A tribute to Khalid Yusoff: Largely based on his early life in Australia

Zia Ahmad who was studying medicine at the same uni. During my first meeting with him, Khalid struck me as a highly intelligent person with great leadership quality who took Islam very seriously, had very set and mature ideas on Islamic activism and work methodology. This meeting where we clicked together on idealogical grounds, blossomed into a life long friendship for over 40 years.

Late Dato’ Professor Dr Khalid Yusoff (19551921) MBBS (Melb), MRCP (UK), FRCP (Lond), FACC (USA), Hon FRACP (Aust), Cardiologist, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UiTM and finally Vice Chancellor and President, UCSI University was a life long friend, a fellow Islamic activist while in Australia 1973-83 during the early formative years and an intellectual colleague, mentor, frequent correspondent and a keen reader of AMUST thereafter till he passed away in 2021.

How did I first got to know Khalid?

After our family migration to Australia from India in 1971, both myself and my father Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, while at the campus of the University of Sydney became aware of the presence of Muslim Students Associations (MSA’s) at a few Australian universities as well as the national body Australian Federation of Muslim Students Associations (AFMSA).

There already existed an active Islamic Society of University of NSW (ISOC) with its own Musallah, Juma prayers and study circle at the campus. Inspired by that we promptly founded the Sydney University Muslim Students Association (SUMSA) in 1972 with five members only, since there were hardly any more Muslims at Usyd at the time.

There were hardly any local Muslim students or staff at Australian universities where the MSA’s at various campuses were overwhelmingly run by undergraduate Malaysian students, both males and females, who were enrolled at Australian universities in fairly large numbers on Malaysian government scholarships.

During the early 1970’s, the young generation of Malaysians were going through an Islamisation process spearheaded by ABIM, Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia. The Malaysian students studying in Australia were largely inspired by ABIM and were practicing Muslims where most females wore hijab that was non-existent in Australia at the time.

Very soon we formed networks with MSA’s in Australia, attending annual conventions of AFMSA, organising national seminars and youth camps on a students platform. It was in this context that I first met my dear fellow activist, colleague and lifelong friend Khalid Yusoff.

It was in 1976 in Ramadan that I paid a visit to Melbourne and went to meet Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari (PhD McGill Uni, translator of Maudoodi’s tafseer of Quran) who was a visiting professor at Melbourne Uni. During our long conversations, he told me that he wants to introduce me to a very special person, who turned out to be Khalid,

Islamic activism during the formative years

Khalid spent almost a decade in Australia, competing his final year of schooling, MBBS and then further training in the hospital system here as well as getting married before returning to Malaysia around 1983.

During the initial stages Khalid, although provided guidance to MSA’s and AFMSA, was reluctant to take the top job. However towards the late 1970’s he became the President of AFMSA and almost single handedly turned AFMSA and its various MSA’s from a religious/cultural club to an idealogical Islamic movement.

The timing was dramatic, with the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets and heroic resistance of Mujahideen and the advent of Islamic Revolution in Iran, young Muslims were sensitised towards Islamic revival globally as well as in Australia.

Khalid made an extraordinary effort to involve non-Malays actively in AFMSA and various MSA’s at the campuses. Heavily influenced by ABIM and other South Asian and Middle Eastern Islamic revivalist movements, he implemented many of their training and Daawah methodologies.

He emphasised that becoming office bearers of MSA’s and providing token Islamic services at the campuses was not enough and in fact the backbone of an Islamic movement was the Usrah (a concept for study circle used by Hassan al Bannah and adopted by ABIM).

I remember him while visiting Sydney in 1978, he came to our house during a social function. He dragged me and my brother Najm, Presidents of MSA’s at Usyd and UNSW respectively into a bedroom away from other guests and lectured us for an hour emphasising the importance of Usrah, urging us to develop it at our campuses. We were very much convinced.

This intensively focussed effort by Khalid heralded the foundation of Usrah (study circles) almost at all university campuses later adopted by many Muslim community organisations, a tradition that continues today after so many decades.

We not only started Usrah circles at our respective universities, but also ran an inter-campus/community Senior Usrah (Australian Islamic Forum) consisting of members of different fiqh (Islamic schools of thought) from 1983-1989 as well as our extended family AIF/IFEW Usrah in 1983 that continues till today.

It was our great pleasure that Khalid attended our Family Usrah a number of times on his visits to Sydney during the last few decades and was very much aware of the fruits of his earlier efforts.

I consider the foundation of Usrah networks as a gift from Khalid for Muslim Australians, a Sadaqa Jaria by him that will be rewarded by Allah for this great initiative that has greatly benefited us all in this country.

Khalid’s leadership qualities

Khalid’s family originated from Kalantan and his father was an Aalim. I remember meeting him once on his visit to Australia during the early 1980’s.

Khalid was a serious thinker, an activist and a strategist from his early student life. Islamic activism was not a past time for him but he took it very seriously.

At various conferences of AFMSA, while we took it easy enjoying the company of fellow Muslim activists with jokes by Mohamed Khadra (now Prof Dr Mohamed Khadra, Urologist and Head of Surgery at Usyd), Khalid always engaged in serious and constructive dialogues.

We invited Anwar Ibrahim (an Islamic activist at the time and current Prime Minister of Malaysia) in 1980 when he was a President of ABIM as a guest speaker in the AFMSA Youth Camp in Sydney, my first encounter with him. During one of the small discussion sessions with AFMSA leadership Anwar abruptly said to me, “Br Zia, please ask Br Khalid to smile, he takes Islam too seriously,” and then Khalid did give us a smile.

After leaving Australia in 1983, Khalid practiced as a physician, specialised as a cardiologist and a distinguished academic and researcher in the medical field and fi- nally as a university administrator, a high achiever in his country Malaysia as well as serving globally in Islamic medical forums as well.

During all this time we both remained in constant touch, visiting each other from time time in KL and Sydney and after the advent of emails and finally WhatsApp corresponded almost on a weekly basis exchanging view on the current state of the Ummah.

I believe that due to his demanding medical, profession and academic pursuits, where he served with distinction in his field, he could not realise the potential of leading an Islamic movement that he showcased during his early life in Australia.

His contributions to the Ummah

To me and for Muslim Australians, Khalid’s most important contribution would be the idea and foundation of Usrah network in Australia for which we will be indebted to him for ever. This transformed the life of many individuals in the community and specially in our extended family and this is his Sadaqa Jaria.

I am also aware of his contributions to medical practice, research and academic leadership in Malaysia and scientific bodies in the Muslim world and globally for which he has been recognised in the country and internationally.

May Allah reward him for his services to Islam, Muslim Ummah and humanity at large.

Zia Ahmad is the Editor-in-Chief of the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST and is based in Sydney.