Education
Between 1949 and 1951 he studied Arabic, Urdu and Persian at the Darul Uloom Ashrafia Arabia, Rander, in Surat. Between 1951 and 1959 he studied at the Madrasa Jami-a-Islamia Talimuddin, in Navsari, Gujarat province.
Between 1949 and 1951 he studied Arabic, Urdu and Persian at the Darul Uloom Ashrafia Arabia, Rander, in Surat. Between 1951 and 1959 he studied at the Madrasa Jami-a-Islamia Talimuddin, in Navsari, Gujarat province.
The first Imam of the Ponsonby Mosque, the oldest in New Zealand, was Maulana Ahmed Said Musa Patel. The Imam also had six sisters. On Sunday, 18 September 1960, Patel boarded the P&O Steamship Strethmore in Bombay and journeyed to Auckland via Sydney, arriving there on 9 October.
The regular Quran classes at the new 17 Vermont Street property became busier.
According to the records of the “Madresa-East-Islamiyah Auckland” there were exactly 23 pupils at Patel"s class on 2 July 1972. By the end of the year examinations on 12 December there were 27.
These figures increased steadily through the decade until by February 1978 there were a total of 43 students attending the Madrasah. Maulana Patel was also expected to lead the prayers at the newly acquired (1959) Islamic centre on Hagreaves Street.
On 25 August 1966 Maulana Patel was authorised to conduct marriages pursuant to the Marriage Acting 1955, and on 17 June 1968 he was formally naturalised as a New Zealand citizen.
In 1972 the Juma Salat (Friday congregational prayers) became regular at the Islamic Centre with Maulana Patel and Hafiz Sidat from Fiji taking turns at leading prayers until Patel retired from the rope factory four years later. Hajji Abdul Samad Bhikoo also led prayers on occasion. The following year he was appointed Patron of the Association and in January 1977 he was made "Religious Advisor".
On 30 April 1987 he suffered a serious stroke and was seriously incapacitated.
On 8 September 2009 he died peacefully after a sudden cardiac arrest at his residence in Grey Lynn, Auckland. His funeral took place at the Waikamete Cemetery the day following his death.
He was 72. In history at the University of Waikato" (Waikato University, 1997).