Inna lillah wainna ilayhi rajeon On entering the mosque compound this eid morning duae nudba resounded from the microphone. I said to myself “this sounds Mohsin Alidina. Maalim seems to be in Daressalaam. We must meet after eid namaaz, hardly realizing that by then he would remain no more.” Maalim had arrived just a few days back from New York where he headed the Khui Foundation. God disposes what man proposes. He succumbed to massive heart attack in the mosque after the eid khutba and is to be buried this evening. May Allah rest his soul with Eternal Bliss in the vicinity of Chaharda Masumeen. His profile prepared for a sports magazine in 1991 is reproduced here below. ‘MAALIM’ MOHSIN ALIDINA Mohsin Mohamedhussein Rajab Alidina or ‘Maalim’ as known to most is simplicity personified. The khanzu clad maalim briskly making his way to the mosque is a common sight. It is then in all availability and engrossment to his Almighty who has endowed into this creature of His all the ingeniousness and intellect, and yet made him so humble and pious with no air of haughtiness whatsoever. Through the divine Zanzibar days where he was born in 1944 and in the midst of his noble family developed this great soul. Perhaps God has bequeathed all the hyper super qualities into Maalim so that he can be of assistance to his community, and there is no doubt about the fact that Maalim despite his tight schedule at the University of Daressalaam where he is a Professor devotes considerable time into the services of the community; be it in the field of ‘jamaat’ affairs, education, religion, literature or sports. However, it is in the field of sports administration that Maalim has made the greatest impact. One of the most striking aspects of Maalim is his linguistic stature and power of eloquence that makes him unique. In him Union can boast of an enviable and precious gift. The audience at the Union Sports Club gatherings or Daressalaam Cricket Association meetings is all spell bound as Maalim speechifies his way to the crux of the issue. Some shudder at the mere mention of Mohsin Alidina. That unequivocal quality of his makes him our hero. There is nothing to beat Maalim when it comes to oratory. The feeling “how dare anyone challenge Maalim!” is itself that pride for us. No doubt Union succeeds in solving most of its problems through him. He has been Union’s greatest architect and savior in all its intricate matters. At the time of complexity he is all there to smoothen out things. He has framed and restructured Union’s constitution. He has been Union’s most effective spokesman and a member on its Management Committee on a number of instances. In 1980 he happened to be the Chairman of Union’s Selection Committee and it need be stressed that never Union projected better team spirit and discipline than at that particular time. They won all the trophies and in Mohsin’s own words after Union’s memorable victory against AK Club in the league “I am the proudest Chairman of Selectors this year. Union are the Champs and we have won all the trophies.” Maalim is a thorough disciplinarian and a man of great principles who does not believe in the so called diplomacy of today which is nothing but hypocrisy in real sense. Perhaps it is this commendable quality of his that makes him pull fewer supporters amongst today’s neo socio brats. If Maalim’s oratory is unparalleled his writing is par excellent. The ease with which vocabulary and paraphrases flow from his pen is indescribable. He has presented a number of features on Union Sports Club and enhanced its image and that of Union’s players. As a matter of fact Union’s ‘champions’ image ushered at a time when Maalim’s publicity was at its best. Even today when Maalim applauds Union shouting at the top of his voice “Come on Champions” one can feel with all positivism the boost it gives to our cricketers right there on the ground. In Maalim’s absence you sense lull in the activity and his cry of ‘champions’ echoing all around.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 13:49:39 +0000
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