Noted Islamic Scholar and khateeb of Mecca Masjid, Maulana Haafiz Qari Alhaaj Abdullah Quraishi Al –Azhari passed away after a prolonged illness on Tuesday. He was 80. The namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers) will be held at Mecca Masjid at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The burial will take place at Dargah Abdullah Shah Sahab situated at Misrigunj in old city.
Moulana Quraishi was khateeb (one who delivers sermons) of Mecca Masjid for almost 25 years and delivered the sermons in Arabic during the Friday prayers. In the month of Ramzan, people from across the city came and offered ‘taraweeh’ at the Mecca Masjid, where Moulana Quraishi led the prayers.
He had completed his Fazil course from Jamia Nizamia and graduated from Nagpur University. He did M. Phil on ‘Dawatul Islamia Al Maasirah Fil Hind’. Moulana Quraishi studied ‘Qirat’ (method of recitation of Quran) at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, for eight years, where he learnt Qirat from Sheikh Ibrahim Awad. He was also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Nizamia seminary in the old city for a long time.
On coming to know about his demise, a string of personalities, including senior government officials, politicians and Islamic scholars visited his residence at Panch Mohalla, Charminar, and offered condolences. On behalf of the government, Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali offered condolences. Majlis legislator Ahmed Pasha Quadri and party MLAs also visited the house and offered condolences to the family members.
In a statement, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed grief over the demise of Moulana Abdullah Quraishi.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana TDP president L. Ramana also condoled Moulana Abdullah Quraishi.
