Our community is blessed for having people like Razabhai Sumar who always place the interest of the community prior to their own.
 
Razabhai was born in Tanzania on December 2, 1939.
 
He completed his primary and secondary schooling in Dar es Salaam and went to India in 1962 in pursuit of higher education with scholarship granted to him by the Africa Federation. He studied at the University of Poona for six years completing his Inter Science and obtaining a degree in Civil Engineering.
 
He returned to Dar es Salaam in 1968 only to go overseas again in 1971, this time to the United States of America on a scholarship granted by USA AID. He joined the University of New York in Buffalo where he studied until 1974.
 
That also happened to be the year in which he migrated to Canada.
 
What turned out to be a loss to our community in Dar es Salaam became a huge gain for the community in Toronto as Razabhai involved himself with zeal in the service of the community in various spheres.
 
His first involvement soon after his migration to Toronto was with Marhum Alibhai Kaba as he sat on his committee to acquire an Imamwada(centre to hold religious functions) for us.
 
He became President of our Jamaat for the 1976 -1977 term and Vice-President during the Presidency of Mohsinbhai Kamalia in the mid eighties.
 
During his term as the President of our Jamaat, he was heavily involved with Murtazabhai Gokal and the Muhammadi Islamic Centre during the latter's proposal to build the Bayview Mosque. And during the construction of the mosque he was in daily contact with Marhum Shenibhai Haji, the Project Manager, and Mrs. Eva Gordon, the architect of the project. What must be even more satisfying for him would be the negotiations he and others with him had commenced for the eventual transfer of the Mosque to our Jamaat.
 
Razabhai has set on many Constitutional Review Committees set up to update the Jamaat's Constitution as its needs evolved and is privy to many of the provisions which are part of our Jamaat's Constitution today. 
 
His largest and most important contribution, by far, has been his involvement with the Jamaat's Marriage Reconciliation Committee which he served unflinchingly for twenty-one years until his retirement in the year 2002. This is the Committee that deals with matrimonial and other personal disputes within the community and requires the commitment of people with trust, honesty and integrity and sensitivity to the issues at hand.
 
The members of the Executive Committee and the Jamaat salute Razabhai for his dedication and many services to thecommunity and pray for him to have a long life full of fulfilment.  Ameen.