Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Nabhany takes final bow

Distinguished Kiswahili scholar Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Nabhany displays his awards. He has died aged 90. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Sheikh Nabhany, who is also referred to as Prof by many, including his students globally, relocated to his place of birth in Matondoni from Old Town, Mombasa, due to old age and sickness.

  • A recipient of the Presidential Order of Golden Warrior (OGW), Sheikh Nabhany was born in Amu (Lamu) in 1927 and attended local Islamic schools (madrassa).

Fellow scholars have paid tribute to Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Nabhany, who died today at his home in Matondoni village in Lamu.

According to his uncle Athman Ahmed, Prof Nabhany had been suffering from the effects of a stroke.

"For the past one week, he was suffering from stroke and he couldn’t talk or walk. We have lost him very early today..," he said.

Prof Nabhany, 90, was buried at 5pm at the Matondoni Muslim Cemetery.

Noted Swahili author Prof Wallah Bin Wallah called Prof Nabhany’s death a blow to the entire Kiswahili fraternity.

"I have received the bad news of our beloved Prof Nabhany with great sorrow. When a tooth is pulled out there definitely will be a permanent gap and that’s what Nabhany’s death has done to us. 

"He was a great player in the shaping of the Swahili language. We pray that the family has the strength to go through this," he said.

Prof Nabhany was born on November 27, 1927 in Mombasa.

He is affectionately known as the father of Swahili poetry.

Muchai Bin Chui, a poet, said Prof Nabhany’s will be missed by poetry lovers.

Mr Muchai said they are also mourning the death of other language heroes such as Hassan Mwalimu Mbega and Khamis Abdalla Chombo.

"Prof Nabhany guided me all through my journey of Swahili writing and poetry.

"He is a great man and we will never forget his contributions in the growth of Swahili, not only in Kenya but [also in] East Africa," Mr Muchai said.

His demise comes barely a month after a group of authors and poets visited him on January 28.

Some of them are Wallah Bin Wallah and Prof Raya Timamy.

Prof Nabhany leaves behind a widow and three children.

OGW HOLDER

Several dignitaries, including university Kiswahili scholars and Kiswahili lovers around the country, are expected to attend.

Sheikh Nabhany, who is also referred to as Prof by many, including his students globally, relocated to his place of birth in Matondoni from Old Town, Mombasa, due to old age and sickness.

A recipient of the Presidential Order of Golden Warrior (OGW), Sheikh Nabhany was born in Amu (Lamu) in 1927 and attended local Islamic schools (madrassa).

In an interview with this reporter in 2008, the highly regarded Kiswahili poet and scholar said he studied Islam in Lamu and learnt poetry from his grandmother, Amina Abubakar Sheikh.

In 1967 he took part in the collection and recording of Swahili and Arabic manuscripts for the University of Dar es Salaam.

KISWAHILI DEFENDER

Sheikh Nabhany is a self-trained scholar who has assisted many academics in their research and worked through various fields of Swahili cultural knowledge, according to Edinburgh University Press.

“I didn’t have an opportunity during my childhood to attend formal education but I managed to educate myself privately in Mombasa,” he said.

Prof Nabhany contributed to the development of the Kiswahili language and was a visiting professor at universities in the US and Germany, among other countries.

He was a strong defender of the language and called local radio stations and journalists to offer his guidance on using the right words, especially in technology.

TEACHER

In a short biography written by Sheikh Nabhany’s assistant, Ms Amira Msellem Said, who is also a Swahili poetry writer, the lexicographer was recognised as distinguished Swahili poetry scholar by two teachers, Sheikh Abdalla Bakathiri (Kadara) and Sheikh Bwanarehema Faraj.

Ms Amira stated that Sheikh Nabhany also inherited his vast Kiswahili knowledge from his grandmother.

He taught many Kiswahili students from several European universities who frequented his residence in Old Town, while undertaking their research and theses.

POETRY

One such student is Kai Kresse, who wrote the book Philosophising in Mombasa: Knowledge, Islam and Intellectual Practice on the Swahili Coast.

Kresse quoted the late Kiswahili scholar as telling him: “We are Swahili, we are Muslim, and our customs and traditions follow the way of saying things in poetry without saying them in words.”

Sheikh Nabhany was the brain behind the establishment of the National Museums of Kenya and operated the Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa.

INSTITUTE

He spent most of his time at the institute offering Kiswahili language lessons to beginners, focusing on developing their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

The centre, which also offers art and craft training to revitalise the language among Kenyans, was launched in 2000.

In 2007, a substantive director was appointed to head the institution, which now has campuses in Lamu, Nairobi and Malindi.

He also worked at Hamburg University in Germany, translating Swahili/Arabic manuscripts to Roman scripts.

In 1993, he worked on Islamic manuscripts with Dr David Sperling in Lamu, Pate and Siyu.

Still in the same year, he travelled to the Comoros Islands for similar work.