Sheikh Fareed's funeral to be held in Malaysia

Islamic scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed's funeral is to be held in Malaysia.

Fareed's family first attempted to bring his body to Maldives to hold his funeral here. However, the family said that they had decided to hold the funeral in Malaysia instead as transferring the body to Maldives required a post mortem to be conducted first.

Fareed had travelled to Malaysia yesterday to attend a conference. While still at the airport in Malaysia, he had collapsed, and first aid was administered. However, he was pronounced dead a short while later.

Fareed is a well known local scholar, who delivered numerous popular religious sermons. He was also active in the reform movement, and had been amongst those arrested during the August 12/13 demonstrations.

He advocated for the Islamic right to freedom of speech and discussion.

Fareed was also an active member of Maldivian Democratic Party when it was first formed, and had also been a leading figure in the party's Islamic Discussion Majlis.