Born-1910
Birth place Odaung Village, South of Maungdaw in Rakhine State, Myanmar
Died - January 18, 2021, At the age of 105 in Balukhali Rohingya Refugee Camp
Professional Life
Irshad, famously known as Qarisab died at the age of 105, and served as a Rohingya Radio broadcaster during the 1960s. The Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS) provided all the ethnic groups airtime each work. Irshad read from the Quran, the Muslim Holy book, and reported news in the Rohingya dialect.
After military seized power in Burma 1962, the government cancelled the Rohingya language program, while other ethnic groups were allowed to continue broadcasting. The military takeover marked the beginning of a long gradual stripping away of rights and freedoms from the Rohingya. Qari Arshad Hussain was a revered Rohingya islamic scholar, born in 1910 in
Al-Hajj Maulana Mufti Odaung Village, south of Maungdaw in Rakhine State, Myanmar. He pursued advanced religious education in India, studying at Dewbond Madrasa from 1939 to 1947. Upon returning to Myanmar, he dedicated himself to teaching at various madrassas, including Sufia, Lokmania, and Jamiya Forkaniya. In 1961, during Prime Minister U Nu's administration, Maulana Arshad Hussain became the first Rohingya to recite the Quran on Burma's national radio, the Burma Broadcasting Service. He continued this role until 1965, when the program was discontinued following a change in government. His contributions elevated the presence of the Rohingya language and culture in national media.
1965 up to 2017, he had been taught in Odaung Higher Maddrasa with Segul Hadith Abdu Subahan, Dewbond recognized Muhaddas.
Following the Myanmar military's campaign against the Rohingya in August 2017, he sought refuge in the Balukhali Refugee Camp in Bangladesh. Despite his advanced age, he continued to teach Islamic principles and share the history of peaceful coexistence in Burma with fellow refugees. He passed away on January 18, 2021, at the age of 105 in Balukhali Refugee Camp.