EAST AFRICAN MUSLIM SCHOLAR - Sheikh Abdullah Saleh Al-Farsy (Rahimahullah) He was born on February 12, 1912 in Zanzibar, Tanzania. He was a poet, a scholar, a Muslim historian and an author. He is remembered as one who was easily approachable with a joyous attitude, thus he was always surrounded by people who wanted to interact with him and discuss Islam. The Mufti became a hafidh of the Quran at a young age, and wrote many islamic books, however, he is more widely known for his work on QURANI TAKATIFU which was the first Muslim accepted swahili translation of the Holy Quran, used widely by many swahili speakers today. He started his project in 1956 translating one chapter at a time, however, due to financial problems, the finished work sponsored by the Islamic Foundation was made public in 1969. With the financial help of Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Thani the Sultan of Qatar, they were able to distribute 4000 copies of the translated Quran for free, and the remaining copies were sold at a very low price. Sheikh Al-Farsy was a Principal of the Muslim Academy Secondary school from 1952 to 1956, and later on became a Headmaster at the Arabic Medium School from 1957 to 1960. In 1960, he was appointed as the Chief Kadhi of Zanzibar. He left the Ministry of Education and his teaching post at the Teachers Training College in 1967 when he migrated to Kenya. Sheikh Abdullah Saleh Farsy was no stranger in Kenya where his reputation as a leading scholar had preceded him. The retired Sheikh Muhammad Kassim al-Mazrui recommended him to the post of Chief Kadhi of Kenya, a request that President Jomo Kenyatta (1963-1979) had no misgivings about him. For over 14 years till the time of his retirement in 1980, he was the Chief Kadhi of Kenya, Sheikh Al-Farsy moved to Oman in 1982, and passed away 8 months later on November 9th 1982 in Mascut. His death affected many in East Africa, but he left a legacy that has yet to be matched in the region. May Allah be pleased with him and reward him with a great place in Jannah.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:48:14 +0000