In Mumbai, this Muslim is the Jewish community's 'go-to' man for tombstones

M Abdul Yassin has worked in Mumbai’s Jewish cemetery for over 40 years. Now he’s passing the chisel down to...


Web Desk February 24, 2015
Mohammad Abdul Yaseen gives a fresh coat of paint to faded tombstone letterings at the Bene Israel Jewish cemetery in Mumbai on August 21, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

Whenever there is a death in the 3,500 strong Jewish community in Mumbai, they turn to Muhamamd Abdul Yassin, a devout Muslim and perhaps the only man who can engrave tombstones in Hebrew, Jewish news magazine Tablet reports.

Yassin, 74, was for decades the only man in the state of Maharashtra who could engrave Jewish tombstones. He works on marble graves at Jewish the cemetery in the heart of Mumbai.



PHOTO: AFP

In 1968, when he was 27, Yassin left his native Uttar Pradesh in search of work that would sustain him. His search led him south and eventually to Jewish tombstone engraver Aaron Menasse Navgavikar in Mumbai who was looking for an apprentice.

A Benei Israeli Jew (India’s oldest Jewish sect, claim to be part of the biblical tribe of Zebulon who were shipwrecked in India), Navgavikar taught Yessin him the tools of the trade.

At the time when Yassin started working for Navgavikar, he was illiterate and spoke only Gujarati – poor tools for tombstone engraver in a Jewish cemetery. Over the next three years, Yassin learnt to read and write fluently in six languages, including English, Hebrew, Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, and even Urdu.



 

Muhammad Abdul Yasin. PHOTO: AFP

In 1971, when Navgavikar and his family moved to Israel, he entrusted the art of Jewish tombstone engraving to Yassin.

As Mumbai’s other Jewish tombstone engravers moved to Israel, the demand for Yassin’s services grew and pretty soon he was the sole expert in the trade across the entire state and catered to the need of some 5,000 Jews for nearly 34 years.

“They made me like their own,” Yassin said of the Jewish community. “They loved me and always treated me well and always paid me on time.

With age catching up, Yassin is now handing down his skills to his children Islam, 52, and Salaam, 45.

“My sons are in charge now,” he said, “but I love my work and the people. Everything I do here is from my heart.”

“My children and grandchildren are here,” he said. “Family is the most important.”



PHOTO: AFP

“Each tombstone takes 15 days,” Yassin said, estimating the amount of time and care he puts into each project, which involves a great deal of physical labor.

COMMENTS (8)

Yash | 9 years ago | Reply @Alladitta: Possibly people like you are not treated as brothers by Indian Muslims.Times have changed and you must change with the time.
salman | 9 years ago | Reply What a great story.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