Aga Syed Yusuf Al-Moosavi Al-Safavi

Ayatollah Aga Syed Yousuf Al-Moosavi Kashmiri (b. 1904 - d. August 29, 1982) was a Kashmiri religious scholar and leader of Shia Muslims.He founded the Anjuman-e-Sharie organisation which remains influential under his successors. Aga sahib, as he was popularly known, was a charismatic leader, a social reformer, a visionary, an educationist, a scholar.

He was born in Budgam in 1322 hijri and completed his education in Islamic law from Najaf in Iraq, and after the death of his elder brother, Aga Syed Ahmed Almosavi, shouldered the responsibility of spreading the Shia message. He established an educational institution for Islamic learning, namely ‘Madras-e Babul Ilem’ (Gateway of knowledge) in Budgam. Madarsa-e Babul Ilem is the alma-mater of many big names who dominate the literary field in Kashmir today.

Aga Sahib. undertook the large scale construction of Imam Bara Budgam. He also widened the Imam Bara Hassanabad, which is a replica of the one in Budgam, albeit smaller in area.

It has been a routine among shias of Kashmir that whenever there would be any case they would prefer to go to their religious head (Moulvis or Agas) instead of making rounds to the courts. Such courts are known as Sharie Adalat (Religious Court) where justice is delivered according to the Islamic doctrine. During the period of Aga sb., Sharie Adalat became very popular. Aga sb. was famous for his sense of justice. There were a number of occasions when the District Court too followed the suit and sent some extremely complex cases to the court of Aga sb. One of the achievements of Aga Sahib. was establishing an organization, namely Anjumane Sharie Shian Jammu and Kashmir. It is true that the very concept of establishing Anjumane Sharie Shian, apart from carrying out the religious work, was political. As the govt. receives the taxes from the general public similar was the case with the Anjuman Sharie Shian, which used to collect Khums and Fitr (alms) from the Shia population and spend on the social, educational and economic upliftment of the unprivileged and the downtrodden section of the community. When the Sheikh Abdullah’s govt. passed the Land Reform Act, Aga sb. voiced his anger and said that the bill is against the doctrine of Shiasm and such was his awe in the higher corridors of power that the government decided to exempt Shias from the Land Reform Bill.

After his death, the district hospital of Budgam was named after him. Another achievement of Aga sb was that he got Shia nisab(syllabus) introduced in the University of Kashmir.

Aga was a very close associate of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of Islamic Revolution of Iran. Aga donated $ 2400 lac to Iran as financial assistance during the revolutionary struggle. When Ayatollah Khomeini was expelled from Iran by the Shah, Ayatollah Yousuf Kashmiri wrote him a letter and invited him to Kashmir. Ayatollah Khomeini replied, “I would love to visit my ancestral home, Kashmir, but due to certain political reason I am afraid I can’t.” (All the letters of Ayatollah Khomeini are preserved in the personal library of Ayatollah Yousuf).

A number of eminent personalities visited Kashmir to meet Aga sb., prominent among them were the Supreme leader of I.R.Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Mahdevi Qani, Ayatollah Gulzadeh Gafoori, Ayatollah Gulsukhri, Imam Burhanuddin (Imam of Bohras), and others.

He passed to the everlasting world on 29 August, 1982 and left thousands of well wishers lamenting. The then Prime Minister of India Ms. Indira Gandhi also visited the bereaved family and offered her condolence.

External links

* [http://budgam.nic.in/holyplaces.htm Budgam District official website] cites 1955 extension of Imambara Budgam
* [http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/02aug23/news.htm "Aga Sahib laid to rest in Budgam", Daily Excelsior, Aug 23, 2002] cites 1982 death of Aga Syed Yusuf Al-Moosavi Al-Safavi