Senior Kenyan Muslim Scholar Sheikh Abdillahi Nasir Passes Away
Born in 1932 in Mombasa, he was a major thinker and author of religious books. Many people started following Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in eastern and central African regions after reading his books.
He was initially a Sunni Muslim but converted to Shia Islam in 1975. Wahhabis and centres affiliated with Saudi Arabia allegedly adopted some measures against him to make him return but they did not succeed.
Speaking in an interview about the reason for his conversion, Sheikh Nasir said after getting acquainted with the virtues of Imam Ali (AS), he gradually understood that Imam Ali (AS) was the best Muslim after the Prophet (PBUH). “After a while, I received Allameh Amini’s Al-Ghadir. When I read the first volume, I recognized the rightfulness of Shia. Then I went to Shia mosques and read more books and eventually became a Shia Muslim.”
He has penned several books about Shia Islam, including “Shia and Taqiya” written in Kiswahili. The book is a response to a book published some 10 years earlier in Kiswahili which had raised doubts about Shia Islam among African Muslims.
Sheikh Nasir also held several stages of debates with Wahhabi scholars about the history of Islam and the principles of Shia beliefs.
A series of his sermons have been recorded in cassettes and still circulate in eastern areas of the continent, playing a major role in disseminating Shia Islam in Kenya as well as other countries such as Tanzania.
