The Longest Serving Chinese Imam in Hong Kong

Haji Maulvi Imam Ahmed Cheung Kwong Yee is no stranger to the local Muslim community. He has been an Imam in Hong Kong for over forty years and is still active in this role.

Born in Hong Kong, Imam Cheung left to study in Guangzhou at the tender age of seven. He attended the Guangzhou Islamic Primary School (廣州清真小學). At the age of fourteen Imam Cheung started to study Arabic and further pursued his studies in Islam under the tutelage of a scholarly and learned teacher - Brother Usman Ma Shiu To. Brother Usman was the teacher and adviser of many of the Imams in Guangzhou.

At the age of fifteen, the young Brother Cheung had already set his mind on training himself to be an Imam. This comes as no surprise if one realizes that both his father and grandfather were Imams in Guangzhou.

In those days there were five main masjids in Guangzhou. One of these was the Ho Boon Masjid (豪畔清真寺). At the age of eighteen Imam Cheung was one of the two appointed Muezzins at this masjid. At the same time he was invited by the policemen from the Indian subcontinent and stationed in Guangzhou to lead their Juma'a and Eid prayers. It was through such experience that Imam Cheung picked up the Urdu language.

Around 1939 Imam Cheung returned to Hong Kong at the Invitation of the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association (the "Association"). Imam Cheung was to take over from Imam Ibrahim Hung who had left to further his studies at Al Azhar University In Egypt. Thus Imam Cheung began his career as an Imam in Hong Kong.

Imam Cheung started teaching regular classes on Islam. During the Japanese occupation the classes stopped but Imam Cheung remained in Hong Kong to offer his services to the local Muslim community.

With the occupation over, he resumed a more active role in his work. He also engaged in the business of selling household commodities. Now at the age of 72 and with his five sons all grown up and married, Imam Cheung is devoting his full time and attention to being an Imam.

He recalls - in reminiscing by-gone days - the times when talks on Islam at the Association were so well attended that there was hardly any standing room. Not without a tinge of disappointment, he notes that nowadays such talks are less enthusiastically attended.

In 1949 the Imam at Jamia Masjid (Imam Syed Mohammed Noor Shah) left Hong Kong and Imam Cheung became Imam of the masjid.

Imam Cheung has written a number of books on Islam. The books are in the Chinese language and include such titles as The Truth About Islam and Fasting. He has also written books on Islam for use in primary schools. At present Imam Cheung is preparing the publication of his latest book on Islam which will be in the Arabic, Chinese and English languages.

Imam Cheung has taught many devotees how to read the Qur'an. His efforts in this direction continue even today.

At present there are two other Imams apart from Imam Ahmed Cheung Kwong-yee, serving the main masjids on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon peninsula. They are Imam Haji Yusuf Baquavi, an Indian presently the Imam of Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre and Abdul Wahab Pau Shing-lai, Imam of Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre.

The late Mohamed Noor Shah was the first Imam in Jamia Masjid in Shelly Street, Central District. During World War I he came to Hong Kong as a "military Imam" with the 2^nd Punjab Regiment. After one year, he left the army and stayed in Hong Kong when he was engaged by the Board of Trustees. He was appointed the Imam of Masjid Jamia until he retired in 1945. Together with his family he returned to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. He died in 1980 at the age of 86. The late Imam was well known for his Arabic calligraphy and skill in making Turkish-style praying caps to give as gifts to Muslims passing through Hong Kong from China.

JAMIA MASJID SHELLY STREET