Millions of people attended Allama Shafi’s funeral

Janaza of Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi Hazur, Managing Director of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Uloom Muinul Islam Hathazari Bara Madrasa in Chittagong and Amir of Hifazat-e-Islam was held at the premises of his favorite institution at 2:15 p.m. Saturday. He will be buried in the facilities of the madrasa.

Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi was chaired by his eldest son, Maulana Yusuf Madani. The madrasa hall was full and people participated in the janaza standing in the surrounding streets.

Thousands of scholars, madrasa students, and ordinary people gathered in the madrasa premises after Fajr on Saturday. A large number of students and scholars from Comilla, Laxmipur, Brahmanbaria, Noakhali, and the surrounding districts came to participate in the janaza.

Allama Shafi’s body arrived at the Madrasah facility by ambulance from the capital Dhaka at 9 am on Saturday.

Shah Ahmad Shafi died at Azgar Ali Hospital in the capital on Friday night. The president expressed his deep sorrow over the death of Ahmed Shafi. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Ahmed Shafi has suffered from diabetes and hypertension for some time, in addition to various diseases of old age. Meanwhile, Amir de Hefazat was taken by ambulance to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMC) from Hathazari Madrasa around 1:00 pm on Thursday. There he was treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Ahmed Shafi was transferred to Dhaka by air ambulance on Friday afternoon due to his deteriorating physical condition. He was admitted to Azgar Ali Hospital near Dhupkhola Math in Gandaria, Old Dhaka. He was pronounced dead shortly after admission.

Earlier on Thursday night, Allama Ahmad Shafi resigned as the madrasa’s general director at a meeting of the shura committee. Although he voluntarily resigned, he was nominated as the head of the Shura Council.

Allama Ahmad Shafi was born in the Pakhiartila village of Rangunia upazila in Chittagong. His father’s name was Barkat Ali and his mother’s name was Meherunnesa.

Ahmed Shafi was elected Emir of Hefazat-e-Islam on January 19, 2010. He was admitted to Darul Uloom Mueenul Islam Madrasa in Hathazari, Chittagong at the age of 10 for the purpose of receiving Islamic education. From there he went to Darul Uloom Deoband Madrasa in India in 1941 for higher studies in Hadith and Fiqh. There, Allama Syed Hussain Ahmad Madani, one of the leaders of the anti-British movement and president of the Jamiat Ulamaye Hind, received his spiritual education and his caliphate.

Upon his return from India, he was appointed a professor at Darul Uloom Hathazari in 1948, and in 1978 Ahmad Shafi became director general of the madrasa. He has been in that position for 34 consecutive years since then. In 2008, Allama Ahmad Shafi was elected Chairman of the Qaumi Madrasa Board of Education.

Allama Ahmad Shafi is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, relatives and numerous admirers. He has published 22 books, including ‘Eternal Conflict of Rights and Falsehoods’, ‘Islamic Financial System’, ‘Islam and Politics’ and ‘Interpretation of Hadiths’. According to his colleagues, Allama Ahmad Shafi has more than 5 million followers and devotees at home and abroad.