Born in 1930 in Bihar, India to a high-class Indian Moghul family, and descending from Seyyed Imam Jalaladdin Bukhari, peace be with him, Imam Razvi was a fully qualified Zaydi Seyyed, Islamic judge, Ishraqi philosopher, and Chishti Sufi Shaykh and mystic.

After suffering Partition in 1947 and being forced from India into newly-created Pakistan as were millions of Muslim families, Seyyed Mehdi Imam Razvi, peace be with him, studied law at University and completed his degree in Shariah jurisprudence, going on to become a fully practicing Judge in the nascent 1950s Pakistani legal courts.

A train ride would change his life forever: He met his lovely wife Ingrid “Khadijah” Razvi, peace be with her, she was a tourist from Hamburg, Germany and so they married, and moved to Hamburg together, and began what would become a 50+ year-long love affair with the beautiful north European city.

In Hamburg, Imam Razvi became assistant professor at the University of Hamburg under famed Orientalist Professor Rudolph Strothmann, who had written about Zaydi law and culture already back in 1906, becoming perhaps the 1st Western scholar to do so. His academic tree grew precious fruit, as Imam Razvi’s colleague Dr. Wilferd Madelung, peace be with him, who collaborated with him at the University of Hamburg, himself became a renowned Western scholar of Zaydism, Ismailism and Kharijism as well.

Imam Razvi went on to teach for over 50 years in the famed Blue Mosque in Hamburg, the largest Shi’a Mosque in Continental Europe. Imam Razvi joined the mosque facutly during the time of Shah Mohammad Reza, and managed to stay on even after the 1979 revolution. Despite many tensions with the new leadership there, Imam Razvi could not be budged: He was a qualified Seyyed, Islamic judge and had a combination of intense wisdom and knowledge backed by diplomatic wit, and a fiery tongue for emergency situations.

In Hamburg, Imam Razvi worked to created the Academy of World Religions at the University, as well as being a founding member of the Hamburg Shura’, a pan-Islamic umbrella organization which oversees all Islamic mosques and official representations within Hamburg.

Imam Razvi’s main driving principles were guided by Humanitarianism, Reason and Freedom within religion, particularly in Islam which he so desired to see unified across the globe during his lifetime. As a Zaydi-Bukhari Imam, he created a community in Hamburg and fostered its development across generations. Furthermore, as a pioneer he championed true inter-religious dialogue with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and people of all worldviews, far before this became a syncretist “trend” in liberal postmodern circles.

Imam Razvi’s legacy, apart from all the above, includes a plethora of students from various backgrounds, including professors, academics, mystic shaykhs, prolific writers and yours truly, a master student during the final years of Imam Razvi’s lifetime. With permission of Imam Razvi to continue his work and spread his teachings, our Hawza was created in 2020 and we shall be publishing a book in 2023 containing a grand portion of his religious and philosophical teachings and also a few Divine secrets, God willing.

A further biography of Seyyed Imam Razvi can be found here:

https://de.qantara.de/node/15650

From Allah we have come forth, and unto Him shall we return.

– Ebrahim Moussa Heise Sistani, May 14th, 2023.