Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi was born in 1957 in a family of ulama in Bihar, India, from the Siwan District (previously known as Saran) — a region known for producing prominent Shia scholars in the Indian subcontinent. He migrated to Africa with his parents where he received his elementary education in an English medium school. He then studied Arabic and Farsi for two years with his father, Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi, and two other Alims in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In 1972, at the age of fifteen, he went to the Hawza-e Ilmiya-e Qum, Iran, where he spent ten years studying with various teachers, progressing from muqaddimat to sutuh (graduate level) and attending the dars-e kharij (ijtihad lectures) of Ayatullah al-Uzma Shaikh Wahid Khurasani.

In 1982, he returned to India for about a year. In June 1983, at the invitation of the Shia Muslim Community of British Columbia, he moved to Vancouver where he served until June 1991 through lectures, writings, and teachings. In September 1987, Simon Fraser University admitted him into its post-graduate program at the Master's level — without a formal degree or entrance exams — based on his publications and educational background. He completed his thesis in 1990 and was awarded a Master of Arts degree in History in 1991.

In July 1991, he moved to Toronto and worked until 1996 as Director of the Islamic Education & Information Center, serving Shias across North America. He was also involved in founding As-Sadiq Islamic School, a full-time Islamic school from KG to Grade 8. Since July 1996, he has served as Imam-e Jum'a and Resident Alim of the Jaffari Islamic Center / Jaffari Community Center (ISIJ) in Toronto. He has traveled extensively to cities across Canada, the USA, Australia, Guyana, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Kenya for lectures.