Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi (Urdu: سید محمد رضوی; born 1957) is an Indian-Canadian Islamic scholar, author, and speaker. He serves as the Chief Imam of the Jaffari Community Centre in Toronto, where he oversees its religious and educational activities.^[1][2]

Rizvi was born in 1957 in Bihar, India, into a family with a historical tradition of Islamic scholarship. His father was Allamah Sayyid Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi, a Twelver Shi'a scholar who promoted Islam in East Africa.^[3][4]

At the age of fifteen, he moved to Qom, Iran, to pursue advanced Islamic studies at the Hawza-e 'Ilmiyya,^[1]{{ one of the leading seminaries in the Shia Muslim tradition.^{[5][failed verification]} Over the next decade, he progressed through various levels of Islamic jurisprudence, theology, and philosophy, eventually attending the classes (Dars-e Kharij) of Grand Ayatollah Wahid Khurasani, the head of the seminary.^{[6][non-primary source needed][7][non-primary source needed][8]}

In 1991, Rizvi moved to Toronto to take up a leadership role at the Islamic Education and Information Centre.^[9]

Since 1996, Rizvi has served as the Resident 'Alim and Chief Imam of the Jaffari Community Centre in Toronto, where he provides religious guidance, delivers weekly sermons, and oversees communal educational initiatives.^[10][11] Rizvi currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Council of Shia Muslim Scholars of North America.^[12]

In 1999, he participated in a multifaith initiative featured in the Toronto Star, alongside Rabbi Michael Stroh and Zoroastrian Mobad Nozer Kotwal, to support Toronto’s Out of the Cold program, which provided shelter and meals to the homeless during the winter months.^[13][14]

In 2019, Rizvi cited the Apollo 11 moon landing to support the physical premise of Prophet Muhammad’s night journey (Mi'raj), equating its denial with rejecting the Mi'raj.^[15]

In 2012, Rizvi and the JCC were investigated by the York Regional Police for potential hate crimes related to his writings. These writings, available on the mosque's website, described homosexuality as a "moral disorder" and a "corruption," concluding that homosexual individuals should be "purified." The investigation was initiated after concerns were raised about the nature of this content. However, no charges were filed against Rizvi, as the police concluded that his writings did not constitute hate speech under Canadian law.^[16]

• Rizvi, Muhammad (1984). An Explanatory Translation of the Qurʼ̄an.
• Rizvi, Muhammad (1990). Marriage and Morals in Islam.
• Rizvi, Muhammad (1999). Shí‘ism: Imāmate & Wilāyat. Al-Ma‘ãrif Publications.
• Rizvi, Muhammad (2007). Business Ethics in Islam. Al-Ma‘ãrif Publications.
• Rizvi, Muhammad (2004). "Islam: Faith, Practice & History".

• Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi | Al-Islam.org
• Resident 'Alim and Assistants | Jaffari Community Centre
• Lectures | Jaffari Community Centre