(15/10/1928 – 01/09/2010)
81 years of age

Ustaz Peer Mohamed bin Seeni Rawther stood out among his peers as one of the shining students, and later a teacher, of Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah. He was formerly a student of Raffles Institution (RI), together with the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Against the wishes of his father he left RI for Madrasah Aljunied, and for 5 years – from 1946 to 1951 – he studied Arabic and Islamic subjects there. It was related that he used to walk from his house somewhere in Geylang to the Madrasah every day because he could not afford the bus fare and, instead of carrying his Madrasah books in a bag, he would lift them up on his head to honour the knowledge contained in them. The young Peer Mohamed was very much loved by his teachers.

After finishing Class 7 at the Madrasah, he was appointed as one of its teachers. In the late 1970s, he was offered a teaching position in Brunei but he returned to Singapore in 1987.

There is no doubt as to his exceptional ability in the Arabic Language. He would always refer to al-Munjid (an authoritative Arabic Dictionary) when uncertain of a particular word and, almost always, the dictionary confirmed what he thought was the correct meaning. It was as if he had almost memorised that thick dictionary. Syeikh Umar Al-Khatib respected his ability in Arabic and would always ask him to read some sections of Ihya’ Ulumiddin when he attended Syeikh Umar’s Sunday morning class at Masjid Abdul Razak. His reading was flawless with never a mistake.

The Islamic knowledge of Ustaz Peer Mohamed was also impressive. He possessed the sanad of Sahih al-Bukhari and was well-versed in the Fiqh of the Syafii Mazhab. Yet, he was a very humble man. He never mentioned his abilities to anyone and it was almost by chance that others came to know about his knowledge. This knowledge he used to conduct lessons to small group of students in his own house.

Ustaz Peer Mohamed passed away on 1 September 2010 in hospital – the morning of 22 Ramadan 1430 – and was buried after Asr on the same day.

May Allah bless his soul.

(Source: Webmaster)