Malawa Yusuf Motala, founder and headmaster at the local Islamic school for Holcombe, Darul Uloom died on Sunday September in Toronto, Canada.

Mawlana was born in 1946 in Surat, India and qualified as an expert in Islamic Sciences and the Reformation Field.

He emigrated to the UK in the late 1960s and started the Darul Uloom school, the first Islamic school in the UK and Europe in 1973. The school has grown into a major institution with branches across the UK which has taught the Quran to thousands.

As well as taking care of the school daily, he was also an Iman at the Zakariya Mosque in Derby Street in Bolton for many years.

His colleague at Darul Uloom, Junaid Patel said: β€œHe was a very kind, softly spoken, highly educated person who right until the last stages used to attend to the needs of the masses.”

Yusuf was taken ill two weeks ago whilst on a graduation ceremony trip in Toronto, Canada.