Mourners remember Muslim soldier who died in Afghanistan

2nd Lt. Mohsin Naqvi one of four killed by roadside bomb

By SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writer
Last updated: 3:46 p.m., Monday, September 22, 2008

COLONIE -- Mohsin Naqvi, a Muslim who joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and then died in an Afghanistan roadside bombing last week, was mourned by more than 100 people at a Central Avenue mosque today.

Male mourners left the prayer room at the al-Fatima Islamic Center about 20 minutes before the start of the 1 p.m. ceremony so that the female members of the mosque could pay respects to Naqvi, who was 26 years old.



The men gathered in the hall and bowed their heads in silence as wailing could be heard through the closed doors of the prayer room. Some of the women chanted Naqvi's first name.

Naqvi joined the Army shortly after the terror attacks and hoped to bridge the divide between America and the Muslim world, friends and relatives say

"Our message is we have chosen this country. We are going to live here. We are going to die here. We are going to contribute in every respect," said Haider Khwaja, the mosque's vice president.

"He has sacrificed his life for the country."

Naqvi was among four U.S. Army soldiers killed Sept. 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in eastern Afghanistan. He died during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Naqvi grew up near Newburgh. He was born in Pakistan and came to the U.S. as a young child. The second lieutenant had joined the Army Reserve near Newburgh days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and used his language skills to communicate with Afghans and reassure them about American intentions.

His wife, Raazia, lives with his sister, Tasneem Ali, in Mechanicville.

Six soldiers carried Naqvi's coffin into the mosque this afternoon as mourners filed in.

Following Muslim tradition, the soldiers all removed their shoes before carrying Naqvi's casket into the al-Fatima Islamic Center.

Once the casket was placed inside the mosque, Naqvi's brother, Hassan, 18, cried and kneeled before the coffin. The University at Albany pre-med student held his brother's military identification tags in his hands.

"He was so full of energy, so happy. I have not seen people so happy, laughing all the time," family friend and mosque President Imdad Imam said, describing Naqvi and his wife, Raazia, at their wedding three months ago.

Naqvi was deployed the next day. His funeral is being held at the same mosque where he was married.

Naqvi graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and was a prominent member of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association. His death comes during a spike in violence in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has sustained 122 deaths in 2008, more than any year since the U.S. first invaded in 2001.

Naqvi was buried in Evergreen Memorial Park in Colonie.


(Hassan Naqvi, right, is comforted by a family member as he listens to Iman Hashim Raza, left, say a prayer over the body of his brother Mohsin Naqvi )

Mourners picked up the coffin from the back of the hearse and carried it 50 yards to the grave. Following Muslim custom, they sat it down three times and passed it along the line of men.

Women sobbed as the soldier was carried to them. Soldiers fired a 21-gun salute and handed a folded American flag to Naqvi's widow.

Men reached inside the coffin to clutch the shrouded body and pray.

Family members grabbed handfuls of dirt to throw on the coffin and mourners picked up shovels to scoop up the earth.

They clutched each other as the grave was covered.


Mourners pray for fallen soldier Mohsin Naqvi at his funeral ceremony at al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie on Monday, Sept. 22.
prayer led by Imam Hashim Raza Ghadiri (From London)
(Skip Dickstein / Times Union)


Hassan Naqvi, brother of fallen soldier Mohsin Naqvi, is overcome with emotion before the funeral ceremony at al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie on Monday, Sept. 22 (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)


The coffin carrying the body of Mohsin Naqvi is carried by a U.S. Army color guard from the al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie following Naqvi's funeral on Monday, Sept. 22. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)