MUMBAI: On a recent rain-washed evening, preacher Maulana Zaki Hasan Noori sat on a delightfully decorated mimber (pulpit) while a group of faithful occupied the carpeted floor in the spacious hall. Speaking fluently in Urdu, Noori took the audience down history. When Ummaiyed king Yazid's army martyred Imam Hussain, Prophet Muhammad's grandson, at the Battle of Karbala (Iraq) in 7th century and Hussain's sister Bibi Zainab was humiliated. The speaker, among other things, highlighted Zainab's courage to speak truth to power.
That a senior Shia cleric spoke of Zainab's courage on her death anniversary is no surprise. Remembering the events of Karbala and members of the Prophet's family is part of the Shia faith. The fact that so many Shia devotees packed a hall to hear such a sermon says a lot about the venue too. This is Haidery Jama Masjid in Mira Road, the biggest Shia Mosque in the city's Western suburbs.
Perhaps no Shia Mosque, from Colaba to Palghar, except Dongri's iconic Masjid-e-Iranian or Mughal Mosque and Khoja Jama Masjid, can match the majesty of Mira Road's Haidery Jama Masjid. Be it its tall, arched gate or the mehrab (a niche in the wall of the mosque which indicates the direction of Mecca and where the imam stands to lead the congregational prayers), the mosque preens in its grandeur.
Built in Indo-Persian style, the mosque's single dome makes it stand out in the skyline. With engraved blue flower motifs, the arched mehrab is enchantingly beautiful. "Specially designed tiles with double-glazing have been used. These give the structure extra strength," says Syed Sajid Husain, chairman, Haidery Jama Masjid Trust. "The mosque attracts Shia members not just from Mira-Bhayandar but also from places like Nalasopara and Palghar on Eids and other occasions," adds the Trust's secretary Syed Manazir Hasnain Naqvi.
Naqvi was among those who first thought of having their own mosque and community centre in the suburbs. "We wanted a big place to conduct namaz and other religious services (majlises in Muharram and functions commemorating birth and death anniversaries of different Imams). In the 1980s we began collecting funds at Khar and subsequently land was purchased in Mira Road," recalls Naqvi.
Back then Mira Road was not a developed township. Land was abundant and not very expensive. Former MLC Syed Muzaffar Hussain whose father Syed Nazar Hussain established Naya Nagar, a clean, infrastructure-imbued colony which became a Muslim pocket in Mira Road, recalls that the first of the Shia residents in the area was given shelter by his father. His father, says Hussain, gave a free piece of land to Syed Ghulam Hussain who later built a house here. However, the Shias bought their own land on which the Haidery Jama Masjid and a Housing Society exist. The ground plus two-storey mosque, housing complex, some shops and the Haidery chowk, collectively giving the area look of a typical Shia neighbourhood.
"For 40 days from the first day of Muharram, speakers are invited to give sermons at the mosque. The juloos of Ashura (10th Muharram when Imam Hussain was martyred) and chehlum (40th day of Hussain's martyrdom) and many other juloos are taken out from here. The majlises and mehfils here are well-attended," says Zohair Rizvi, a narrator of melancholic poetry in remembrance of the Karbala martyrs.
The ground and first floors are used for the prayers of male members while the second floor is for women devotees. A few rooms have been created as guesthouses for the visiting speakers and preachers. "The mosque is self-sufficient as it owns six flats and one community hall. Their rents enable us to meet the expenses for upkeep of the mosque while donations are used for the mosque's development purposes," explains the Trust's treasurer Syed Naqi Raza Abdi.
The mosque's premises are also used to run a coaching class for poor and deserving students of the community.
