Roohul Millat, Agha Roohi (Hujjatul Islam) Syed Ali Nasir Saeed Abaqati

Early Life

Born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, into the renowned Abaqati (Musavi) family whose ancestral town is Kintoor in Barabanki district. His father was Saeed-ul-Millat Syed Mohammad Saeed and his grandfather was Syed Nasir-ul-Millat, both respected scholars of Lucknow. The family traces its lineage to the Prophet Muhammad through Imam Musa al-Kazim, hence the designation 'Musavi'.

Syed Ali Nasir Saeed Abaqati Musavi, popularly honoured as 'Roohul Millat' and 'Agha Roohi', is a contemporary Twelver Shia cleric and majlis orator based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He belongs to the celebrated Abaqati family of scholars, descendants of the Kintoor lineage in Barabanki district, which is connected to Syed Mir Hamid Hussain Musavi, author of the monumental polemical work 'Abaqat al-Anwar fi Imamat al-A'immat al-Athar', a book held in high regard among Twelver Shia scholars worldwide. The family designation 'Musavi' reflects its claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad through the seventh Imam, Musa al-Kazim. He is the son of Saeed-ul-Millat Syed Mohammad Saeed and the grandson of Syed Nasir-ul-Millat, both of whom were respected religious figures of Lucknow in their own lifetimes. Raised within this scholarly household, he continued the family's tradition of religious leadership and public preaching in one of the most important historical centres of Shia learning and Azadari in the Indian subcontinent. Agha Roohi is best known as a powerful orator who delivers majalis commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husayn ibn Ali and the events of Karbala. He is especially associated with the ten-day Ashra-e-Majalis during the month of Muharram, which he has long addressed at the historic Imambara Afzal Mahal and at the Shia PG College in Lucknow. His forceful style and defence of Shia beliefs earned him popular epithets in the local community. Beyond the pulpit, he has been active in community and civic affairs. In 1993 he served as president of the All India Shia Husaini Council. He also served on the governing board of Shia College, Lucknow, from which he was removed in 2006. Over the years he has participated in public demonstrations and statements on issues affecting the Shia community and wider Indian society, including protests against terrorism and against the killing of pilgrims at Shia shrines by ISIS in 2014. His family remains prominent in Lucknow's religious life. His elder son, Maulana Syed Abbas Nasir Saeed Abaqati (born 1986), pursued advanced studies in Shia theology and became known for going to Iraq during the 2014 conflict; his younger son is Syed Murtaza Nasir Saeed. Today, Agha Roohi's majalis reach a wide audience through recordings distributed on his dedicated YouTube channel and other social media, keeping him among the recognisable voices of the Lucknow tradition of Azadari and Shia oratory. Reliable public sources do not record his exact year of birth, and he is listed as living.