Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un

The fortress of Islam has suffered an irreparable damage with departure of
Ra’is Al~Mubaligeen
‘Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi 

Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania regretfully informs the readers of the sad demise of Ra’is Al~Mubaligeen Hujjatul Islam wal Muslimeen, ‘Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, may Allãh shower His special grace upon the soul of the founding Chief Missionary of the Mission and the brightest star of Tabligh in the entire Shí‘a world. 

On Thursday morning, 8^th of Rabi ath-Thãni 1423 / 20^th of June 2002, ‘Allãmah Rizvi, as usual, started his work at his desk in his bedroom. He was doing the translation of the 13^th volume of al-Mizãn. At around 7:45 a.m., he had a massive stroke. The doctor and ambulance were called immediately. While in the ambulance, he had brain hemorrhage and went into coma. By evening, it seemed that his condition was stabilizing; but, unfortunately, soon after Maghrib time, he passed away peacefully at 7:40 p.m. 

The funeral ceremony was held on Saturday, 22^nd June, at the Shí‘a Ithna-asheri mosque at 10:15; the Janãza prayer was led by his son, Hujjatul Islam Wal Muslimeen Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi of Toronto (Canada), with a very large attendance that included the officials of the Africa Federation, the Ambassador and embassy officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, representatives of various Jamaats of East Africa, representatives of Bilal Mission of Zanzibar and Kenya, and also ‘alims and leaders of other Muslim communities (Bohri, Isma‘ili, and Sunnis, and the Ibazis). 

A number of Shi‘a ‘ulamã’ who attended the funeral were: Syed Murtaza Murtaza Amili (Nairobi), Shaykh Durrul Hasan (Arusha), Shaykh Zahid Iftikhari (Tanga), Syed Shamsul Hasan Zaidi and Shaykh Dr. Ahmad Khatib (Zanzibar), Shaykh Musi Raza, Syed Sajjad Hussain, Shaykh Ka‘bi Nasab, Syed Muhsin Tabatabai, Syed Ghalib, Shaykh Sulaiman Jum‘a, Shaykh Ali Mayunga, Shaykh Ishaq Pingili, Shaykh Ramadhan Kwezi, Shaykh Sherif Saqaf Ahmad, Shaykh Salim Hilal and others (all of Dar-es-salaam).

The funeral procession began with the ‘ulamã’ lifting the coffin, and then the mu’mineen took the tãbut over their shoulders to the graveyard. Thousands of Thousands Muslims from different denominations joined the funeral procession walking barefoot covering the route of the funeral cortege from the mosque to the cemetery in about an hour. (Normally coffins are taken by a special van to the graveyard.) A Shi‘a scout, flanked by two scouts holding two large black flags, led the funeral procession with the large framed picture of the late ‘Allamah Rizvi in his hands. The traffic police stopped the busy Saturday morning traffic in Dar-es-salaam to make way for the cortege. Many non-Muslims were seen joining the funeral procession on the way to the cemetery. 

Finally, the cortege reached the gravesite and the brightest star of tabligh of the Shi‘a world was put to rest in grave no. 1815 just at the entrance of the mosque inside the cemetery. 

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Present Imãm al-Mahdi (a.s.), to the Grand Maraji’ and the Hawzas, to all the followers of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), especially in East Africa. May Allãh exalt the stations of his soul and bless His tawfiq upon his physical family as well as the spiritual family, those who have seen the light of truth through his writings, speeches, and meetings. Aameen.   
 

Pyarali Shivji                                                      Inayat Alidina
Chairman                                                            Hon Secretary