Sri Lanka Moor
Family Genealogy
MUNNA ASSEN
NAINA LEBBE – Family #212
The family of Munna Assen Naina Lebbe
claim heir descent from Caliph Abu bakr Siddeeq (rali) and were settled
at Aultgama,
south of Colombo, one of the six earliest settlements of the Arab
traders.
The ancient and historical town of Matara,
on the banks of the Nilwala Ganga
(river) was a very famous location significant to the Ceylon Moors of Sri
Lanka. The Moors,
have been living here for many centuries. During the Portuguese Colonial era
the Matara Disvani
(District) extended from Badulla to Aligoa (Alutgama). The Disave (Chief) during the Portuguese period was a Moor
(vide Paul Peiris translation of “Portuguese Era”).
At the same time there were persecutions of the Moors by the Portuguese. AC
Sheikh Muhammad Ajward, remembers as a child, when he went for picnics with his parents that
they used to halt their cart on the way to Meddawatte
near the east end of the twon. They recited the
opening verse from the Qur’an and invoked Allah’s
Blessings on those Muslim Martyrs who were executed by the Portuguese on the
banks of the river Nilwala Ganga.
There used to a small wall that signified the location of this massacre but it
is no more to be found. It is said that the Portuguese gathered all the males
and killed them. The women and children were sent to Colombo. They could possibly form a part of
the nucleus of the Colombo Chetty’s.
However, the Moors thrived in
other parts of the town. During the Dutch period,
in order to build the ramparts, the
Moors who were residing near the Fort
Gate were asked to vacate
their abodes and subsequently they made Kadayaweediya
and other similar locations their places of residence. One always finds in the
history of the Matara Moors that they generally
inter-married with Moors from Alutgama, Weligama, Galle,
and Beruwela.
So it happened, a very
handsome young man from Beruwela called Ahmed Lebbe, who was
Sheikh Ajwards paternal grandfather, paid a visit to Matara
to meet his uncle Usoof Lebbe, who was already married and settled in Matara. They belonged to the famous Hasana
Lebbe clan of Aluthgama.
While in Matara,
Ajwards grandfather,
Ahmed Lebbe visited a young relative of his named Aliyar Marikar Lebbe, son of Aliyar Marikar.
While chatting with him, at his home, he was served with sweets and coffee. Ultimately, he was so taken up with the taste of the coffee
that was served tro him that he requested for the hand of the
maiden, who had made the coffee, in marriage. This lady was Aliyar
Marikar Lebbe’s sister who lived in the same house
with him. The proposal was accepted and the couple were
happily married to one another.
Sheikh Ajward’s grandfather, Ahmed Lebbe, periodically visited India. He was a cloth and rice
merchant. Some years later, when he
was on a business visit in India,
Sheikh Ajwards grandmother,
who was pregnant then and in Ceylon,
had been told that this time, after
having borne 3 or 4 daughters, she
could seek Allah’s Blessings, by His
Will, for a son. When Ahmed Lebbe returned home after completing his business he was
most overjoyed to hear that he was blessed with a son. When the infant son was
presented to him, he was taken aback
by the dark color of the baby’s skin complexion and immediately retorted, ”This
can never be my offspring…”. The fact was that the infant that was presented to
him was not his own son but another baby from a neighboring house. It was
simply a practical joke played on theman. When his
own son was presented to him he was so pleased and happy. This infant son went
on to become Sheikh Ajwards father, Muhammad Abdul Cader.
Sheikh Ajward’s grandfather had left a prayer
book in which he had written a part of his genealogy identifying all his
ascendants all the way up to the first Caliph of Islam AbuBakr
Sideeq (raliAllahu anhu). The family tree states that a descendant of the
Caliph AbuBakr (rali) had
visited Ceylon
and married a lady from Aluthgama.His name was Munna Hassen Naina Lebbe.
His paternal grandfather had five sons. The youngest, was a personal friend of Lord Elphinstone, and who worked as Manager at the sugar factory
established at Paraduwa by him. Lord Elphinstone bade farewell to Ceylon on the death of his dear
friend who was managing his factory. Another son was the father of Mohideen Bawa of Galle,
who was the first Muslim Municipal Councillor at Galle and a supplier of
provisions to the P&O Shipping Lines boats that berthed at Galle harbor. Mohideen Bawa was considered to
be a replica of Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan,
the then ruling monarch of Turkey, because of his mighty and generous deeds for his
community. Mohideen bawa
had two daughters. The older, Khadeeja, had two sons,
Segu Mohideen and Muhammad Haniffa, and a daughter
Ayesha who was married to MAC Ismail. The youngest
daughter, Mariam
Umma, hada son named Zubair Cassim.
Aliyar Marikar’s
and Mohideen Bawa’s
grandfather, the father of the five
sons mentioned earlier, was the
first to construct a two storeyed house in the
District of Matara. It is said that villagers of the
area brought pingo’s full of gifts and paid homage to
this good man. This house, with a
few alterations, is still existent
at No 188, Main Street,
Matara (1969). This had,
originally, been a house of reputed
families. Ultimately it came to the possession of his ancestors and it is the
same abode where Sheikh Ajward was born 63 years ago.
