A tribute to two heroes

Jan 26, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor

The recent passing to the great beyond of two very endearing elders of the Muslim community in Guyana heralds a bitter-sweet tribute on their behalf.

Ayube Hamid and Shafeeq Khan were leaders, both in the public domain and the religious arena, known equally in the mainstream Guyanese households as darlings of God and humanity.

Their passing away evokes a sense of loss — the bitter and the sweet — the satisfaction in knowing they have lived well and are worth every iota of the final rest Heaven promises of such noble souls.

Uncle Ayube, among the many characteristics that many remember, and those that I happen to witness, was his passion to treat everyone that came into his interactive world with a sense of belonging and respect.

Of course, being a broadcaster and later a TV host, he satisfied this truth and accentuated this exemplary model for a leader when he would put his hands around you and loudly whisper words of advice or simply answer your request.

Maybe Obama’s phenomenal win, a victory against racial overtures everywhere, at the time of us missing Hajji Hamid, is simply symbolic that this trait will continue to live and be globalised in another — for God works mysteriously.

Shafeek, Imam of Anna Regina, remains an icon of so many young people around the world as he travelled widely, spreading the word with a passion and eloquence unmatched.

Having been an ardent activist of the Ethnic Relations campaign against violent racialism, he displayed that sense of equananimous regard for all elements of spirituality, while forging his own personal beliefs to the loftiest pinnacles of sainthood — an involuntary award of a Wali.

The ceasefire last week, allowing Gazans to breathe a little easier, seems to divinely imply, if you may allow this parlance of sincere altruism, that when one so dedicated to peace and justice moves on and leaves with such an ever present prayer of sincere ceasefire, then his soul is heard before he expires, and the manifestation of such a deep-seated wish for a more loving world wakes up, even if in another part of the global family. I wish them well in the journey to the next world, and pray for the wherewithal of endurance to be bestowed on their loved ones.

When death arrives, it’s only because of years of toiling on the altar of righteousness that eulogies will be allowed to be written and prayers to be sounded with such wide sweeping outreaches; nothing more, nothing less.

And yes, you can!

Habeeb Alli