Afghanistan’s top cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Asif Mohseni who passed away due to an illness on Monday was laid to rest in Kabul.

A huge crowd of people among them his students and people from all layers of society from all over the country took part in his funeral.

Mohseni was a distinguished figure among Shiite Marja Taqlid (sources of religious emulation).

“The complex which is founded by Grand Ayatollah Mohseni was never heirship and will not be in the future. The Khatam un Nabiyeen complex is donated and it will be under the management of the board of trustees after this,” Mohseni’s grandson Jawad Mohseni said.

“He was saying that we fought Jihad, but we couldn’t save it. I think he took a very logical decision by leaving politics and instead started teaching,” presidential candidate Shaida Mohammad Abdali said.

Mohseni’s moderate approach towards religion and politics was respected among all Afghans.

“I think one of his superiority was that he always struggled to bring a various school of thoughts together in the Muslim world,” said Iranian Ambassador to Kabul Mohammad Reza Bahrami.

Reactions to Mohseni’s Death

The demise of Ayatollah Mohseni was followed by large reactions inside and outside the country.

Mainstream Afghan politicians including President Ashraf Ghani and former President Hamid Karzai described demise a major loss for the country.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Hazrat Sheikh Mohammad Asif Mohseni, our most distinguished religious scholar, and author. His departure is a great loss for the entire nation,” Karzai tweeted.

“Late Ayatollah Mohseni had a good disposition and sobriety. He had a major command on the area of Islamic studies and made great efforts in the success of Jihad of the Afghan people. His departure is a great loss for the country and the entire Muslim world,” Ghani said in his condolence message.

“Late Ayatollah Mohseni had a special reputation among the people of Afghanistan because of his valuable services for the country and his name will be hacked as a glorious personality in the modern history of the country,” Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani said.

Iraq’s influential cleric Ayatullah al-Sayyid Ali al-Hussani al-Sistani also described Mohseni’s demise a major loss for the academic community of Afghanistan.

Mohseni was born in 1935 in the southern province of Kandahar and was widely considered to be the most powerful cleric among the Shias in Afghanistan.

Mohseni who was the founder of the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan was one of the prominent figures in the Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupation.

After the establishment of a new democratic system in Afghanistan, Mohseni left active politics and instead continued teaching Jurisprudence at Khatam-un-Nabyeen religious seminary, founded in 2001.

Mohseni pursued studies in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq under Ayatollah Abul Qasim Khoei, Muhsin al-Hakim and Abdul ala Sabzwari.