Kassamali Suleman Versi
- Parents
- Suleman Versi 1856–1910
- Siblings
- Abdulrasul Suleman Versi 1899–1971Mohamedraza Suleman Versi 1900–1989Mohamedsaleh Suleman Versi 1906–1999Sugra Suleman Versi 1901–1903Rehmat Suleman Versi 1893–1962Zainab Mohamed Ali Nathoo 1904–1987
- Partners
My maternal uncle Maulana Sheikh Gulamabbas Versi once mentioned that the reason for them being given nickname “Pinji” was that a classmate once took away his cap and while demanding it back he mentioned that it was an expensive one and was bought at Pinji shillings - Twenty five shillings, hence the nickname “Pinji”. During my school vacations in Zanzibar, Marhum Gulamabbas would make me sit in his small electricity repair shop and teach me some skills and take me on long rides on his bicycle. At home I would sit next to his big spool tape recorder observing him starting and stopping the recorder frequently, writing down, word to word, in Gujarati script, the Urdu majlis of Turabi and Rizvi. In 1959, Maulana Gulamabbas was one of the first Khoja students from Zanzibar to go for Aalim training to Karachi and Sargodha in Pakistan and Najaf in Iraq. Upon return he became resident aalim serving Lindi, Tunduru, and Mikindani/Mtwara Jamaat.
Maulana Gulamabbas’s brother Mulla Hassan Versi left Zanzibar after 1964 to move to Lindi. Mulla Hassan Versi was Zakire Hussein, and very active in Lindi and Mikindani Jamaats reciting Duas and Majlis. His son Hussein and his three grandsons Imran, Hassan and Maisam all recite majlis in Dar es Salaam. Another brother Mulla Roshanali Versi was a resident aalim in Madagascar for many years before moving to Leicester where he served as a resident aalim too. Out of the 11 siblings only two are living: Mulla Roshanali Versi and Br Ali Versi, both in Birmingham. Among more than 1070 descendants of the Versi Advani family there are Zakirs, philanthropists, servants to humanity and community, businessmen, professionals and sportsmen who are spread out all over the globe.
