President Ruto mourns Jamia Mosque Imam Sheikh Swalihu

President William Ruto has mourned Jamia Mosque Imam, Sheikh Muhammad Swalihu who passed away on Tuesday after battling cancer. Sheikh Swalihu was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon at the Kariokor Muslim cemetery in Nairobi.

In a Twitter post, President Ruto passed condolences to the Muslim faithful and the Jamia Mosque community for the loss of Sheikh Swalihu and prayed that God may grant them comfort at this painful time.

The death announcement was made through Jamia Mosque’s official Twitter account. The late sheikh Swalihu had served as Imam at the Jamia Mosque for 27 years. He was a Muslim scholar of great repute in the entire east african region.

He was known for his da’wah activities and mentoring of hundreds of young Muslim scholars in the Coast and Nairobi Regions respectively.

In his tribute, the Jamia Mosque secretary general Abdul Bari Hamid described him as an illustrious scholar whose contribution to promoting a better understanding of Islam will always be remembered.

Sheikh Muhammad Osman the chairman of Jamia Mosque Committee praised Sheikh Swalihu as a charismatic scholar who went out of his way to promote the correct knowledge of Islam and was instrumental in debunking deviant practices and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims.

The lake Sheikh Muhammad Swalihu who also served as Assistant Registrar of Islamic Marriage, was born in 1949 in Lamu.