Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi

Allamah
Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi
Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi
سيد سعيد اختر رضوي
Personal
Born	5 January 1927; Gopalpur Sadaat, Siwan district, Bihar
Died	20 June 2002 (aged 75); Dar es Salam, Tanzania
Resting place	Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Religion	Shia Ithna'asheri Muslim Shia Islam Islam
Nationality	Indian Tanzanian
Home town	Gopalpur, Siwan, Bihar, India
Spouse	Roshan Jahan and Fatima Zahra
Children	1. Qaisar Jahan 2. Ali Imam 3. Muhammad 4. Zaki Imam 5. Masud Akhtar 6. Zainab 7. Mukhtar Saeed (aka Murtaza)
Parent	Father: Maulānā Ḥakīm Sayyid Abul Ḥasan Rizvi Mother: Ṣiddīqah Khātūn
Citizenship	Indo-Tanzanian
Website	Allamah Rizvi Foundation
Personal
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Shia
Jurisprudence	Jafari (Usuli)
Creed	Twelver
Known for	Chief Missionary of Bilal Muslim Mission
Occupation	Islamic scholar

Sayyid Sa‘eed Akhtar Rizvi (Urdu: سيد سعيد اختر رضوي) (1927–2002) was an Indian born, Twelver Shī‘ah scholar, who promoted Islam in East Africa. He was given authorizations (Arabic: اجازة) by fourteen Grand Ayatullahs for riwayah, Qazawah, and Umur-e-Hasbiyah.

Biography

Rizvi was born in Ushri, Saran district, Bihar state, India, in 1927.^{[citation needed]} His father was Sayyid Abul Hassan Rizvi and who was also a Hakim^[1]^{[circular reference]} (Yunani medicine doctor) and a religious scholar. He had five sons and two daughters. His second eldest son, Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the Imam of the Islamic Shia Ithna‘asheri Jamaat (ISIJ)^[2] of Toronto. He spoke and wrote in Urdu, English, Arabic, Persian, Swahili and was also familiar with Hindi and Gujarati.^{[citation needed]}

In 1959 he was appointed the Islamic scholar (Arabic: 'alim) for Lindi, Tanzania.^[3] In 1962, he conceived a plan for propagating Islam.^[3] His plan was proposed and approved at the triennial Conference of the Supreme Council of Africa Federation of K.S.I Jamaats of Africa in Tanga in 1964.^[3] and became the Bilal Muslim Mission.^[3] Rizvi was transferred from Arusha to Dar es Salaam in mid-eastern Tanzania and Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania was officially registered in 1968. The Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya was founded in 1971.^[3] Through his mission he introduced correspondence courses in Islamic studies in English and Swahili.^[3] He traveled and lectured to university students in Africa, Europe, Canada and United States.^[3]

His funeral was held in Dar es Salaam with two scouts holding black flags in the cortege to the burial site. Officials and Scholars from several countries were present. The Islamic funeral prayer (Salat al-Mayyit) was given by his son, Muhammad Rizvi.^[3]

Rizvi authored over 140 books, some of them having been translated into many languages.^[3]

The Bilal Muslim Mission had been able to accomplished at lot in its objective of spreading the true teaching of Islam, through the hard work of its dedicated founders. This was achieved with very limited means and resources. Main source of spreading the Islamic faith was person to person or through correspondence and publication of books and its dissemination. People from Guyana in South America to Poland in Europe and from Malaysia to West Africa benefitted and embraced the true Islam.^[4] At the time of his death according to PEW research there where approximately 2 million Shias in Tanzania.^[5]