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Photos Scanned And Provided By: Mustafa Pirmohamed
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Biography - Maulana Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
Maulana Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi was born in a place called Ushri, Saran district, Bihar state, India, in 1927. His father was Sayyid Abul Hassan Rizvi and who was also a Maulana. He had five sons and two daughters. His second eldest son, Hujjat-ul-Islam wal Muslimeen Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, lives in Toronto, Canada. He has followed his father's footsteps and has written many books as well. He is the Imam of the Islamic Shia Ithna‘asheri Jamaat (ISIJ) of Toronto, Jaffari Islamic Center. Sayyid Saeed Akhtar was a very friendly and humorous person. He spent a lot of time with his family.
In 1959 he came to Lindi, Tanzania, where he was appointed the local Islamic scholar (Arabic: 'alim). He there learned Swahili and improved his Englishin order to better perform his work as a scholar.[1]
In 1962, he proposed a plan of propagating the faith among the African people to Haji Ebrahim H. Sheriff in Arusha. An amended and improved plan was put into action in 1963.[1] This plan was circulated in the triennial Conference of the Africa Federation in Tanga in 1964, where it received the approval of Hussein Nasser Walji (approved in the general meeting of Dar es Salaam Jamaat.[1]
Marhum Mulla Asgharali M.M. Jaffer writes:
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“ |
...the 1964 memorandum was received with mixed feelings but it got a boost from a resolution sent by Dar es Salaam Jamaat to do something in this (proselytizing) connection.[2] |
” |
In the end, the plan was adopted by the majority as a policy, marking the birth of the Bilal Muslim Mission.[1]
Marhum Mulla Asgharali M.M. Jaffer writes:
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...the incessant and untiring efforts and contributions by Maulana Syed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi in this direction have been decisive and of great importance. His knowledge ofSwahili and English enabled him to offer his service without any undue hesitation. He was appointed Chief Missionary of the Bilal Muslim Mission - an appellation signifying the new role of an Aalim among the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheris. For the first time in its history, the community lent its credence to this new appointment and realised that the function of an Aalim could be much more beneficial, varied and discursive.[2] |
” |
Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi was transferred fromArusha in
the north of Tanzania to
the group in Dar
es Salaam in mid-eastern Tanzania.
This expansions of activities created the need of an autonomous body, so Saeed
Akhtar Rizvi went toMombasa in
southern Kenya in
1976 in order to meet the office-bearers of the Supreme Council. They decided to
create two organizations, so Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania was registered on
16 April 1968 and the Bilal
Muslim Mission of Kenya in 1971 with Rizvi as one of the founding members,
the Chief Missionary and the Tableegh Advisor of the Late Chairman of the Africa
Federation, Late Mohamedali Meghjee and to Marhum Mulla Asghar M.M. Jaffer,
Alhaj Mohamed Dhirani and Alhaj Habibbhai Mulji.[1]
His name became synonymous with the wordTabligh (Islamic mission) among the indigenous people of East Africa, and he introducedcorrespondence courses in Islamic studies in English and Swahili besides several other courses for Shia students through the Bilal Muslim Mission.[1]
He traveled widely, holding assemblies and lecturing to university students in Africa, Europe,Canada and USA, making sure that his speeches reached intellectuals, new converts and those wishing to know more about religion.[1]
His funeral was attended by a very large crowd inDar es Salaam. Although normally coffins are taken by a special van to the graveyard, two scouts holding two large black flags led the cortege to the burial site. Traffic police stopped the busy Saturday morning traffic to make way for the cortege, who walked on foot covering the route of the funeral Cortege from the Imambara to the cemetery in more than half an hour. Officials and Scholars from several countries were present. The obligatoryIslamic funeral prayer (Salat al-Mayyit) was held byMuhammad Rizvi, the son of the deceased.[1]
Representatives from Bilal Muslim Mission credited him with raising the number of African Shi'as in East Africa from none to 100,000.[1]
Source: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa'id_Akhtar_Rizvi
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