Hazrat Allama Shahid Raza Naimi: December 13, 1950 – September 5, 2022 (Photo credit: Ahmed J Versi/The Muslim News)
Hazrat Allama Shahid Raza Naimi, respected interfaith leader and veteran Leicester Imam, died earlier this month, aged 72, following years of ill-health.
Jonathan Ashworth, Leicester South MP was among many in the city to pay tribute to the head Imam at Leicester’s Islamic Centre following his death. ‘This is such terrible news.
Hazrat Allama Shahid Raza Naimi was hugely respected not just by our Muslim community but by so many across Leicester and the UK. His loss will be felt deeply. He always offered me valuable insight, wisdom and advice at my monthly surgery. RIP my friend,’ Tweeted the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary.
Shahid Raza was born in Fatahpur, a small village in the Indian state of Bihar. In 1969, he graduated from the University of Agra with a degree in science. He pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Meerut in 1974, two year later he returned to Moradabad to undertake an MA in Islamic Studies from Jamia Naimia. His father, Maulana Mufti Habibullah, was a scholar and principal.
At the invitation of the management council of Islamic Centre Leicester, he arrived in the UK in February 1978 to serve as its head Imam and head teacher.
During his tenure he welcomed many groups and people from different faith communities into the centre, establishing a tradition of interfaith dialogue. He began making voluntary visits to HM Prison Leicester and HM Prison Gartree. At one time, he served as a governor of Charnwood Primary School.
He also actively took part in the formation of Leicester’s Federation of Mosques, a body facilitating intra-faith dialogue.
In 1984, at the invitation of the late Dr Zaki Badawi, he moved to London to join the Muslim College. It was at the Muslim College that he designed the very first in-service training course for Imams and headed a three-year induction programme for officers of the Metropolitan Police force to familiarise them with Muslim culture and traditions.
He was previously the Executive Secretary and Registrar of the Muslim Law (Shariah) Council UK. The Council has helped thousands of Muslims, particularly women, since its establishment in 1985, resolve family and matrimonial disputes.
He established the Muslim Food Board UK in 1992 in Leicester, now a national organisation offering guidelines and expert opinion on Islamic dietary laws.
He was also instrumental in establishing the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board in 2005, which he chaired for over a decade. He travelled worldwide meeting other religious leaders, including the Pope, as part of his interfaith work.
A spokesman for the Islamic Centre Leicester said, “Hazrat had dedicated much of his life to the Muslims of Leicester and the country and was the most senior figure of the Ahlu Sunnah who represented the Sunni scholars and the public in various fields”.
He is remembered by Shaikh Ibrahim Mogra, also of Leicester, “The entire UK Muslim community and beyond our borders will be deeply saddened by his passing. He was a tremendous asset to our city and indeed to our country, in all walks of life—religious and social—particularly in building relations with different communities in our country.”
“His broad smile and grey hat were his trademarks. He was an eloquent and impressive speaker who conveyed the peaceful message of Islam,” said Dr Musharraf Hussain of the Karimia Institute, Nottingham.
The Federation of Muslim Organizations (Leicestershire), Suleman Nagdi said that for “many people in Leicester, Hazrat was a pioneer and acted as a mentor to many. We remember him fondly as a community champion who spent his life building religious, cultural, and political bridges. His dedication to his family and the local community was personable. Sadly, he had his health problems and other challenges, yet despite all of this, his continued commitment was unquestionable.”
Shahid Raza was awarded an OBE in 2008 for his long-standing services to the Muslim community in Leicester. In 2016, the University of Leicester conferred on him an honorary doctorate of law.
Elham Asaad Buaras
