1961 Sheikh Ali was appointed Minister of Education. In this post he ensured that married female teachers were eligible for maternity leave and maternity pay - his innovation being soon adopted by other ministries. Subsequent cabinet posts were Minister of the Interior and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commerce. In March and April 1962 Sheikh Ali visited London for the Kenya coastal Strip (the Kenya Protectorate) conference at Lancaster House, which closed without any firm decision being taken on the integration of the coastal strip (Mwambao) with the rest of Kenya. Sheikh Ali attended as one of eight elected members from Zanzibar. On 12 January 1964 a revolution brought the Al Said dynasty in Zanzibar (established in the 1830s) to a bloody and sudden end Sheikh Ali (with others) was detained for six months at Kilimani, Zanzibar Stone Town, before being flown to the mainland Tanganyika. Here his detention continued at Keko, Ukonga Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza and Bukoba for a period of ten years and four months, but he was never charged with any offence. In May 1974 he was released, but his application for a Tanzanian passport was refused. Sheikh Ali then determined to enter neighbouring Kenya illicitly. His point of entry was Vanga, and thence he traveled to Nairobi via Mombasa where he applied for and obtained refugee status. He was fated never to see Zanzibar again. Perhaps the authorities in both revolutionary Zanzibar and in Tanganyika (subsequently the United Republic of Tanzania) saw in Sheikh Ali's intellect and ability a potential threat to their leadership. Whether this was so or not it is now idle to speculate. Once his papers were in order Sheikh Ali traveled to Cairo. After a stay of several years he returned to Kenya, this time lawfully. For a while he lived in Ganjoni, Mombasa, and then at Mtongwe. From there Sheikh Ali and his family moved to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Here, in 1989 his beloved companion for life died, after almost half a century of marriage. It was the cruelest of blows. At about this time began the affliction of failing eyesight. Notwithstanding, Sheikh Ali was able to complete and publish his magnum opus, his interpretation of the Quran into the Swahili of Zanzibar kiUnguja. This monumental work (the first impression appeared in two volumes, 1995; the second in one volume, 2000) owes everything to the Swahili