Srinagar:Prominent Kashmiri Shia cleric and Principal of Jamia Imliya Imam Reza (as) Lawaypora Srinagar Moulana Syed Maqsood Rizvi passed away at the age of 74 after brief illness in Iran on Wednesday.

Moulana Syed Maqsood , younger brother of late Justice S M Rizvi, was buried in the holy city of Qum, Iran family sources said adding that the congregational Fateha will be held at his ancestral home Sharief Abad, HMT Srinagar on Sunday.

Syed Maqsood born to renowned Sada’at-e-Rizvi family of Sharief Abad, had migrated to Najaf Iraq at an early age. A staunch supporter of Islamic Revolution of Iran he was deported to Iran by the regime of Saddam Hussein on the eve of Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Agha Maqsood, alumunus of Najaf seminary, later headed Sub-Continent division of Sazman-e-Tableegat-e-Islami in Iran’s Ministry of Islamic Guidance.

He returned to Kashmir in mid nineties and established Jamia Ilmiya Imam Reza at Lawaypora Srinagar Kashmir. The seminary has imparted higher Islamic education to hundreds of theology students of Kashmir so far. 

Moulana Syed Maqsood Rizvi also played a prominent role in mobilising international support for Kashmir’s struggle. He was one of the architects of Nahzat-e-Inqilab-e-Islami formed in Srinagar in early stages of the pro-azadi movement. He however kept a low profile later on dividing his time between Kashmir and Qum.