Scholar of Riyadha Mosque & Islamic Centre

Sayyid Hussein was born on the 25th June, 1933 in Lamu. His first Qur’an teachers were:

  • Al-Habib Umar bin Alwy Al -Aideed
    • and
  • Al-Hafidh Ali Swabu El-Famawy

Sayyid Hussein also studied Islamic sciences at the famous Najaah Islamic School of Lamu under His brothers:

  • Sayyid Ali Badawy
    • and
  • Shariff Abdulrahman Khitamy
His other teachers at the Islamic School were:
  • Sheikh Abdallah Khamis
    • and
  • Sheikh Muhammad bin Sheikh Al-Waely
Sayyid Hussein’s exemplary character, knowledge and experiences earned him a place at Najaah Islamic school as a teacher. In the year 1950, Sayyid Hussein travelled to Dar-es-Salaam , Tanzania where he dwelt in Islamic propagation and academic activities. ctivities. With the help of his younger brother Sayyid Ahmad Ahmad Badawy (Mwenye Baba), they opened a very successful Islamic School in Dar-esSalaam which they named Madrastul Badawiyah.

Sayyid Hussein’s rise in fame and recognition made the political elites of Dar-es-Salaam very uncomfortable with him. Thus, he was forced to migrate to Zanzibar where he stayed for a few years while continuing with Propagation of Islam and engaging his subjects to Academic activities. During the Zanzibar revolution of 1964, he was again forced to move to another town which is known as Aruwa in northern Uganda. In Aruwa, he initiated an Islamic School and also involved himself in some business activities. As if destiny had conspired to associate Sayyid Hussein’s life with revolutions, coincidentally, another Ugandan coup made him again to shift his camp and this time to Congo – Zaire. There, he started afresh by building another Madrasa . His tentacles of Islamic da’wah activities spread to the neighboring country of Rwanda where he constructed a Mosque and named it Masjid Badawy.In 1981, he spent a year in the Sudan as a teacher.

After much travelling and tremendous Da’wah activities across all East and Central Africa, Sayyid Hussein, finally decided to settle at Lamu. But as the famous saying goes that “an Islamic teacher has no leave nor retirement”, in 1995 a delegation from the town of Lushoto in Tanzania requested him to head their newly opened Islamic centre. Sayyid Hussein Badawy accepted the request and moved to Lushoto where he still lives to date. However, Sayyid Hussein, due to his dedication toward da’wah activities, frequently makes visits Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, Aruwa,Kigali and Lamu to supervise his many scattered projects on madrasas and related Islamic centers.

Upon the demise of his brother Shariff Khitamy, who was the head of Riyadha Mosque prior to his death in 2005, Sayyid Hussein Badawy, by virtue of being the Eldest descendant of the Habib Swaleh’s family, became the head of the Riyadha Mosque and all its Affiliated Institutions.

Sayyid Hussein was recognized as being a very humble servant of Islam and was blessed with an extraordinary beautiful voice. His anasheeds and qaswaids (islamic poems and songs) are well known across the Globe. He preferred to be called Khaadimul Maqam instead of Swahibul Maqam the common title of the head of Riyadha Mosque.

Sayyid Hussein Badawy was the Head of several institutions including;

  • Riyadha Mosque & Islamic Centre,Lamu-Kenya
and the Islamic centers of:
  • Lushoto,Tanzania
  • Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania
    • and
  • Aruwa,Uganda