HASSEN HEERAH
The passing away of Hassen Heerah last Friday triggered in me a reflection on the resilience of the Muslim community and its actors in Mauritius. I have known Hassen since his working days at The Mauritius Institute where we spent long moments talking about the new titles acquired by the Library, the future of the students engrossed in reading who sat at the long tables and the status of Madad Ul Islam Girls College.
Each individual and each community had to devise the best formula for survival in a society where there was little social protection. Madad Ul Islam Society was initially a Mutual Aid organisation; members would contribute a fixed sum each month to create a bank which would finance the burial expenses of a deceased member or his dependents. The bank grew big enough to allow the management to add to its services and that included the provision of cooking utensils and cutleries for weddings and the offer of its building as the venue for social gatherings.
A time came when Madad had sufficient reserves for still further expansion. Mauritius was being visited by foreign learned men who through public lectures encouraged the emancipation of girls. Madad leaders at that time were led by a person who was a retired messenger of the Supreme Court, Adam Auladin whose close associates, among others, were butcher Yusuf Dinah, Imam Mustapha Beeharry, trader Anif Dauhoo, Attorney clerk Ahmad Koenig and Telecom employee Abdool, none of them rocket scientists, university graduates or even with full secondary education.
In the hearts of these common men were a burning desire for community work and the progress of the Ummah. They hardly had the funds themselves but were determined to start an enterprise that they saw through finally. During one their social meetings, they thought of enlisting resource persons to run the college and Abdool, a neighbour of Hassen proposed him to manage the Institution, which Hassen accepted voluntarily. Thus started a relationship of Hassen with Madad to end with his last days.
During Hassen’s tenure, Madad grew from a one-stream college to reach a four-stream status and produced some fine minds from the children of families of humble background. Hassen even waived the fees for needy students and to make up for his extra expenses, he would organise fancy fairs which supplemented his budget. The activities were enlarged to incorporate afternoon classes in sewing, home economics, typing and shorthand all contributing in making our girls productive members of the community.
With the passing away of Hassen, “the last of the Mohicans”, we are left with a massive heritage. We are at the crossroads and the new leaders will have to do some hard thinking and embark on a course for the betterment of the community. May they be guided by the spirit of Hassen and his comrades. May Allah swt also accept the sacrifices of those good people and grant them Jannat ul Firdaus.
Dawood Auleear.
21 July 2021