At funeral for Mohammed Yasin, over 1,000 mourn the mosque member who owned Finest Halal Meat & Deli in North Babylon

The funeral for Mohammed Yasin at a major mosque in Bay Shore was one of the largest there ever, attracting an overflow crowd of more than 1,000 people, community leaders said.

Then, despite a bone-chilling deluge that left a few inches of rain on the frozen ground at a cemetery in Mt. Sinai, hundreds stood outside for his burial services, said Ammad Sheikh, a Muslim community leader.

"It was freezing. It was windy. And it was raining buckets," said Sheikh, who attended the services at the Masjid Darul Quran mosque and Washington Memorial Park cemetery on Tuesday. "You just saw an ocean of umbrellas."

Yasin didn’t hold any prominent post in the mosque, in the community or in the professional world. He just ran a store. But he became a well-known and beloved figure for a simple reason: his smile and his generosity, relatives and community leaders said.

Yasin was "probably one of the friendliest, nicest people you'll ever meet," Sheikh said. "Everyone felt like we had a special relationship with him. He made you feel like he was your best friend."

"He was just a normal guy," Sheikh added. "But he had a funeral like a celebrity."

His generosity and warmth made his death even harder for the community to fathom, Sheikh said.

Yasin, 62, was lighting a fire pit in his backyard in Islandia for a large Thanksgiving group his family had invited when he poured lighter fluid into the pit, said his wife, Mona Yasin. She was inside and heard a boom. Apparently, the lighter fluid had caught fire, with the flames traveling back up to the can, which then exploded, she said.

When she came outside, her husband was engulfed in flames.

An ambulance transported him to Stony Brook University Hospital. He died three days later, on Nov. 30, from the burns.

Many frequented deli

Yasin and his wife owned and ran the Finest Halal Meat & Deli in North Babylon. It was frequented by nearby Deer Park’s booming Muslim population but also by others of Hispanic and Jamaican descent, along with longtime American residents, his wife said.

Mohammed always had a warm greeting for everyone and often offered a helping hand, she said. The store had a sizable list of people whom Mohammed let buy food on credit because they had little money, she said.

"People owed us hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and we just kept a tab for them," his wife said. "My customers are crying" over his death, she added, and many attended his funeral.

On at least one occasion Yasin invited a family who lost their home to live temporarily with him and his family, said Fuad Khan, president of the mosque.

"He was one of the most generous people," Khan said.

Yasin’s wife said he took in many other people over the years.

Came from Pakistan

Yasin earned a master’s degree in social work in Pakistan and immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s. He had $20 in his pocket, his wife said.

One of his first jobs was selling belts on the streets of Harlem, she said. He didn’t have a store or even a booth in an outdoor market — he just walked around and carried the belts, she said.

He later moved to Long Island and spent years working as a baker in Dunkin’ Donuts stores including one in Hauppauge, she said. Eventually the couple bought and ran a Coffee Beanery store in the Massapequa Mall.

The couple took over the halal food store in North Babylon about a year and a half ago.

Yasin also is survived by two adult daughters, Mehreena and Alina, who live in the family home.

His death "was just tragic," his wife said. "The thing that's giving me comfort in this time is everyone saying good things about him."