DR. A M A AZEEZ – A MUSLIM LEGEND BY DESAMANYA M.T.A. FURKHAN

Every year the Death Anniversary of Dr. A.M.A. Azeez was commemorated on the date of his death,  November 24, this year the Dr. A.M.A. Azeez Foundation has decided to commemorate Dr. Azeez's centenary year by timing the commemoration on his birthday, October 4. I consider it a privilege to write this article about a person who was my Principal and in several respects a legend in my time.

Born in 1911 in Jaffna, Dr. Azeez joined the Allapichchai Quran Madrassa in 1916 where he learnt to read the Quran. He passed the Standard III examinations in the Tamil medium in 1920 at the Mohammadiya Mixed School. He joined the Hindu School, R.K.M. Vaidyeshwara Vidyalayam in 1921 and the Jaffna Hindu College in 1923 and studied there until 1928. Dr. Azeez was a child prodigy having always been one year ahead of the age limits during his academic career, so much so that when he came to entering University in 1928, he had to wait for a year as he was underage. He spent that excess year at St. Joseph's College, Colombo. In the formative years of high  life, the socio culturally religious mixed education moulded the future of the young man who learnt a great deal from his Maulavis at the Madrassa, and the Teachers at the predominantly Hindu Schools. It was during that time that the foundations were laid for a good upbringing and education in the Tamil language which was one of his strongest suits in his later years. Dr. Azeez as a matter of routine every morning listened to Hindu devotional songs (Thevarams) over the radio as a result of which he relished the beauty of the Tamil language in those songs. He had an abiding interest and love for the Tamil language.

Dr. Azeez completed the 1933 examinations of the University of London which were conducted in Ceylon finally achieving a Degree with Honours in the subject of History. The excellent performance at University Degree level won him a Government Scholarship to the Cambridge University in England to pursue a Post Graduate Degree. However, just before he left Ceylon, he sat for the competitive Ceylon Civil Service Examination in an attempt to embark on a solid career in Government Service.

Having started as a Cadet in 1935 Dr. Azeez was recognized as a very capable Administrator and a relentless worker whose ability to get things done were soon spotted and rewarded. From Matale where he started he was transferred to the AGA's Office in Kandy and thereafter he held the post of Administrative Secretary, Department of Medical and Sanitary Services, Secretary to the Minister of Health (Hon. Dr. W A. De Silva), Additional Landing Surveyor, H M Customs, AGA (Emergency, Kalmunai), Department of Food Control, AGA Kandy, Information Officer, Additional Controller of Establishments, Treasury, Assistant Commissioner of Parliamentary Elections and Additional Secretary to the Minister of Health and Local Government (S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike), all in a short space of 13 years – an exemplary record for any Government Servant.

History also tells us that although there are Muslims who had excelled in various fields, by the beginning of the twentieth century in Ceylon there were virtually no intellectual giants in the Muslim community to match the calibre of Dr Azeez. In addition to God given intelligence, Dr. Azeez also was endowed with rare talents and the ability to communicate in the written and spoken medium in both Tamil and English. His senior students in the College had always looked forward to the weekly Assembly, especially to listen to the articulate deliveries. He was not only a handsome leader to behold but he was also a great speaker who kept the audience spellbound. For us as young men at that time his rhetoric was a treat.

The pursuit of excellence in all spheres was more than evident to all of us HSC students at College during that time as the visible efforts of Dr. Azeez our Principal, spread like wildfire. His mere presence inspired in the students a promise of hope, faith and confidence.

In the immortal words of Shakespeare "some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them", Dr. Azeez certainly fell into the second category in that by virtue of his intellect, his enormous contributions to mankind – the Food Programme in the Eastern Province during World War II, setting up of the Ceylon Muslim Scholarship Fund, the Y.M.M.A and a host of other institutions, his period as a Senator in the first Parliament of Ceylon and the greatest contribution of all being the multiplier effect educational developments that he contributed at Zahira and elsewhere are lasting monuments to a great man who has left his footprints on the sands of time. His story for generations to come will always recall him for the remarkable record he has left behind.

The Ceylon Government and the British Empire awarded Dr. Azeez him the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1951. Surely, Allah will have a special place for him in the Jennath. Ameen.

The writer  is currently the Chairman of the Confifi Group of Companies and the Bairaha Group was at one time Professor of Management Accounting at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He was also a Member of the Finance Commission of Sri Lanka and the National Police Commission of Sri Lanka. He was awarded the title Deshabandu in 1987 and elevated to Desamanya in 2005 by the Presidents of Sri Lanka.