Mulla Asghar 25th Death Anniversary: Special Tributes

The final programme of the WF50 Heritage Weekend marked the 25th death anniversary of Marhum Mulla Asghar, the first President of The World Federation, in the Year of Mulla Asghar. Opening the tributes, Alhaj Dr Hasnain Walji recalled how Mulla Asghar cleared the debts of a village in India, which went on to become a model village. “Tribute is to continue the work that he had started,” he said.

Mirza Mohammed Mehdi, who has served communities in Alipur, Karnataka, for more than 35 years, described how Mulla Asghar’s support after floods in 1990 led to the establishment of the Zainabia girls’ school and scholarships that at one time supported 1,200 children. “Whatever the opposition was, he stood like a rock behind me,” he said.

Shaykh Abbas Jaffer, son of Marhum Mulla Asghar, shared three lessons from his father’s life: to make full use of the gifts Allah gives, as his father did with his exceptional memory; to show respect to the ulama; and to do everything to the best of one’s ability, recalling that his father spoke around nine languages and learned German to read philosophers in the original.

The President of The World Federation, Alhaj Safder Jaffer, recalled Mulla Asghar’s influence throughout his life, and a 1990 paper on leadership grounded in taqwa and justice that was adopted, in a later form, by the Executive Council in 2026. “He was 36 years ahead of our time,” the President said. The tributes concluded with Dr Walji reciting verses from a Gujarati poem written for Mulla Asghar on the day he passed away, 21 March 2000.

In this part of the programme