galle Face on the death of Queen Victoria. The variety of garb was only equaled by the variety of race. The Moormen of Ceylon, of course preponderated. Quite 20,000 of the 30,000 people congregated were Ceylon Moors. The Coast Moors mustered in strength, which comprised the large majority of the remaining 10,000. But among the Ceylon Moors and the Coast Mohamedans there stood fair-skinned Turks, grave Persians, tall Afghans, stalwart men of Arab blood, men of African origin, Mohamedans from Asia Minor, Sikhs from Northern India and Malays from the Farther East. There were Mohamedans in frock-coat and the sober European garb – with fezes on. There were Tambies clad in the costume characteristic of their community. Their priests and foreign Mussulmans in long, graceful, flowing robes of bright crimson pink, dazzling green, dull brown, gorgeous magenta, men in turbans, in caps, in fezes, men with cloth head-gear, and men in hoods. The diversity of type, race, costume, language and nationality was, however, merged in the unity of faith and unanimity of purpose. It was a great gathering, a concourse of men impressive and even magnificent. That they will achieve the object for which they organized yesterday’s demonstration seems hardly to admit of doubt”.

Intensive agitation and massive demonstrations in Colombo and in other parts of the island finally resulted in a decision of the Supreme Court permitting the wearing of the fez in court. Today the Fez figures mainly in Moor weddings as part of the traditional attire of the bridegroom. It is still very much considered an indispensable appendage of the wedding attire of the Moor male.

This article is largely based on the book Sarandib. An Ethnological Study of the Muslims of Sri Lanka by Asiff Hussein, now in its third expanded edition. Written in a lucid style, it is the culmination of much research, inquiry and field studies on the society and culture of Sri Lanka’s Muslims. The work contains detailed information on aspects like ethnic origins, language, settlements, customs and traditions, dress and ornamentation, culinary fare, medical remedies, names and titles, occupations, social organization, ceremonial observances and religious and folk beliefs.

Sarandib. An Ethnological Study of the Muslims of Sri Lanka by Asiff Hussein
Publisher: Neptune Publications; pp:784 + 54 B&W & Colour plates; Price: Rs.2000

Constantinople, or Istanbul as it is known today, is a unique city as far as history and location is concerned. Historically, it was the capital of the Roman Empire for eleven centuries and its culture dominated the whole world. The principle church of Eastern Christianity was situated here. Its pivotal political and religious position caused the entire Christian World to rally to its defense at times of conflict. Geographically, it has a natural harbour bordered by the ocean on three sides and it is the only city in the world which is considered to be both in Europe and Asia. The straits of Bosphorus divide the city into two, with one end merging into the black sea, and the other into the Sea of Marmara. A tiny branch of the Bosphorus to the west forms the ‘Golden Horn’, which is the only entry into the city.

The Prophet (Allah’s peace be upon him) had prophesized the downfall of Istanbul at the hands of the Muslims when he said: “You will certainly conquer Constantinople. Fortunate will be the leader and fortunate will be the army that accomplishes this.”

For eight centuries, the conquest of Constantinople remained a dream for the Muslims. Many attempts were made to conquer it, the first by Muawwiyah ibn Abu Sufyan (Allah be pleased with him), during the Khilāfah of Ali (Allah be pleased with him), but none was successful. The strategic strength of its location and its mountainous terrain made it virtually impenetrable.

The honour and glad tidings mentioned by The Prophet (Allah’s peace be upon him) fell onto a young Muslim commander by the name of Sultān Muhammad Al-Fatih (Allah grant him mercy), the seventh ruler of the Ottoman Empire. At the age of twenty two he assumed the position of leadership.

PRAYER FOR VICTORY

When Sultān Muhammad Al-Fatih (Allah grant him mercy) decided to conquer Constantinople, he sent his minister Ahmad Basha ibn Waliyyudin to two pious men of the time, Sheikh Āq Shamsuddin (Allah grant him mercy) and Sheikh Āq Bek (Allah grant him mercy), to request their company as the army proceeded for the battle. They both agreed. Sheikh Shamsuddin (Allah grant him mercy) gave him the glad tidings of victory and specified the exact day, time and place of entry into the city. The Sultān was accordingly informed.

When the day arrived, there was no sign of victory, the minister began to doubt. He decided to visit the Sheikh’s tent; he was refused entry according to the Sheikh’s instructions. The minister lifted a portion of the tent and found the Sheikh with his forehead on the ground, humbly crying and beseeching Allah Most High. After a few moments he raised his head and stood up saying, “All praises to Allah Most High, who granted us the ability to conquer the city.”

The minister later explained, “At that precise moment, I noticed the Muslim entering the city.” By the blessing of this du’a the Muslims succeeded in the conquest, When the Sultān witnessed the fulfillment of the Sheikh’s prediction, he remarked, “I am more pleased with the presence of a man of this calibre amongst us, than with our conquest of Constantinople.”

MILITARY GENIUS

Sultān Muhammad ibn Al-Fatih (Allah grant him mercy) led his army to face the Romans in April 1453. The Byzantine army had blocked the entry through the Golden Horn by using a massive iron chain. The Muslim navy was therefore confined to the Bosphorus and could not enter the city port. The only way they could overpower the army was by a land invasion, but this was a near impossible task. The only option left to him was a portion of his navy to attack from the port side of the city through the Golden Horn. But, this was a formidable task, as the chain at the mouth of the Golden Horn blocked the opening and the Byzantine ships were in position to repel any invasion.

After much thought, Sultān Muhammad (Allah grant him mercy) struck upon an ingenious plan. He decided that some of the ships should be moved over the land into the Golden Horn, and thereby by-pass the iron chain. But the route to the Golden Horn was through cumbersome mountainous terrain. The Muslim army laid the entire route with wooden planks, which had been lined with oil and fat to make them slippery. The sails of the ships were also opened to draw the assistance of the wind. Seventy ships were then transferred from the Bosphorus to the Golden horn. This daring feat, unique in the annals of history, was accomplished with perfection in a single night.

The Byzantine army was shocked at the sudden appearance of the Muslim ships before their eyes. The entrance of the Muslim navy into the Golden Horn now opened the siege to the city from all sides. The inhabitants were not prepared for combat from the sea entrance of the city, as they had concentrated most of their efforts at the remaining three fronts. After fierce fighting from both sides, the Muslim army entered the city triumphantly.

Even non-Muslim historians, like Edward Gibbon, expressed their amazement at this military strategy, calling it a “miracle”.

Allah Most High Knows Best.

Source: https://muslimvillage.com