February 2012.indd - World Memon Organization Pakistan Chapter

A REVELATIONJummah Masjid(Mauritius)(Mosquée-des-Arabes)The Jummah Masjid is a mosque inPort Louis, Mauritius dating fromthe 1850s, substantial additionsbuilt through the 1890s. It is located on theRoyal road, and is described by the Ministryof Tourism’s guide as the most beautifulreligious building in the country. The JummahMasjid is known to broadcast live theJummah Prayers every Friday and taraweehprayers during the month of Ramadan. EidPrayers are also broadcast live.In 1852, Haji Younus Allarakha, QassimHemeem,Yousuf Sattar deena, IliyasHaji, Haji Abdullah ishaq, Haji AbdurehmanAllana, Ismail Ibrahim ,Omer Yaqooband all prominent members of the Memonmercantile community of Port Louis –Gottogether and purchased, in their own nameand on behalf of the Muslim Communityof Mauritius, two properties situated inQueen Street, Port Louis, for the aggregateA. Hameed Tayab Suriyasum of Rs 6,800.00. The deeds of purchase,dated October 20,1852, stipulated,among other things, that the Muslim tradershad made the purchases (jointly andseverally, in their own names as well as onbehalf of the entire Muslim congregation ofMauritius from which they hereby declarehaving received special powers. The purchasersdeclare that the sum of money paidfor the present purchases does not belong tothem personally but to the whole Muslimcongregation of Mauritius.)One of the properties stood a housewhich was converted into a temporaryprayer house pending the construction ofa Mosque. However, the foundation of thefuture Jummah Mosque was thus laid. IsmailJeewa, who was a trader and also quiteknowledgeable in Islam, led the prayers atthe temporary prayer house. The followingyear, that is, 1853, a Mosque of a limitedsize was built and solemnly consecrated.Haji Imam Bacosse Sobedar, who wasImam of the Camp des Lascars Mosque,was called upon to trace the Mihrab (prayerniche) of the new Mosque, which came tobe known for many years as the Mosquéedes-Arabes– after its founders, who weremistakenly called Arabs by the general public.The new Mosque, which could accommodatesome two hundred worshippers,was the original Jummah Mosque. However,it was to under go extensive expansionand improvements over the years andbecome the focus of Islamic cultural andreligious life in Mauritius and very rightlybecome the Ja’mi or Jummah Mosque38MEMON ALAM FEBRUARY 2012