“The learned lives, although he dies.” – Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (a.s.)
The Founder
The Husainy Trust was founded by Sir Sajjadi Vafakhani Mir Ahmed Ali Sahib, M.A, B.O.L, B.T., M.Ed, (15 July 1902 – 17 September 1976), a Shia Islamic scholar and a religious leader.
Janab S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali Sahib was born on 15 July 1902 in Madras, British India. He was born into a family whose paternal ancestors being descendants from the Fourth Holy Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-‘Abidin (a.s.) with the honorific al-Sajjad, called themselves Sajjadis. Originally from Hejaz, they migrated to India through Iran and settled down at Bijapur. His great-grandfather Janab Mir Abdul Ali Sajjadi Sahib served as a commander in the Mughal Army and earned the distinction with the title Vafakhani for his loyalty to the crown. Thereafter, the members of his family became popular as Sajjadi Vafakhani.
Education
S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali completed his recital of the Qur’an at the age of 9 from his maternal uncle Janab Mir Jaffer Hussain ‘Peer’.[1] He was then admitted to the Harris High School, Madras for his English education. The school mandated the study of Bible, and S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali got the opportunity to study the Holy Bible extensively so much as to win the Bible Prize and the Bible scholarship, every year. Frequent discussion with the then Principal of the institution Rev. Canon Goldsmith and Mr. Hanuman Singh, the Bible teacher ensured a thorough knowledge of Bible, having learnt by ear, most of its passages.
After the completion of the school course, he joined the clerical service in the Government Muhammadan College (later renamed to Government Art College, Madras). During his service he obtained the title of Munshi Fazil, B.O.L (Bachelor of Oriental Languages) Degree and qualified himself with M.A in Arabic and Persian.
He was awarded the Assistant Proffesor in the same college where he obtained the B.T., ( Degree in teaching). He was then absorbed in the same college as Asst. Professor where he obtained the B.T., (Degree in teaching). He also took up the Madras University Diploma Course in German. He took a year’s leave and joined the Research Course of M.Ed. degree ( Master In Education) with Psychology as his special subject. Under the guidance of Dr. G. D. Boaz, the Chief Professor and the Head of the Department of Psychology (Madras University), he submitted and got his thesis accepted. After re-joining the college, at the instance of Dr. M. A. Huq, the then Principal of the college; he obtained the diploma of Higher Proficiency in Arabic and Persian.
Madrasa-e-Husainy and Yateemkhana
It was at this time when Mir Ahmed Ali founded The Husainy Trust (formerly known as Madarasa-e-Husainy and Yateemkhana) in 1943.
Mir Ahmed Ali travelled extensively after taking voluntary retirement from Govt. Muhammadan College. In the mid-fifties in his travels through India and abroad, he devoted his entire life to the upliftment of the orphans and destitute children. The trust expanded and grew, bringing in much required funds to purchase land and build a school,a home for orphans and the destitute and a Training Institute at Ramapuram, Saidapet Taluk, Chengelpet District. This whole settlement with all the buildings, he named as Husainabad, as it is still referred to, to this day. He served as the president of The Husainy Trust until his death on 17 September 1976.
Publications
During the tenure at the Government Muhammadan College, he and his friend Mr. G.A. Musa-e-Raza B.A., started a monthly magazine called the Peace Maker. The journal had a small circulation to parts of India and few places abroad.
The Peace Maker had considerable popularity and demand from Ceylon and important libraires in America and many Scholars started contributing articles on religious philosophy.
This was the journal which answered the mischievous article of Dr. Zewmer published in his journal “The Muslim World” under the Title “the Word of God or Word of man” in which he has represented the Word of God as Bible and Word of man as the Holy Quran, and as a result it became very popular among the Christian public. Fearing its spreading fame and outreach, a complaint was filed to the then (British) Government of Madras, citing that S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali being a government official should not be indulged in the publication of any matter from the press. The publication had to be unfortunately stopped. S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali later in a small booklet ‘Truth revealed’ brought about the details on the success of the Peace Maker magazine.
Translation of the Holy Quran
During his lifetime, Janab Mir Ahmed Ali Sahib authored many a book but was best known for his Quran translation by the self-explanatory title “The Holy Qur’an: with English translation of the Arabic text and commentary according to the version of the Holy Ahlul-Bait: with special notes from Ayatullah Agha Haji Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi Sahib on the philosophic aspects of some of the verses” first published in 1964.
Some of the books he authored are:
Hussain The King of Martyrs
Buku ini bercerita ttg jalan hidup Husain (as), cucu Rosululloh, raja para syuhada, yg rela mengorbankan seluruh jiwa raganya di Jalan Allah, menentang tiran, Yazid dan pasukannya. Bagi pencinta Rosul dan ahlul bayt-nya yg mulia, kisah dalam buku ini pasti akan membuat air mata menetes.
Imam Hussein the Redeemer of Islam
A series of letters debating Shi'i and Sunni beliefs between the late Shi'i scholar Sharaf al-Din, and the late Sunni scholar and head of Al-Azhar university of that time, Al-Shaykh Salim al-Bishri al-Maliki. The written form of the debates in book, has the advantage that the two parties had the opportunity to provide the best possible replies they could give.
Husayn, the Saviour of Islam
The book presents the lifetime of Imam Husayn (as) from birth to martyrdom, and concentrates his life with his mother; the mistress of the world's women, and his father and brother, and his role in wars and the rest affairs before his imamate, and a precise exposition of Karbala occurrences.