Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

Aqa Syed Ahmed

Rizvi Rizvi or Rizavi or رضوی is the Urdu form of the Arabic surname Radawi/Radhawi and the Persian surname Razavi. It is a surname commonly associated with Muslims, who claim descent from the Imam Ali al-Ridha, a descendant of the Islamic prophet M ...

or Razavi (1316–1384 in Hijri) (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Shiite

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

jurist, religious reformer, and scholar who lived in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

city of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. Hakim Safdar Hamdani in his book Shian-e-Kashmir has termed him as a Mard-e-Mujahid or an Islamic warrior while others, like Syed Kazimi, has described him as a man who had a hidden and heavenly helping hand behind him.

Early life

Aqa Syed Ahmed

Kashmiri was born at Nabidpore-Zadibal area of Srinagar city in Indian Administrated

, in a revered religious and pious family and was a descendant of Shi'ite eighth Imam Ali al-Rizha, the son of Imam

Musa al-Kadhim Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...

through one of the great saints and religious propagators Mir Aqa Syed Hussein Rizvi Qommi, who went to Kashmir from Qom, Iran in the year 821 A.H., during the reign of

Sultan Sikander Sikandar Shah (Sikandar Butshikan – "Sikandar, the Iconoclast") was the sixth sultan of the Shah Miri dynasty of Kashmir from 1389 to 1413. Sources The only contemporaneous source that exists is the Rajatarangini (lit. Flow of Succession o ...

who appointed him as mentor of his son Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin locally known as

Budshah , spouse = , issue = Haider Shah , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , house = Shah Mir dynasty , father = Sikandar Shah Miri , mother = , birth_date = 25 November 1395 , birth_place = Kashmir, Shah M ...

.Encyclopedia of Shi’tes in Kashmir (Urdu), Vol. I by Syed Mohsin Hussaini Kashmiri: Published by, The Indian Sub-continental Literal Revival Centre, Karachi, Pakistan. Haaj Aqa Syed Hussain Rizvi (d. 1942), father of

Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri, was a learned and well known preacher of his time who was famous by name of Mir Haji Hussain. He, along with some other members of his family, used to travel to Skardu, Baltistan, Yarkand and adjoining areas on business trips and besides doing business preached Islam. He was famously known in Skardu,

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...

as Mir or Master. His descendants, who preferred to settle down there, are still remembered and revered as family of Ba’mir. Haaj Aqa Syed Hassan or Mir Syed Hassan (d. 1928), uncle of Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi, was also a well known Islamic scholar, preacher and a spiritual figure who had established a Husseiniyeh or 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 since hundreds of years. The practice prevails even to this time and people gather on the same place to remember the Martyrs of Karbala, which was later-on established by Haaj Aqa Hassan and is famous as Shrine of Haaj Syed Hassan or Mir Hassan. Mir Syed Hassan himself is buried in the said Shrine. The family especially Mir Haaj Syed Hassan Rizvi and Mir Haaj Syed Hussein Rizvi, like their ancestors, had devoted themselves for disseminating the true features and knowledge of the religion of Islam.

Genealogy

(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) Syed Saleh Rizvi (or Syed Salih Ridwi) was a Kashmiri scholar and writer of the 17th to 18th centuries. Biography Syed Saleh Rizvi lived during the 17th and 18th centuries. He resided in Ahmedpore village, two to three miles from the town ...

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, Kahsmir) 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 Mūsā ibn Muḥammad al-Mubarqaʿ () was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Musa was the son of Muhammad al-Jawad () and the younger brother of Ali al-Hadi (), the ninth and tenth Imams in Twelver Shia. He is known to be a common anc ...

) son of Imam

Mohammad al-Taqi Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad ( ar, محمد بن علي الجواد, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Jawād, – 29 November 835) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Rida. ...

al-Jawad son of Imam Abul Hassan al-Rizha.

