Education is not only learning to read languages; it is what helps the mind to grow wide and clear. What is necessary is to understand the teachings of the Quran and to live by them. – Scholar Siddi Lebbe (summary)
1️⃣ Pioneers of the Sri Lankan revival
Pioneer
Period
Anagarika Dharmapala
1864 – 1933
Arumuga Navalar
1822 – 1879
M. C. Siddi Lebbe
1838 – 1898
2️⃣ Family background
Born: 11 June 1838, Kandy. He came from a family of Arab descent.
Mulk Rahmatullah – came from Arabia for trade, settled in Aluthgama and married a Sri Lankan woman.
His son Muhammad Lebbe settled in Kandy in the time of Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe.
He studied at the English school set up by the British in Kandy.
1833 – appointed a proctor (lawyer) by the British government → Sri Lanka's first Muslim lawyer.
The "Ceylon Almanac" praised him as "the leader of the Moors of Ceylon".
Siddi Lebbe was Muhammad Lebbe's third son.
The family (5 children: 2 daughters, 3 sons)
Person
Distinction
Elder brother (Muhammad Lebbe Alim)
An 'alim and a lawyer; a leader of the Muslims; a qadi judge who settled marriage and divorce cases; people called him "Marakkayar"; a poet who composed more than 300 verses
Sister Muthu Nachchiya
An 'alimah; head teacher of the Muslim girls' college Siddi Lebbe started on Trincomalee Street, Kandy
3️⃣ Education
From whom / where
What he learned
His elder brother Muhammad Lebbe Alim
The Quran, Tamil, Arabic, Sinhala
The English school, Kandy
English education
Shaykh Muhammad Alim (of Akurana – known as "Kalawatte Alim Appa Pulavar")
Further study of Arabic
Result: mastery of three languages – Tamil, English and Arabic.
4️⃣ Working life – timeline
Year
Event
1862
Lawyer of the Kandy District Court
1864
Promoted to advocate of the Supreme Court
–
Opportunity to serve as judge of the Kandy Municipal Court
1871
Marriage
1874 – 1878
Judge of the Municipal Court from time to time
8 years
Member of the Kandy Municipal Council
1884 – 87
Lived in Colombo; then back to Kandy
5️⃣ Marriage
1871 – Sayyida Umma, daughter of Abdul Cader Meeya Pillai, who came from Kayalpattinam and lived in Kandy.
She had studied the Quran, Tamil and English; she was skilled in sewing and knitting, and could play the piano and the sitar.
So she was able to support her husband's progressive plans.
They had no children → he brought up a child named Abdul Hameed.
6️⃣ Work in journalism
Newspaper
Year
Aim
Muslim Nesan
12 December 1882 (continued from 1882 to 1944)
The need for Western education, social progress, political rights, ending superstitious practices
Gnanadeepam (a monthly)
1892
Reviving Muslims who had grown weak in spiritual matters
Through Muslim Nesan → the honour of being "the first journalist of the Sri Lankan Muslims".
Muslim Nesan was not only a paper reflecting the community's needs; it was also a weapon in the struggle to meet them.
7️⃣ The 'Urabi Pasha incident
When the revolutionary 'Urabi (Arabi) Pasha, exiled from Egypt, came to Sri Lanka, the government asked through the newspapers that he should not be welcomed.
Siddi Lebbe ignored this, gathered the Muslims and went to the harbour to welcome him. He also ignored the criticism that followed.
8️⃣ Ideas that influenced him
Spiritual side
Progressive reform side
His elder brother's guidance
'Urabi Pasha (Egypt)
Kalawatte Alim Appa Pulavar
Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani – the unity of Muslims worldwide
Abdullah Badib of Yemen
Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan – Muslim education and social development
9️⃣ Educational work
With Wapchi Marikar he started an association for educational development.
Through speeches, newspapers and magazines he stressed that the Muslim community would progress only through education → Zahira College, Colombo was founded (with the help of wealthy men such as Wapchi Marikar).
Places where he set up schools: Colombo, Kandy, Gampola, Polgahawela, Kurunegala, Badulla, Galle, Matara.
Education for Muslim girls
He set up three schools for Muslim girls, at Trincomalee Street (Kandy), Kadai Veethi (Bazaar Street), Katukelle and Kurunegala.
The textbook names four places but says "three schools" – confirm with your teacher.
Subjects: the Quran, Arabic + Tamil, English, mathematics, sewing.
1892 – Governor Havelock came to visit these schools.
His ideas on education
Through Muslim Nesan he guided teachers and students; he drew up a syllabus and wrote textbooks.
Muslims should master 4 languages – Arabic, Tamil, English and Sinhala.
Arabic should be the home language of every Muslim.
He compared someone who does not know his mother tongue, Tamil, to a blind man.
Literary work
"Hassan Bey Charithram" (Asanbe Charithram) – regarded as the first Tamil novel published in Sri Lanka; it came out as a separate book in 1885.
This novel, built as a story within a story, pointed out social weaknesses and aimed at revival.
1️⃣1️⃣ Work for political rights
Awareness through Muslim Nesan and speeches.
1880 – the Muslims asked the Governor for Muslim representation in the Legislative Council.
1889 – M. C. Abdul Rahman was appointed as a nominated member.
1️⃣2️⃣ Reform of marriage registration
In Muslim Nesan he showed the serious results of marriages not being properly registered.
With the recommendation of the Akbar Committee, appointed in 1928, it came into force from 1935.
1️⃣3️⃣ Removing superstitious practices
European imperialists ended the healthy religious environment of the time of the Sinhala kings.
Sri Lankan Muslims came under the influence of South Indian culture, and superstitions and rituals crept in.
He used Muslim Nesan to root them out.
1️⃣4️⃣ Opposition and determination
Wide support at national level; but strong opposition from conservatives and some influential people.
He carried on his work without fear.
1️⃣5️⃣ Death and honours
Died in 1898, aged 60, of asthma.
More than 3,000 people attended his janazah (funeral prayer).
Buried in the cemetery of the Mahiyawa jungle mosque, Kandy.
11-01-1977 – the Sri Lankan government issued a postage stamp.
