Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri
 | This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. (February 2016) |
Ayatallah Agha Seyed Ahmad Razavi, or simply Razavi (Urdu: آیت اللہ آقا سید احمد رضوی کشمیری; c. 1901 – c. 1965), was a Shiite Islam jurist, religious reformer, and scholar who lived in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Agha Seyed Ahmad Razavi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1901 |
| Died | 1965 (aged 63–64) |
| Alma mater | Hawza 'Ilmiyya Najaf, Iraq |
| Other names | آقا صآب |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam, Shia |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Srinagar |
| Post | Cleric Ayatollah |
| Period in office | 1931 - 1964 |
Early life
[edit]Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri was born in the Nabidpore-Zadibal area of Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir. He was a descendant of the eighth Shi'ite Imam, al-Rizha, son of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, through Mir Aqa Syed Hussein Rizvi Qommi, a saint and religious propagator who migrated to Kashmir from Qom, Iran, in the year 821 A.H. During the reign of Sultan Sikander, Qommi was appointed as mentor to the Sultan's son, Zain-ul-Abidin.[1][dubious – discuss][verification needed]
Haaj Aqa Syed Hussain Rizvi (d. 1942), father of Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri, was a preacher of his time, known as Mir Haji Hussain. He, along with other family members, traveled to Skardu, Baltistan, Yarkand, and adjoining areas on business trips and to preach Islam. He was well-known in Skardu as Mir or Master.[citation needed]
Haaj Aqa Syed Hassan, or Mir Syed Hassan (d. 1928), uncle of Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi, was also an Islamic scholar, preacher, and spiritual figure who established a Husseiniyeh, a shrine for commemoration of the Martyrdom of Imam Hussein near his residence in Srinagar. The arranging of gatherings for observing the Martyrdom of Imam Hussein was an ancestral practice prevalent in the family for hundreds of years. The practice continues, and people gather at the same place to remember the Martyrs of Karbala; the location, later established by Haaj Aqa Hassan, has cultural significance as the Shrine of Haaj Syed Hassan or Mir Hassan. Mir Syed Hassan himself is buried in the Shrine. The family, especially Mir Haaj Syed Hassan Rizvi and Mir Haaj Syed Hussein Rizvi, devoted themselves to disseminating knowledge of the religion of Islam.[citation needed]
Genealogy
[edit]Ayatollah Syed Ahmed, son of Syed Hussein, son of Syed Muhammad, son of Syed Baqar, son of Syed Rehmatullah, son of Syed Mohammad, son of Syed Hidayatullah, son of Syed Saleh (Haigam),[2] son of Syed Sadeq, son of Syed Mehdi, son of Syed Haaj, son of Syed Qasim, son of Mir Syed Mohammad (interred at a Shrine in Ahmedpore, Baramulla, Kashmir), son of Mir Syed Hussein Qomi (came to Kashmir in 821 AH, interred at Syed Pora Zainagair, Kashmir), son of Syed Muhammad, son of Syed Ahmed, son of Syed Minhaj, son of Syed Jalal, son of Syed Qasim, son of Syed Ali Rizvi, son of Syed Habib, son of Syed Hussein, son of Abu Abdullah Saiyed Ahmed 'Naqeeb' (of city of Qom), son of Syed Muhammad (Al-Aeraj), son of Abu Muqarem Ahmed, son of Aqa Syed Moosa (alias Musa al Mubarraqa), son of Imam Mohammad al-Taqi al-Jawad, son of Imam Abul Hassan al-Rizha.[3]
Education
[edit]Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi received his early education from his family, particularly his father. After completing his basic education at home, he left for further studies in Lucknow, India, where he studied under religious scholars for three years. From Lucknow, he went to Najaf in Iraq, a center of Shiite Islamic seminaries. In Najaf, he studied in Islamic Seminaries under prominent scholars and well-known jurists for more than twenty years, attending the lectures of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Na'ini, Grand Ayatollah Aqa Abul Hassan Isfahani, Grand Ayatollah Syed Hussain Qommi, Grand Ayatollah Aqa Zia-ud-Din Iraqi and many other Grand Ayatollahs of that period, and attained the degree of Ijtihad.[citation needed]
He learned from jurists and scholars of the Islamic World in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, and was eager to learn and practice spiritual aspects of Islam. His fellow students included Grand Ayatollah Aqa Syed Abul Qasim Khoie, Grand Ayatollah Asadullah Madani, Grand Ayatollah Murtazha al-Khalkhali, Grand Ayatollah Syed Ali Naqai Naqvi (Molvi Naqqan), Allamah Tabataba'I, and Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Rizvi Kashmiri. Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi's spiritual education was provided by Ali Tabatabaei,[4] a figure of Shiite Gnosticism.[5] He also remained under the guidance of Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Kampani for some years.
Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri's spiritual development reached its height under the supervision of his spiritual guide, Ali Tabatabaei, who Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Kashmiri described as "a great man and a strong (spiritual personality), who remained confined to his room and had idealistic manners."[6] [dubious – discuss][7]
Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Kashmiri returned to Kashmir, where he continued disseminating Islamic messages for years and brought change in practical Islamic education. Aqa established a seminary Madarsa Mohammadia[8] in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir; his death impacted this educational center. He gave lectures on Juristic laws to gatherings of people every Thursday night and Friday morning at his residence. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was reportedly influenced by Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi, who traveled to educate the masses and spread the teachings of Islam.
Spiritual powers and miracles
[edit]Reportedly, Ghulam Hussein Makhmoor, a government official stationed in Jammu, sent a letter to Ayatollah, Aqa Syed Ahmed Kashmiri seeking guidance. Given the transportation and postal limitations of the time, Makhmoor anticipated a reply would take over a week. Remarkably, however, he found Ayatollah Kashmiri’s response at his bedside the same evening, with no indication of intrusion.
In another account, when Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Kashmiri underwent surgery at a hospital in Srinagar, the operating doctors were astounded. They claimed his vital organs were severely damaged—to the extent that he should have died years earlier—yet he remained alive. Following this discovery, teams of doctors reportedly visited Ayatollah Kashmiri to pay their respects.[1]
Death
[edit]Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi died on Thursday the 28th of Safar 1384 Hijri (9 July 1964) at his residence in Srinagar after concluding the congregational gathering commemorating the departure of Muhammad and martyrdom of Shiite second Imam, Imam Hassan the son of Imam Ali.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Syed Mohsin Hussaini Kashmiri. Encyclopedia of Shi'tes in Kashmir (in Urdu). Vol. 1. The Indian Sub-continental Literal Revival Centre, Karachi, Pakistan.
- ^ This great grandfather of Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri appears to be the same Aqa Syed Saleh, who was residing in Haigam area of Baramulla in Kashmir and was a grand scholar of his time, who had also written Marsiyeh or dirge in Kashmiri in the memory of Imam Hussein, the Shiite third Imam who was martyred mercilessly in Karbala. This Aqa Saleh is reportedly buried in Kabul, Afghanistan. His great grandson, Aqa Syed Safdar went to Lucknow along with his son Aqa Syed Ali, famously known as Aqa Syed Ali Rizvi Kashmiri. Aqa Syed Ali got educated from Najaf and Karbala in Iraq and was great intellectual, an Ayatollah and a renowned jurist, whose son Ayatollah Syed Abul Hassan Rizvi Kashmiri (Abu Sahab) is credited of having established well-known Shi'ite Islamic School Sultan-ul-Madaris and also helped in establishing the school of Jamia Eimaniyeh, both in Lucknow. This Aqa Syed Ali Kashmiri was also the maternal grand father of great Gnostic and jurist, Ayatollah Syed Murtazha Rizvi Kashmiri. A number of great personalities and Islamic jurists were his descendants, who lived in Lucknow, India. Many of them lived and are buried in Karbala and Najaf in Iraq.References: Oe’sh te’ A’ab [Kashmiri Language] (Selection of Kashmiri Marsiyah from period of Sultans to Dogra Rule) November, 2009: Pub: Skyline Publications Pvt. Ltd. 167/7 Julina Complex, N. F. C. New Delhi; Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology Vol. One (Surveys and Selections) Pages 245, 237: Pub. by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
- ^ Shajraat-Taiyyabaat published genealogy of Saiyeds of Zaidpur, Printed in 1916
- ^ سید علی قاضی - ویکیپدیا[circular reference]
- ^ سید علی قاضی - ویکیپدیا[circular reference]
- ^ "سید احمد کشمیری". Yamojir.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012.
- ^ Ali Shamekhi. "یادی از رجال - آیت الله سید عبدالکریم کشمیری". Erfanekeshmiri.ir.
- ^ "شیعیان کشمیر/در گفت وگو با آقای سیدقلبی حسین رضوی". Hawzah.net.