By Rashid Yusof

1. Maulana Abdul Muhaimin Haji Abdul Hadi, 33, is the Imam of the Masjid in Nishio, Japan. It was built seven years ago by Nishio’s 650 – 700 Indonesian community.
2. The first- generation Indonesians arrived after World War 11. Their offsprings hardly speak the language.
3. Maulana Muhaimin first encountered the Malay World diaspora, in South Africa. He was 16 then.
4. “There is a sizeable population of Cape Malays (166, 000),” said Maulana Muhaimin in a whatsApp reply to ApaKhabar. This KL-Nishio conversation has taken a while. In the process, the young man has had to endure some story-telling, by this reporter. Pretty inconsequential stuff, really. I told Maulana Muhaimin I attended 1997 Aidil Adha prayers in Cape Town. I saw personas that would not be out of place at Masjid Pekan Gurun then. Well, mosques in Malaysia, to our credit, have had an infusion of international presence since.
5. Maulana Muhaimin said those grandees among the Cape Malays at the Bo-Kaap (Tanah Asing) spoke a fair bit of Malay. Fascinating this. The Cape Malays arrived in South Africa from way back in the 18th century.
6. Maulana Muhaimin had not the faintest idea of their existence when he left Manir in Terengganu for studies. That was 2006. The destination was Darul Uloom Azaadville, some 30 minutes’ drive from Johannesburg.
7. Upon achieving, after two years, the stature of Hafiz, a person who memorises the entire Quran, he travelled to Yemen, UAE and Oman before returning for a six-year studies at Darul Uloom Newcastle. This bit about Maulana Muhaimin traversing the globe should be told early on. He has been to 35 countries, including Senegal, Ethiopia (also known as “Habshah”), Gambia, Burkina Faso, Swaziland and Djibouti. Maulana Muhaimin was in Pakistan for a year. He has been Imam in the UK and South Korea (for two months). His parents attended his graduation in South Africa back in 2014; and, visited him in the UK where he served as an Imam for three years. Recently his family turned up in Japan. And, five younger brothers of Maulana Muhaimin have also gone to South Africa for studies.
8. Really, Maulana Muhaimin wishes to convey to fellow Malaysians pretty meaty stuff. That shall wait. Midway through our meandering conversation that took off on May 1, a photo landed on my whatsApp. This young Maulana is a Liverpool fan. And he has been to Anfield. I said I know Mohamad Salah reasonably well. Maulana Muhaimin seems to enjoy that ludicrous bit of the DNA of Malaysians supporting English Premier League teams.

Of devotion, sacrifices

9. Maulana Muhaimin arrived in South Africa three years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released the last of it’s two volumes.
10. South Africa was a decision made for the teenager by his father, Abdul Hadi Mohd Nasir,59, and who still runs a business in Pekan Manir. There were already sons of Terengganu studying in South Africa ahead of Maulana Muhaimin.

Iconic Scholars

11. Maulana Muhaimin didn’t get to meet the legendary Sheikh Ahmad Deedat who died on Aug 8 2005, and, who, once challenged the late Pope John Paul 11 to a debate at the Vatican Square. There is, however, a photo of Maulana Muhaimin and family at Sheikh Ahmad Deedat’s study. This was 2014, the year of his graduation.
12. Sheikh Seraj Hassan Hendricks was an English teacher in Cape Town (1980 – 82) before taking off to Mecca for a decade-long studies with “sages and scholars of the Islamic tradition”, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Hendricks. Maulana Muhaimin once met Sheikh Seeraj at the sighting of the moon for Aidil Fitri in Cape Town. Sheikh Seeraj died at age 64 in 2020 due to COVID-19 complications. He was also known as Mufti of Cape Town. Mufti of Zimbabwe, Mufti Menk would travel to Cape Town during Ramadhan and Maulana Muhaimin made it to a session, driving 30 hours from Newcastle to Cape Town.

Covid-19 Diverts “Look East” to Milton Keynes, then Stevenage

13. “In 2017, I received an offer from Chibune Masjid in Osaka, to serve as Imam for two months. That was how I got to know the Nishio Muslim community.”
14. The young Imam was 27 when he arrived in Japan.
15. He didn’t speak Japanese then and, perhaps, did not have to, for the immediate audience.
16. He was probably picking up the language when Covid-19 descended. Maulana Muhaimin packed up. By end of 2019 he had started a new assignment as the Imam of the Masjid in Milton Keynes. “Kota Baru,” came his verdict, by way of explaining the post – World War 11 dispersal to ease the pollution of London. After four months in Milton Keynes, Maulana took up the position of Imam at the mosque in Stevenage. This lasted till Sept last year.

Delivering the Khutbah in Nishio

17. Dato Mohd Ajib Ismail, director of FT Islamic Religious Department, or JAWI, who introduced ApaKhabar to Maulana Muhaimin and the Masjid in Nishio, relishes a conversation on the preparation of the Friday Khutbah for FT. But JAWI does not obviously prepare the Khutbah text for the Imam of the Masjid in Nishio.
18. Do you produce a text, Maulana Muhaimin?
19. Nope! He would launch the Khutbah in Malay, then on enter the realm of the English language, before hopping on to Arabic. On calibrating his mood, yes, Maulana Muhaimin may just decide to end with a flourish, delivering the conclusion in Urdu. He is not by his own assessment a fluent Urdu speaker.
20. So, would you like to end this piece by addressing our readers, Maulana Muhaimin? This was ApaKhabar’s most decidedly final question. He must be wondering if this would prove to be deceptive. Another query may just sneak into his WhatsApp.
21. Maulana Muhaimin said he will be happy to talk to Malaysians yearning to learn about his work in Japan. He appears throughout the interview, inspired, motivated. “The post Covid-19 pace is picking up ….getting people to the Masjid.”
22. At times, yes, he had to forgo his salary.
23. The Qurban preparations ahead of Aidil Adha have started. Anyone seeking to learn about the process may want to get in touch with our young Maulana. His phone number is +447756143867
24. Yesterday June 13 a group of Malaysians went to the Masjid in Nishio. This was about the construction of a proposed Masjid in Toyohashi.
25. Finally, ahead of Aidil Adha Muslims in Malaysia are, yes, signing up for Qurban and sorting out holiday plans. Maulana Muhaimin is figuring out the setting for Aidil Adha prayers. Outdoors would be perfect, weather permitting. If it rains? “We will have to organise a few sessions indoors”.