The first proper Mosque was built at the premises of the Jawatte Burial Grounds in 1941. This event was announced in the Times of Ceylon newspaper of 22nd August 1941.
Over the following 70 years, the shape and size of the Jawatte Jumma Mosque underwent considerable changes to meet the requirements of it’s Jamaath . The picture below shows the Mosque as it was on the 22nd of August 2011.
The Signatories to O.L.M. Abdul Cader’s Deed of Gift were Talip Akbar, Tamby Noory Segu Lebbe, Ahamado Lebbe Markar, Mohamed Rumli Mutaliph, Tamby Karim and Sinne Lebbe Ahamat. The Witnesses were John Brixine de Abrew Rajapakse and Thomas Henry de Silva. The Deed was certified by John Neill Keith, Notary Public, in Colombo on the 5th of September 1876.
The Second Clause of the Deed states, inter alia, that ‘…. In the event of the death of the said Oedoema Lebbe Mohideen Abdul Cader, the Trustee to be nominated and appointed as aforesaid in his room shall be a near relation of the said Oedoema Lebbe Mohideen Abdul Cader’.
Based on available records, the Boards of Trustees since the inception of the Mosque & Burial Grounds, comprised the following persons at various time periods.
05th Sept. 1976
O.L.M. Abdul Cader (Donor)
T. Akbar
T.N.Segu Lebbe
A.L. Markar
M.R. Mutaliph
T. Carim
S.L. Ahamat
23rd Aug. 1894
M.R. Mutaliph
M.A.C. Saibo Sultan (Son of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
13th Mar. 1895
M.R. Mutaliph
M.A.C. Saibo Sultan (Son of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
N.E.M. Packeer
D. Mayan
13th July 1914
M.B. Uduman (Grandson of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
N.E.M. Packeer
D. Mayan
M.D.V. Akbar
A. Ahamat
S. Carim
Maas Thajudeen
04th October 1935
M.B. Uduman (Grandson of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
M.E. Akbar
Sheik Kathir
A.C. Amath
M.S.A. Noordeen
M.A. Othman
M.S. Kitchilan
10th Dec. 1939
M.B. Uduman (Grandson of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
M.S.A. Noordeen
M.T. Akbar
T.B. Jayah
M.J. Majid
M.P. Drahaman
T.Y. Amit
From the early 40’s, the various Boards of Trustees were headed by K.S. Mohamed and then by J.F. Uduman (Great Grandson of O.L.M.Abdul Cader). With the handing over of the Jawatte Burial Grounds to the Wakf Board, the direct involvement of O.L.M. Abdul Cader’s Family with it’s administration ceased. However, the members of the Family always felt that in abdicating all responsibility for the Jawatte Mosque & Burial Grounds, they had in a sense failed to adhere to the wishes of their ancestor and in a bid to rectify this situation, more than two decades later, J.F. Uduman made a written request to the then Wakf Board to consider appointing a nominated Family Member (D.H. Uduman) as a Special Trustee along with the 7 elected Trustees of the Mosque. On the 16 of June 1996, the Wakf Board comprising Mr Mansoor Marikkar (Chairman), Mr. T.R.J. Samath, Mr. J.S. Haris Mowlana and Mr. S. Subaideen issued an Order to the effect that the Board ‘…. should give consideration to the view of the Donor in appointing Trustees. We have therefore agreed to appoint Mr. D.H. Uduman as a Special Trustee….’. The Order further stated that ‘We are also of the view that in the future too a member of this family should be appointed as one of the Trustees’.
26th June 1996
Alhaj J.S.M.A. Kabeer
Alhaj A.C.M. Najumudeen
M. B. Raban
Alhaj T.M.J. Aniff
F. Junaid
Alhaj M.Z. Badiudeen
M.S.M. Mazahid
D.H. Uduman (Great-Great-Grandson of O.L.M. Abdul Cader)
Over the following 14 years (until 2010), there were new Boards of Trustees elected in the years 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008. Alhaj J.S.M.A. Kabeer, Alhaj A.C.M. Najumudeen, Alhaj T.M.J. Aniff and D.H. Uduman were members of all these Boards. Alhaj M.A. Sahabdeen, Alhaj M. Abu Hudah, M.S.M. Mazahid, Alhaj E. Zaheed, Alhaj F. Abdeen, Alhaj M. Naffas and N.M. Yoosuf were the other elected Trustees during various times in this period.
At the time of writing this Post, the next election of the Board of Trustees is due to be held in November / December 2010.
The extent of land which encompasses the Jawatte Mosque and the Burial Grounds today is made up of two distinct and independent properties. The ‘front’ section on which stands the Mosque, Hostel, Car Park and a part of the Burial Grounds was donated by Oeduma Lebbe Mohideen Abdul Cader in September 1876 to the Muslim Community by Deed of Gift to be used primarily as a Burial Ground for all members of the ‘Mohammedan Faith’. The ‘rear’ contiguous section was donated by it’s owner, Masjid-ul-Jamiah, the well-known Malay Military Mosque located in Java Lane, Kompanyaweediya (Colombo 2) in 1876 for the same purpose. With the subsequent vesting of these properties on the Wakf Board, for administrative purposes, these two blocks of land were treated as one unit coming under the purview of the Board of Trustees of the Mosque.
As a matter of interest, during that same year, Oeduma Lebbe Mohideen Abdul Cader also donated to the Muslim Community by Deed of Gift a block of land in Slave Island to be utilized for the construction of a Mosque. The Masjidhul Quadhir Hanafi Jummah Mosque ( popularly referred to as ‘Thol Lebbe Mosque’) which stands today at Church Street, Colombo 2 bears testimony to the collective efforts of it’s Jamaath members over the years to realize the wishes of the Donor. Alhaj H.A.S. Mohamed ( a great-great-grandson of the Donor) is a Patron of the Board of Trustees of the Mosque.
Jawatte Jumma Mosque & Muslim Burial Grounds 