Chularatchamontri Tuan Suwannasat
(Ismail Yahyawi)
Chularatchamontri Tuan Suwannasat
After Chularatchamontri Cham Phromyong resigned from his
position and moved abroad, the Chularatchamontri post was vacant. Around 1947,
the government, led by Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Field Marshal
Plaek Phibunsongkhram, invited the chairmen of all provincial Islamic
committees to a meeting to propose candidates to be royally appointed as the
next Chularatchamontri.
Ultimately, Ajarn (Teacher) Tuan Suwannasat, who was then an
Islamic studies teacher at An-Yuman Islam School, was selected to become the
next Chularatchamontri. He was approximately 60 years old at the time.
Chularatchamontri Tuan Suwannasat, whose Islamic name was
"Ismail Yahyawi," was elected by a majority of the provincial Islamic
committee chairmen from the 24 provinces that existed then. Ajarn
Tuan Suwannasat also concurrently served as the chairman of the Bangkok
provincial Islamic committee.
Chularatchamontri Tuan Suwannasat was a native of Bangkok,
born on April 1, 1889. He pursued his religious
studies in Saudi Arabia.
He was royally appointed to the position of
Chularatchamontri on October 1, 1948. He is considered the 11th
Chularatchamontri of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the 15th
of the Kingdom of Thailand.
Another significant achievement of Chularatchamontri Tuan
Suwannasat was his complete translation and publication of the Quran. He
received the great kindness of the King, who graciously provided the budget for
its publication. The King also personally presented this translated version of
the Quran to the people in the four southern provinces.
Chularatchamontri Tuan Suwannasat held the position for a
little over 33 years. He passed away in 1981
(B.E. 2524) at the age of approximately 93.