He Saw It All: An Old Man’s Memory of the Coolgardie Mosque Shooting

Saw a Man Murdered in the Mosque

A man who saw the murder in the Mosque at Coolgardie in the roaring days is still living in Perth. He is an 84-year-old Haji Fakhruddin, who recently retired from an active business life and is now living at the Mohammedan Mosque in William Street. Grey-bearded, white-turbaned Haji Fakhruddin can vividly recall many incidents in WA’s history.

Tagh Mahomet, victim of the Coolgardie shooting, he recalled, was a brother of Faiz Mahomet, who helped to build the William Street Mosque. It was at 4 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 1896, that wealthy Tagh Mahomet was shot dead while kneeling at prayer in the Muslim Mosque in the Afghan camp on Coolgardie’s famous Fly Flat. A few hours later, a young relative, Goulah Mahomet, surrendered to Constable Brown, of the Coolgardie police, at the same time handing over a 6-chambered revolver with which, he said, he had killed the venerable Tagh Mahomet.

AT an inquest a few days later, Mulla Majiet, a Mohammedan priest, described the murder. Tagh Mahomet, he said, was kneeling at prayer, facing west. Goulah entered, wearing a long coat and boots, although the Muslim religion forbade the wearing of boots in a mosque. From either his sleeve or pocket, Goulah produced a revolver and calmly shot Tagh Mahomet through the back. Tagh turned and looked at Goulah and then fell back dead. The murderer walked out.

Goulah was committed for trial, was found guilty by a jury in the Perth Supreme Court on April 8 and was sentenced to death by Judge Stone, who held out no hope of reprieve.”

Haji Fakhruddun in Perth, 1954

Conspiracy to Poison:

Perth Morning Press on April 13 announced, “It is rumoured that an Afghan conspiracy has been formed to poison Goulah Mahomet before he goes to the gallows. The rumour reached the Sheriff’s ears, and he stopped all outside food supplies to the prisoner and instructed the gaoler to take extra precautions.” However, a petition for the accused man’s reprieve was presented to Governor Sir Gerard Smith but was rejected by the State Cabinet, and Saturday, May was fixed as the execution date.

In a Contemporary account of the hanging said that Goulah maintained his calm demeanour and died in the Mohammedan faith. The hangman was “an old ticket-of-leave man,” and the condemned man was attired in white vestments, supplied by his Moslem spiritual adviser, Mirza Khan, and wore a red fez. Standing calmly on the scaffold just before the hangman released the drop, Goulah said that Tagh Mahomet was a rich man, but he did not kill him for his money or his property. Tagh, he said, had offered large sums to people to kill Goulah.

“I killed Tagh Mahomet but I did not murder him,” said Goulah firmly, and then, with a Moslem prayer on his lips, he went calmly to his death.

HAJI FAKHRUDDUN (Haji is a Muslim title denoting that the bearer has made the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. Pilgrims usually wear a green turban on their return, but Fakhruddin, who wears a white one, says this is optional. He is now eagerly awaiting the return to Australia of his old friend and former partner, Mahomed Allum, a 96-year-old Adelaide healer, who passed through Fremantle a year ago to return to his native land to die.

Haji Fakhruddin is the son of a prosperous wool merchant. He came here with his brother in 1894 and with silks and other materials from India, they opened a drapery store in William St., north of where the Horseshoe Bridge now stands. Next venture was to the new mining centre of Coolgardie, where they auctioned silks and later invested in camel teams with which they did transport work throughout the goldfields, going as far north as Wiluna and Mt. Sir Samuel.

In recent months, he came down from Carnarvon to live quietly for a while at the Perth Mosque. His father left landed property in Afghanistan, which is administered by a nephew. Soon, he hopes to return to his native town of Kandahar in Afghanistan.  Mahomed Allum was accompanied by his 33-year-old. wife Jean and 12-year-old. daughter Bebe. But the fates ordained that it was not the husband but the wife who was to die in Afghanistan. She succumbed to Smallpox and Allum is now expected to bring his daughter Bebe back to Australia.