Commemoration ceremony for Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma held in Qom

Sunday, 16 January 2022

The memorial service for Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma was held in Imam Jafar Sadeq (a.s.) Mosque of Al Al-Bayt (a.s.) University.

Commemoration ceremony for Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma held in Qom

On Sunday, January 16, 2022, simultaneously with the anniversary of the demise of Lady Umm Al-Banin (a.s.), the memorial service for the late Haj Sheikh Abdullahi Nasser Jumaa, a prominent Kenyan Shiite scholar and defender of the school of Infallible AhlulBayt (a.s.), was held in Qom, in Imam Jafar Sadeq (a.s.) Mosque of Al Al-Bayt (a.s.) University

The ceremony was held by Kenyan students of the seminary of Qom and Al Al-Bayt University (a.s.), and with the cooperation of some international institutions, including the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, and Al-Mustafa International.

The ceremony was attended by Hojat al-Islam Majid Khaleghpour, Vice President of Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University, Hojat al-Islam Mohsen Qanbari, Deputy for Communications and International Affairs of Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University, Hojat al-Islam Sheikh Moin Daqiq, Representative of Lebanese Hezbollah in Qom, and Hojat al-Islam Majid Ebadi, Deputy for Research at Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University.

The memorial service for the late Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma in Qom was also attended by representatives of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, the office of the late Grand Ayatollah Hakim, the Union of African Clerics in Qom, the Imam Sadeq (a.s.) Seminary and the Cultural Counselor of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kenya.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Hojat al-Islam Ali Moiga said, “Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir spent his 89-year life in the service of religion. He spent the last fifty years of his life in the service of the Shia. He had a clear and sound mind and argued with his professors while studying, and his spirit of inquiry led him to the Shia.”

“Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir was a Mujahed who confronted and debated various groups, including Wahhabis. With his lectures, articles, and books, he led many people to convert to Shia,” he continued.

Following the ceremony, a short clip about the life of Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir, as well as pictures of the funeral and burial of this eminent scholar were shown to the audience.

Sheikh Salim Moiga Nega, a Kenyan Shiite cleric and a graduate of Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University, was the special speaker at the commemoration of Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma.

He said, “Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma was no ordinary person. Rather, he was a great man who was one of the leading Shiite figures in Kenya, East Africa and even the whole of Africa. He spent his honorable life in the service of Islam and the Shiite school.”

“Unfortunately, many people knew Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir after his demise. He played a major role in Kenya’s independence from Britain. In the 1960s he founded a political party called the Unity of the Nation. At the time, the prominent scholar ran in the parliamentary elections and became a member of the Kenyan parliament,” he continued.

“After studying for 10 years in Kenya, Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir went to Zanzibar in 1946 to study religion. There, a professor named Sayed Omar Abdullah greatly influenced him. This professor specialized in both religious studies and academic sciences. After returning to Kenya, Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir sought to continue his education. But most professors at the time did not allow students to ask questions. Finally, Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir found a master named Muhammad al-Ghazali who sowed the seeds of Shiism in his mind. Sheikh Ghazali told Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir to read every book. He also asked him to express his opinion,” Kenyan Shiite scholar added.

“Sheikh Mohammad Ghazali was a Shiite, but he was observing Taqiyya. He gave the book of Al-Ghadir to Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir, and when he saw this book, he realized that his thoughts were the same with the book, and he converted to Shia. After the Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir become a Shiite, his teacher, Sheikh Mohammad Ghazali passed away in 1959. Sheikh founded his party in 1960 and served in the Kenyan parliament from 1961 to 1963, attending a meeting to review the Kenyan constitution. He has also advocated for the Sahel area, Kenyan Muslims and Islamic courts in Kenya,” Sheikh Salim Moiga Nega said, referring to the story of Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir becoming a Shiite.

“When Sheikh Mohammad Ghazali was still alive, Sheikh Abdullahi Nasser shared his thoughts with the youth. This led to rumors that he had become a Shiite. But his teacher got angry with him and told him, ‘Do not reveal your thoughts until you find followers’. Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir hid his Shia belief for more than two decades (from 1957 to the 1980s) and practiced taqiya. During this time, he lectured, took social positions, and interpreted the Quran,” he continued.

“After the demise of Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir, Kenyan politicians sent messages of condolence, saying that he was a political thinker and a respected scholar. Socially, he played a major role in uniting the Shiites. So that the Shiites used to refer to him in their disputes in the East African region and he would settle their disputes. In 1988, Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir wanted to unite the Shiites of Kenya under a single organization. But that did not happen that year. In 2005, Kenyan Shiite organizations sought to create a single organization for Shiites. But the government opposed it. Of course, these efforts must continue. Abdillahi Nasir dreamed of uniting the Shiites in East Africa under a single organization,” Kenyan Shiite scholar added.

“We lost a kind and great father to the Shiites in East Africa. Shiites, Sunnis and even Christians are saddened by his demise. Such figures, who are the pillars of Shiism, must be commemorated during their lifetime,” he mentioned.

Reciting the mourning for the AhlulBayt (a.s.), on the anniversary of the demise of Lady Umm Al-Banin (a.s.), was the last part of the memorial service for Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Juma.

Ahl Al-Bayt World Assembly

The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly  is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that was established by a group of Shiite elites under the supervision of the great Islamic authority of the Shiites in 1990 to identify, organize, educate and support the followers of Ahl al-Bayt.

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