Sheikh Ajward’s maternal grandfather, Aliyar Marikar whom he
was not fortunate enough to see,
whose sister was married to his paternal grandfather,
Ahmed Lebbe,
was a well-known personality in Matara. He was the
agent of his cousin Mohideen Bawa
and was residing in Calcutta.
It is reported that Aliyar Marikar used to travel in
a coach drawn by four horses.
Aliyar Marikar carried on a
lucrative trade by sending rice and provisions to Galle. He usually
booked more space than what was required on the ships that used to sail to Galle.
Hence when Borah and Chetty
merchants required cargo space to export their goods they were informed by the shiping agents that Aliyar
Marikar had already booked all the available cargo space on board the vessels.
Thus, these merchants were forced to
approach Aliyar Marikar who then resold the space to
them at a premium making a profit in the process.
Whilst in Calcutta,
Aliyar Marikar had constructed a Mosque named “Sholiya Masjid” with the
assistance of three other merchants from Kayalpatnam, Keelakarai, and Madras.
He also functioned as the first Trustee of this Mosque. Ceylon Moors were thus
given a pride of place to perform their prayers at this Mosque with a special
room assigned especially for them whenever the Mosque was filled to capacity. A
Muslim burial ground attached to this Mosque also afforded facilities for the
burial of Muslims from Ceylon.
Back in Ceylon, Aliyar Marikar
functioned as a Trustee of all the Mosques in Matara.
An interesting incident occurred,
once, when the Katheeb
of the Mosque was delivering his Friday sermon from the pulpit. Aliyar Marikar,
unconcerned for the dignity and respect of the Mosque,
demanded the Katheeb to surrender his turban and the
book from which he was narrating his sermon and climb down from the pulpit and
conclude his talk. This conduct of Aliyar Marikar was
supposed to have been due to the fact that this Khatheeb
had solemnized the marriage of his own daughter to a man without due
consideration to his family and status in society. Things took a turn for the
worse and the congregation was divided into two groups. However, Aliyar Marikar succeeded
in replacing the officiating Katheeb and putting an
end to the confusion.
Aliyar Marikar married a very
beautiful lady, the granddaughter of
Bawa Sarap (Shroff). Incidentally,many
of the Shroffs (Cashiers) in Government Kachcheri’s (Departments),
at that time, were Muslims, and it is said that one was deported to Malacca
for alleged malpractices. Aliyar Marikar’s
wife, Sheikh Ajward’s
grandmother, survived her parents
and lived to the ripe old age of 90. She was generally referred to as “Nona”, meaning “Lady”.
Though arrogant at times, Aliyar Marikar was also a man of great dignity and
principles. It is said that when his oldest daughter,
Sheikh Ajward’s mother,
attained puberty he had resolved to offer a grand feast on one of the ensuing
nights. During this time while Aliyar Marikar was
involved in a chat with some of his friends he had noticed a respectable lady
carrying a frying pan and walking out into the night. On inquiry by his friends, from her,
as to where she was going she had responded that she was taking the frying pan
to be sold in order to buy a gift for Aliyar Marikar’s daughter,
without having known that Aliyar Marikar was also
present within the group of men. On hearing this,
Aliyar Marikar was very much perturbed and promptly
ordered an announcement through his family members that no gifts will be
accepted for his daughter on the occasion.
When this daughter was subsequently proposed to his nephew, Sheikh Ajward’s father, Aliyar Marikar objected
and refused to have anything to do with him as he belonged to the newly formed
order of the Shadhuliya Sect which he did not accept
as a valid Islamic group. However,
Allah’s Will prevailed and this and Muhammad Abdul Cader,
who happened to be the Naquib (Captain or Leader) of
the Shaduliya Order and also a very successful
textile merchant, married the young
lady and they went to become the proud parents of fourteen children of whom
Sheikh Ajward was the thirteenth.
One of Aliyar Marikar’s
nephews, ILM Ibrahim, was reputed to be the Citronella King of Matara. He was the father of Surveyor Marikar.
Aliyar Marikar’s
youngest brother, who was married in
Galle, was the father of MA Rahim,
founder of Messers Ismail A Raheem, the
famous diamond merchants in Singapore.
After his demise in 1928 the business which had survived for over seventy years
was closed down.
One of Sheikh Ajward’s paternal aunts, a niece of Aliyar
Marikar, married in Beruwela.This person from Beruwela, after his marriage,
paid numerous visits to Matara and acquainted himself
with Western habits. Thus the elderly folks of Beruwela
relate that this man who came to wear modern style shoes created an interest
and wonder and was referred to as the “Matara Mapilla” (Matara Bridegroom). It
is said that children flocked to see him when he walked,
wearing his shoes.
In his retirement, Aliyar Marikar became a
vaccinator and was generally referred to as “Ali Doctor”,
a position then held in high esteem.
1 Munna Assen Naina
Lebbe
....2 Khoja
Ahmed Lebbe
..........3 Ahmed Lebbe
................4 Assen Naina Lebbe
..............……5 Muhammad Lebbe
..............………6 Ahmed Lebbe (Married at Matara)
..............…………7 Muhammad Abdul
Cader