“The death of an aalim,

is the death of an aalam” 

By Sakina Zainul Datoo

Federation Samachar Editorial Board Member

For many Dar es Salaam city centre residents, the day dawned on Saturday, June 22, 2002 to the sound of Yaseen being recited from the Azan mike. It was an immediate feeling of doom, like you feel when you wake up on Ashura morning only to realise what a heavy day it is and no sign of joy should appear on your face. 

And it indeed was a grave day. The death of an aalim, a scholar, is the death of an aalam, the world. That is the saying of our Maasomeen. And the loss to the world it certainly was. It was a day we laid to rest the most prominent and knowledgeable personality of our community, Syed Akhtar Rizvi. 

Everyone seemed to try and remember and connect the sadness they felt in their hearts automatically through a meeting, a discussion or a moment they had shared with the Syed. I couldn’t help recall how I had asked him for an interview some years back when he was in Birmingham for treatment. Saying he was not allowed to stress himself, he nevertheless agreed for an interview to be published in Samachar. That incident reminded me of the crux of what this great man was all about -- the service and guidance for the community at whatever cost to himself. 

As some ladies could not help sobbing after having done the ziarat of marhum, paying their last respects, one lady was overcome and all she could think about, she said, was that he was the one who had recited her nikah. 

The presence of a huge Bilal crowd at the funeral as one entered the mosque was evidence of the aalim’s great achievements. From zero, he had turned thousands of indigenous people in Africa into the followers of Alhulbait. And their sobbing was so heart wrenching as ‘La illaha illa llah” was recited signaling the journey towards kabrastan that no one in the gathering could control tears pouring down their eyes. 

Despite the sober crowd of black clad women, most people interviewed by the Samachar revealed that it was difficult to digest that such a household name shrouded in piety had truly departed from our community leaving us without the benefit of the huge ilm he possessed. 

Many sisters recalled his Masael classes for ladies some years back and how they had complete faith in few except Akhtar Rizvi. His word was taken with full confidence. 

The Dar es Salaam resident aalim summed up everyone’s thought that day as he declared himself devoid of strength and words with which to offer condolences to the Syed’s children and the community at large at this time of “Musibate Azeem.” 

He reminded the gathering of how it was unimaginable for ordinary people to realise what a loss the world had suffered with the passing of this great ulama. Only the world of knowledge could gauge the loss that has been created and that could never be filled, he said. 

He informed of how people in different parts of the world, Iran, India and Pakistan to mention a few were together in this mourning. It was a loss for so many, one could not imagine, he revealed. 

“Tabligh is a rough road, a way of ambiya. Few can manage to walk along this path for they need the action of the ambiya,” he said elaborating on how the Syed’s life was all about tabligh. 

“His name (Allama Rizvi) has become synonymous with the word Tabligh amongst the indigenous people of East Africa,” the World Federation newswire declared. “The passing away of an Aalim of such caliber is a great loss to the entire Muslim world and in particular the Shia Community,” it added. 

No heart was untouched when the maulana addressed the Syed telling him the huge and diverse crowd, consisting of people of all races, communities, age and status that had gathered at the Khoja Shia Ithna asheri mosque that morning were there to bid farewell to him. 

As the funeral procession left the mosque on its way to kabrastan, the huge sober crowd immediately attracted attention of the passerby and people along the streets stopped working to observe the funeral, instinctively knowing in their hearts that this was no ordinary funeral, nor ordinary mayyit. Alhamdulillah, many of our community members paid tribute to this great personality by keeping shut their shops and businesses and joining in the funeral.

As the procession moved towards the graveyard, women stayed behind to pay tribute of their own. Zakeerah Fatim Dewji had the crowd in tears within minutes preaching on what an aalim means and what this loss meant. 

“Aalim is like a shelter for the community,” she quoted the Maasumeen’s saying. The shelter had been uprooted and the fort against enemy destroyed, leaving us exposed, she said.  

She informed the ladies about how the Syed’s books were read even in prisons in America, because of which many non-Muslims had turned Muslims. She said his books had been translated into several languages and were widespread in the world. He was a renowned author, having left a wealth of knowledge for generations to come. The least we could do, she said, to honour him was to observe 40 days of strict mourning and having condolence books opened at several centres for people to sign and show their devotion to the Allama. 

The funeral proceeding ended amongst ladies by matam to a nawha that Allama liked, Nadeem Sarwar’s “Amma bar bar gala dukhta hai.” 

Well known Hamida bai Manji (Malimia) informed the Samachar about how people all across the globe from Iran, Iraq to India and USA asked about the Allama on her trips abroad. “The whole Shia world knew him and were concerned about him,” she said. 

“The sad demise of Maulana Akhtar Rizvi has caused an irreplaceable loss to the entire community. He was a source of knowledge and guidance. His lectures were heard and books were read with great interest and appreciated by all. The knowledge he imparted was immense. We take solace in that we got to know him and learn from him,” read a statement issued by the Ladies Managing Committee of Dar es Salaam. It’s Chairlady Marzia Jessa offered condolences to the bereaved family, the Shia Scholars and the Ulemas and to all the members of the Shia community on this “irreparable loss.”  

Said Jessa, Imam Ali (AS) states: “An Aalim is alive even if he is dead and an ignorant is dead even though he is alive,” summing up the reality of Syed Akhtar Rizvi’s life and death. May Allah (SWT) rest his soul amongst the proximity of Masumeen. Amen.  

INNA LILLAHI WAINNA ILLAIHI RAJIOON.