The President’s Office has on Tuesday publicized a message conveying condolences to the family of the late Dr. Majeed Abdul Bari, Maldives' first minister of Islamic Affairs.

While the President’s Office did not reveal any details of what incumbent President Abdulla Yameen said in his message to the family, it did confirm it.

“President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom conveyed his condolences to the family of Former Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari, upon his passing” the President’s Office said.

Majeed had been a senior member of the opposition aligned Adhaalath Party and was a staunch critic of the government. 

The former minister suffered a sudden stroke while in Sri Lanka last Firday. His health deteriorated drastically and was breathing through a ventilator during the days before his death on Tuesday.

Majeed was the first Maldivian to earn a doctorate in Quranic Tafseer, a branch of Islamic academia that has to do with intepretation of religious texts, and one of the country’s most trusted scholars.