He came from the Sajjadi family, descendants of Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin (a.s.), whose forebears travelled from the Hejaz through Iran to settle in Bijapur. The name Vafakhani was a title of honour given to his great-grandfather, Mir Abdul Ali Sajjadi, a Mughal commander known for his loyalty. His father later moved the family to Madras so that his three sons could be educated.
He belonged to a rare generation of scholars who moved with ease between the madrasa and the university. Fluent in Arabic, Persian, English and German, he read across faiths and traditions, and held that faith and reason, learning and character, belong together.
What moved him most was the sight of children with no one to care for them. He believed charity alone would not change their lives. They needed a home, discipline, an education and the means to earn a living. That conviction became the founding idea of the Trust.
He later retired early from the Government Arts College, Madras, to give himself wholly to his life’s work. He travelled widely to win support, and built the campus at Husainabad piece by piece. Through his writing and his translation of the Holy Qur’an, his work also reached readers far beyond Chennai.
His family’s journey +
His father’s family, the Sajjadis, settled first in Mazandaran in Iran and came to India in Mughal times, making their home at Bijapur. The Vafakhanis were later granted estates at Doddaballapur and Tumkur, and the family spread through the old Mysore State.
One branch received lands at Sillur near Vellore, which they named Angoor Bagh; another founded Madeenapet, now Mudinampet, near Virinchipuram. His grandfather, S. V. Mir Raza Ali, settled there. His father served in the 73rd Carnatic Regiment and fought in the Burma War.
His mother’s family, the Naqavis, descendants of the tenth Imam, Ali an-Naqi (a.s.), had come from Kirman in Iran and settled in Madras by way of Nawalpak. After the war his father took his share of the estate and moved to Madras City, determined to educate his sons: Mir Ahmed Ali and his younger brothers, S. V. Mir Haider Ali and S. V. Mir Raza Ali.
His teachers in Madras +
Madras was home to great scholars, and he studied under several of them. He began Arabic under Maulvi Amjad Ali Khan Sahib, revered by scholars of every school as a defender of the faith. He spent three years learning Arabic syntax and Ja‘fari theology from Shamsul Ulema Sayyid Hasan Raza Sahib, remembered for his simplicity and piety.
He also studied with Agha Sayyid Hidayatullah Shustari, the Iranian scholar who held the chair of Persian at the Government Muhammadan College.
Above all, he was the student of Ayatullah Agha Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, who arrived in Madras from Najaf around 1925. He called him his “master and guide”, and said he had never met another scholar with such knowledge of the Qur’an. Agha Pooya’s notes, marked “A.P.”, run through the whole translation.
Education and qualifications
Eight degrees and diplomas, earned while he worked
He joined the Government Muhammadan College, Madras, as a clerk straight from school, and rose to Assistant Lecturer and Assistant Professor while studying alongside his work, taking a year’s leave only for his research degree.
- Qur’anRecital completed at nineTaught by his maternal uncle, Janab Mir Jaffer Hussain “Peer”
- Matric.Harris High School, MadrasWon the Bible Prize and Bible Scholarship every year
- Munshi FazilOriental titleEarned while serving at the Government Muhammadan College
- B.O.L.Bachelor of Oriental LearningClassical oriental languages and literature
- M.A.Master of Arts, Arabic and PersianWhich led to his appointment as Assistant Lecturer
- B.T.Bachelor of TeachingProfessional training as an educationist
- GermanMadras University diplomaTaken to read the research literature in psychology
- M.Ed.Master of Education, PsychologyResearch thesis supervised by Dr G. D. Boaz, Head of Psychology, Madras University
- H.P.Higher Proficiency, Arabic and PersianTwo diplomas, taken at the suggestion of his principal, Dr M. A. Huq
CareerClerk, then Assistant Lecturer and Assistant Professor, Government Muhammadan College (later Government Arts College), Madras, until his early retirement to devote himself to the translation and the Trust.
Religious learningArabic under Maulvi Amjad Ali Khan Sahib; three years of Arabic syntax and Ja‘fari theology under Shamsul Ulema Sayyid Hasan Raza Sahib; studies with Agha Sayyid Hidayatullah Shustari; and a lifetime as the student of Ayatullah Agha Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi.
HonoursNamed representative (Niabat) by Ayatullah Sayyid Hadi Milani of Mashhad and Ayatullah Sayyid Mahmud Shahroodi of Najaf, 1963. Represented Islam at the 1954 world religions conference.
