Tributes are pouring in to Alhaj Mulla Anverali Valimohamed Haji Walji of Mombasa, fondly known as Mulla Annu.
Read about his life and work here
Tribute from The World Federation
Extending his heartfelt condolences to the family, World Federation President Anwarali Dharamsi wrote in a letter: “Marhum was an outstanding example of how life has to be lived. His immense contribution to the community is well known. He lived his life according to the teachings of our Holy Prophet (saw) and his progeny (a.s.). His simplicity and humbleness were the hallmark of his. He engaged with everyone in the community with his cheerful persona, young and old alike. He served the community with zeal and affection.”
Remarkable memory
A well-wisher at Mombasa Jamaat added: “His remarkable memory was as good as that of his close friend, Mulla Asghar. I had the privilege of spending an hour with him last weekend and recalled for me various events by the day and date.
“Amongst the stories were the construction of Hyderi Imambara and fundraising activities around it. He shared a story of the team’s visit to my grandfather and my grandmother’s role which I didn’t know.
“We also talked about the Friday lectures by Mulla Abdulrasul and others in Mombasa, organised by a team of teenagers in the late 60s, Marhum Jaffer Visram, Ebrahim Kermali, Shabbir Walji, Mustafa Peera, etc. We talked too about the vibrant debating society.”
More tributes to Mulla Annu
1. How does one mourn a father who was the community’s father
How does one remember one who remembered all
How does one bid farewell to him who recited the shahada for many How does one begin to measure the loss of one
Whose presence safeguarded all from Allah SWT’s wrath.
2. How does one grieve the departure of a friend
How does one grieve the departure of a loved one
How does one grieve the breaking of a pillar of the community How does one grieve him whose time was for others?
3. It is an unfathomable loss
A shining lamp A guiding light
An encouraging sight
Has today been extinguished.
4. Oh, Ahle qubuur we send to you from amongst your companions With news a plenty of those you’ve left behind,
He who recounted your stories today joins you.
5. How do we mourn he who mourned the imams wholeheartedly
How do we remember one who keenly recited adhan How do we console whilst we need consoling
How do we recite Majlis for a reciter of majlises Our treasure of knowledge has today gone
A historian today has become history for tomorrow.
Mulla thus today we remember you and thus do we mourn.
Videos that bring his story to life
These exceptional videos from KSIJ Mombasa: RAB – IN FOCUS – are interviews with Mulla Annu and allow today’s and future generations to understand what made him so special.
Tons of anecdotes abound on Mulla Annu’s sense of humour. He spoke to young and old, remembering their names even after long absence. I remember him many a time having hearty laughs with my late father and in the end standing next to his body before burial and crying his heart out. We had to console him.
May the Almighty raise Mulla Annu’s status and reward him with much more than the joy he brought to others by his presence.
We console his children to take heart and remember their good fortune that a great man of the community was their father. We remember Mulla in Dua.
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