Back to Notable Figures

Alim · Author

Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi

Allamah, Sayyid

Biography

Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi (January 5, 1927 – June 20, 2002) was an Indian-born Twelver Shia scholar who established the Bilal Muslim Mission in East Africa to spread the Twelver creed. He was granted authorizations (ijazah) by fourteen Grand Ayatollahs for Hadith, Ahkam, and Fiqh. Born in Ushri, Saran district, Bihar, India, his father Sayyid Abul Hassan Rizvi was a religious scholar. Rizvi was fluent in Urdu, English, Arabic, Persian, and Swahili, and also familiar with Hindi and Gujarati. In 1959, Rizvi was appointed as an alim in Lindi, Tanzania. In 1962, he developed a plan for promoting Islam, approved at the triennial conference of the Africa Federation of K.S.I. Jamaats in Tanga in 1964, leading to the establishment of the Bilal Muslim Mission. The Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania was officially registered in 1968, and the Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya was founded in 1971. Through this mission, Rizvi introduced correspondence courses in Islamic studies in English and Swahili, and lectured to university students across Africa, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Rizvi authored over 140 books, some translated into multiple languages. He died in Dar es Salaam; his funeral was attended by officials and scholars from several countries, with the Islamic funeral prayer led by his son Muhammad Rizvi. At the time of his death, according to PEW Research, there were approximately two million Shias in Tanzania.

Notable works

Your Questions Answered (7 volumes), Elements of Islamic Studies, Imamate: The Vicegerency of the Holy Prophet, Understanding Karbala, The Holy Prophet, God: An Islamic Perspective, Family Life of Islam, Muhammad is the Last Prophet, Prophethood, The Justice of God, Wahhabis Fitna Exposed, Al-Mizan An Exegesis of the Quran (13 volumes, translator)

Bibliography

23 works

Fields & styles

Islamic scholarshipDawahApologetics

Family tree

Parents

Sayyid Abul Hassan Rizvi (Maulana Hakim)

Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi

Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi

You are here

Roshan Jahan

Spouse

Fatima Zahra

Spouse

Children

Ali Imam

Zaki Imam

Masud Akhtar

Mukhtar Saeed (Murtaza)

Qaisar Jahan

Zainab

Linked profiles are clickable · Other members shown from available records

This profile was compiled from publicly available sources including Wikipedia. All biographical information is attributed to its original sources.

Wikipedia source