A mosque will be built in Maldives in memory of Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed, a renowned religious scholar who passed away in Malaysia earlier this week.
Sheikh Fareed collapsed at a Malaysian airport while attending a meeting and died shortly after being taken to hospital.
The NGO where Sheikh Fareed had been actively involved in religious outreach and awareness work initially launched a fundraising campaign to build a mosque in Bangladesh in his memory.
The MVR 700,000 needed for the project was raised in under 24 hours after donations opened to the public.
The organization has now announced plans to construct a mosque in Maldives as well, citing continued financial contributions from the public.
The opportunity remains open for those wishing to contribute to the new project.
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. He was buried after noon prayers yesterday.
Although the burial took place in Malaysia, Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has announced that funeral prayers in absentia will be held at mosques across Maldives after Friday prayers.
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.
