In this peice Sheik Hashim Muzaffar narrates the history of perhaps the largest congregation of Muslims in Trinidad that of the El Socorro / Nur-E-Islam Jamaat in San Juan.  He tells the story of the development of the Nur-E-Islam community and takes one back through the many individuals who toiled with their hands and gave of their wealth and land to build one of the pioneering Muslim communities in Trinidad.  May Allah SWT bless them all.  The piece is extracted from the 50th Anniversary souvenir brochure of the San Juan Muslim Ladies Organisation.

On Monday 17th. November 2008  Imam RazackAli (RA) passed away.   My Allah Bless his soul Imam Razack Ali (RA) was appointed Imam of Nur-E-Islam Mosque in San Juan, Trinidad in July 1958, upon the death of Imam Gulam Hosein.  For over 42 years, Imam Razack Ali served pastoral needs of his community  with calm, devotion, deligence and devotion.  He was well respected by all whom he served and by members of the wider community.  Imam Razack Ali's (RA) message (still very relevant) given at the formal opening of Nur-E-Islam Masjid in 1967 is re-produced below.  The message is extracted from the 50th Anniversary Souvenir Brochure of the San Juan Muslim Ladies Organisation.

Goolam Hosein and Habib (Magran), two younger brothers lived with the family at Poole.

Sahidan, the daughter of Peerally and Kosemeea, was born in Poole. She was the wife of Guljar Baksh. She moved to San Fernando with her family and set up a retail provision business and selling coal. She was the mother of seven children, Ibrahim, Asgar, Saphiran (deceased), Happia (deceased), Sackina, Ishmael, and Jeanette (deceased). Sackina is my mother.

Sahidan, who was born in Trinidad, can best be described as a pioneering business woman at a time when the role of most women was that of the submissive subservient housewife. This woman, mother of seven, three sons and four daughters, decided that working for other people was not in her family's best interest or welfare.