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SHARIFF
ABDURAHAMAN BADAWY
EMINENT
ISLAMIC SCHOLAR RENOWNED 'TWABIB'
- HE WAS ALSO POPULARLY KNOWN AS 'KHITAMI'
Coastweek
- - Shariff Abdurahaman Badawy an
eminent scholar and a renowned 'Twabib', throughout the Coast
of East Africa and Commoro islands - popularly known as Khitami -
passed away in Mombasa on May 28th, 2005 after enduring a long time
illness.
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He was about 85 years
old. Several thousand mourners
from various parts the Coast and East Africa attended his funeral
rites at Nuru Mosque.
Later his body was flown
to Lamu for burial at his father's side, in the Riyadha shine - which
is renowned for its annual Prophet Muhammed Birthday celebrations (Maulidi).
As a brilliant and
versatile educationist of various disciplines Sayyid Khitami produced
several hundred highly qualified theologians, jurisprudence of high
calibre, lingustics of Arabic grammar, rhetoric, 'Twabibs' and
'Mauldi recitals'.
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Coastweek
- - Shariff Abdurahaman Badawy. |
He was a fascinating and
exciting public speaker and a wonderful lecturer whose Ramadhani 'Darasa'
at Sakina Mosque of Old Town, Mombasa used to attract hundreds of
listeners, some of whom went on to become his full time students.
His persistent clarion
word to such students was: 'Discipline' as the key to successful
learning of any given subject and healthy living.
One highly regarded
student, Ustadh Harith Swaleh, paid tribute to his mentor:
"Sayyid Khitam was
not only a great educationist but a profound sage and a good Muslim
philosopher whose wisdom would stand as his indestructible monument in
the hearts of his students and the Muslims who happened to have his
personal contact.
"He was a
peripatetic lecturer who would travel from and to Lamu, Malindi and
Mombasa delivering sermons on Islam and treating his patients with a
deep sense of devotion and dedication.
"He used to
passionately love his call - teaching and giving medicine to his
patients.
"His death is most
definitely a great, irreparable loss to the Muslims of East
Africa."
He was a man of imposing
personality with much charismatic power, a pleasant conversationalist
with a sense of decent humour who readily mixed with people of all
ages and be comfortable with them all.
He often spent time with
youth to whom he used to advice as to how to conduct their lives as to
set good example for their peers and friends.
He would consistently
tell the youth:
"Be young of
pragmatic principles; adhering to the 'practicing a sense of
moderation in all your dealings as this is the foundation of success
in all given involvements of life."
Sayyid Khitami
established himself as a scholar of integrity and dignity who
tenaciously committed to spreading the Islamic teaching: that the
beauty of Islam lies in its simplicity, with a sense of tolerance and
respect of other faiths of Heavenly Scriptures.
He was a very well read,
highly cultured, thorough gentleman who would well fit with any given
society and he was exceptionally popular.
He was often sought to
the Arab Gulf nations - such Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Oman to treat
prominent people suffering from: 'Baridi yabis' - various forms
of blood-clots and blood veins bursting.
He strictly followed his
father's footsteps - the 'saint' Sayyid Swaleh Badawy and was indeed
described by those who knew the 'saint' that Khitami was an apt
replica of his father.
He inherited the
leadership of the Riyadh college, the shrine and the birthday of
Prophet Muhammad celebrations organization and ran them with
tremendous success, until this year when he fell terribly ill and left
the running of Maulidi to some of his thirty six sons and daughters;
the most prominent of whom include:
Dr. Bin Simet, a
lecturer of Biochemistry at Mascat University, Oman,
Sayyid Muhdhari, an
academician, teaching at the Coast Academy, Mombasa who has also taken
up lecturing at Anisa Mosque and practicing 'Twabib',
Shariff Swaleh a
businessman dealing with exports and imports, clearing and forwarding,
and
Sayyid Jened is a
businessman in Oman.
Several hundred mourners
from all the Bajuni islands converged into Riyadh Mosque to pay their
last respect to their revered, great scholar - Sayyid Abduraham Bin
Sayyid Swaleh Badawy - Khitami.
- Faraj
Dumila, Mombasa.
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