Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri

Ayatallah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi or Razavi (1316–1384 in Hijri) (Urdu; آیت اللہ آقا سید احمد رضوی کشمیری) was a Shiite Islamic jurist, religious reformer, and scholar who lived in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Early life
Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri was born at Nabidpore-Zadibal area of Srinagar city in Indian Administrated Kashmir, and was a descendant of Shi'ite eighth Imam Ali al-Rizha, the son of Imam Musa al-Kadhim 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 who appointed him as mentor of his son Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin locally known as Budshah.

Haaj Aqa Syed Hussain Rizvi (d. 1942), father of Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri, was a well-known preacher of his time, known by the name of Mir Haji Hussain. He along with other members of his family, would travel to Skardu, Baltistan, Yarkand and adjoining areas on business trips and preaching Islam. He was most well-known in Skardu, Baltistan as Mir or Master.

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 for hundreds of years. The practice still continues, and people gather at the same place to remember the Martyrs of Karbala, which was later-on established by Haaj Aqa Hassan and has similar cultural significance to the 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) 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) son of Imam Mohammad al-Taqi al-Jawad son of Imam Abul Hassan al-Rizha.

Education
Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi received his early education from his family elders, particularly his father, and after completing his basic education at home, left for further studies in Lucknow in India, where he studied under leading religious scholars for three years. From Lucknow, he went for further studies to the city of Najaf in Iraq, which has been seen as a centre of Shiite Islamic seminaries and focus of spiritual subjects for almost fourteen hundred years. In Najaf, he studied in Islamic Seminaries under 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.

He learned from the jurists and scholars of the 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 Ali Tabatabaei, a significant figure of Shiite Gnosticism. He remained also under the guidance of Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Kampani for some years.

The spiritual development of Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi Kashmiri reached the culmination under the supervision of his spiritual guide, Ali Tabatabaei. He was a renowned religious and spiritual personality (Sahebi Karameh). At another place, Ayatollah Syed Abdul Karim Kashmiri had mentioned him as a great man and a strong (spiritual personality), who remained confined to his room and had idealistic manners.

Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Kashmiri returned to Kashmir, where he continued his mission of disseminating Islamic message for years and brought change in practical Islamic education of Kashmir. Aqa established a Seminary MADRASSA MOHAMMADIA in the Capital of Kashmir, Srinagar, but his death was a blow to this educational center. He used to give lectures on Juristic laws to gatherings of people on every Thursday night and Friday morning at his residence. The then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was reportedly influenced by Ayatollah Syed Ahmed Rizvi. 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 almost 300 kilometers away from Srinagar City, had sent a letter to Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmed, seeking instructions from him in a complicated matter. He was expecting reply to his letter would come from Ayatollah Ahmed Kashmiri in more than a week's time, keeping in consideration the transportation and postal facilities of those days. But he reportedly found Ayatollah Ahmed Kashmiri's reply to his letter at his bed, on the same evening, with no signs of any disturbance or unwanted entry present.

It has been reported that when Ayatollah Aqa Ahmed Kashmiri was operated upon in a Hospital in Srinagar, 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 Ayatollah Aqa Syed Ahmad Kashmiri to pay their respect till he was alive.

Death
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 Hassan the son of Imam Ali.