Education

Syed Ahmed

got his early education from his family elders especially from his father and after completing his basic education at home left for further studies to Lucknow in India, where he studied under the leading scholars for more than three years. From Lucknow, he went for further studies to the city of Najaf in Iraq, which has remained as the centre of Shitte Islamic seminaries and focus of spiritual subjects for almost fourteen hundred years. In Najaf, he studied in Islamic Seminaries under the prominent scholars and well-known jurists for more than twenty years, attending the lectures of Jurisprudence 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 leading Grand Ayatollahs of that period and, thence, attained the degree of Ijtihad while passing through the heights and zenith of knowledge and character. He learned from the legendary jurists and scholars of Islamic World of his period in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Palestine but he was very much eager to learn and practice spiritual aspects of Islam. Here, 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, Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Rizvi Kashmiri, etc. Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi's spiritual education was provided by one of the brightest Spiritual figures of the twentieth century and teacher of Knowledge of Islamic spiritualism, Ali Tabatabaei, who is considered to be the illustrious and grandest personality of Shiite Gnosticism. He remained also under the guidance of Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Kampani for some years. Ali Tabatabaei had himself reached the pinnacle of spirituality and had traversed the highest stations of ''sair-o-salook'' (spiritualism). His students included Abul Qasim Khoei, Grand Ayatollah Syed

Ruhullah Khoemini Ruhullah, also spelled Rouhollah, Ruhollah or Rohullah and in other ways ( ar, روح ‌الله or or ), is a male Muslim given name composed of the elements '' Ruh'' and ''Allah''. It means ''spirit of God''. It may refer to: Given Name * Rohu ...

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his ''T ...

, Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani, Abdul Karim Rizvi Kashmiri, Syed Hashim Hadad, Martyred Ayatollah Dastegaib. Imam Khomeini termed Syed Ali Qadhi as the best teacher of Metaphysics in Islam, as he express;- "When it comes to cognition of (hidden meanings of) Tawheed, (Ayatollah) Qadhi emerges as a mountain" The spiritual development of Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri reached the culmination under the supervision of his spiritual guide, Ali Tabatabaei. Aqa Ahmed Kashmiri is said to have attained the level and ability of moving soul outside his material body and returning in spiritual workout. He was a renowned religious and spiritual personality (Sahebi Karameh) and, in Kashmir, hundreds of spiritual and miraculous events had been reported about him. Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Kashmiri has described him as the strongest disciple of Ayatollah Qadhi while giving him title of Qadhi Saa’ni or Second Qadhi, seconding him to none other than the masterly Gnostic, Ayatollah Syed Qadhi Ali Tabatabai. At another place, Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Kashmiri has mentioned him as a great man and a strong (spiritual personality), who remained confined to his room and had idealistic manners., It has also been reported that Ali Tabatabaei had himself described Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri to be his strongest disciple. Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Kashmiri returned to Kashmir, where he continued his mission of disseminating Islamic message for years and brought a new change in practical Islamic education of Kashmir. Aqa established a Seminary MADRASSA MOHAMMADIA in the Capital of

, where students learned under the best teachers of Kashmir, but his death was a blow to this educational center. He also used to give lectures on Juristic laws to gatherings of people on every Thursday night and Friday morning at his residence. All the sects of

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

society had a great deal of attachment to Ahmed Rizvi. The then Prime Minister of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

, was very much influenced by

Syed Ahmed Rizvi that he usually visited Aqa Rizvi's home for spiritual lessons and had desired to become one of his pupils and even after death of Ayatollah Syed Ahmed used to come to his burial. Ayatollah Aqa Ahmed traveled far flung areas to educate the masses and to spread the teachings of Islam.

Spiritual powers and miracles

It is said once a person named Ghulam Hussein Makhmoor, who was a government official posted at

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

almost three hundred kilometers away from

City, had posted a letter to

Aqa Syed Ahmed, seeking instructions from him in a complicated matter. He was expecting reply to his letter would come from

Ahmed Kashmiri in more than a week's time keeping in consideration the transportation and postal facilities of those days. But he was astounded when he found reply to his letter at his bed, on the same evening and that too in the room, the windows of which were closed and the door of which he had himself locked from outside earlier in the day while leaving for office.Imamiyah Jurisprudence Sources: by Syed Mudasir Hassan Rizvi Kashmiri (Author of the Book is grandson of

Aqa Syed Ahmad

i) It has been reported that when

Aqa Ahmed Kashmiri was operated upon in a Hospital in

, the doctors who were performing the surgery were surprised over what they had seen. As per the doctors, all the vital organs of Aqa Syed Ahmad Kashmiri had been damaged but in spite of that he was alive. The condition of the organs was such that he should have had died several years earlier. Subsequently, groups of doctors would visit

Aqa Syed Ahmad Kashmiri to pay their respect till he was alive.

Death

Aqa Syed Ahmed

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 Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

and martyrdom of Shiite second Imam Hassan the son of Imam Ali.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashmiri, Syed Ahmed Rizvi 1901 births 1964 deaths People from Srinagar Shia scholars of Islam