My father was born in 1953 in a remote village in Narowal district. He got his early education in a local government school and later moved to Lahore for higher studies. After completing his educational career, he joined Airport Security Force as an Assistant Sub Inspector and outshone himself in various activities. He had been an honest officer throughout his career and had never compromised on his principles. When he reached the age of 40, he started having some problems with his stomach and felt that it was becoming difficult for him to perform his duties to the fullest. He had a severe stomach problem, which compelled him to take early retirement from his service. Therefore, he took early retirement from ASF on the medical basis at the age of 40.
His Love for Books
My father had been an avid book reader throughout his life, and the curiousness of knowledge had always engulfed him. His love for books can be ascertained by the fact that there are more than one thousand books in his personal library, and he always advised us to ponder over quality books. After retirement, he decided to further his educational career and, subsequently, did his Masters in Political Sciences.
His Exposure with School and Colleges
My father wanted to establish an educational institute where he could inculcate profound teaching to young minds. It would also have proved a source of income, so he went ahead with his plan of establishing a school. I still remember that he used to exempt certain students from school fees because of the difficult financial situation of the families of those students. He also used to confer gifts and toys to those children who would wear neat and clean clothes. He was also very interested in keeping the streets of town clean, and for this purpose, he, along with his students, used to clean the streets by himself on a weekly basis. All of his students were impressed by his humbleness and his desire to sacrifice for the well being of others.
Unfortunately, circumstances did not allow him to carry on with his dream of an educational institution, and he had to close the school just after some years of its establishment. He then started doing a job as an English teacher in different schools and colleges. He was also the teacher at Syed Modoodi Institute, aka Mansoorah Degree College. Meanwhile, his health was coming to rock bottom, and it was becoming extremely difficult for him to teach the students. Keeping the condition of health in his mind, he resigned from the job of Teacher at Syed Modudi Institute at the age of 60 and started living a relaxed life.
His love for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
During his critical health, he often used to pray to Allah that he only wanted to live till the age of 63 years because 63 years was the age of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) when he left this mortal world. His love for the Prophet PBUH was such that he did not want to live more than him. On this particular prayer, we used to argue with him vociferously and countered his arguments by saying that we wanted to see you alive for hundreds of years. But he never listened to us and kept praying to Allah for the lifespan of 63 years. So in 2017, after reaching the age of 63, Allah had accepted his prayer, and subsequently, he died on 12 March 2017 at the age of 63.
His remarkable services for the development of our town
After taking retirement from ASF, my father permanently shifted to Lahore and bought his own property here. At that time, there were only two to three houses, and there was no facility of gas, electricity, or sewerage in our town. Nobody was interested in the development of this backward area, and people did not even have an urge to buy a piece of land in this isolated land. It was he who initiated certain efforts to develop our area by the integration of electricity and gas. He then established a local Town Society whose main task was to resolve the matters of people. It was due to that Town Society that our town saw the rays of development and therefore, problems of electricity and gas had been resolved.
He was also responsible for naming and numbering of the streets and houses of our town. Initially, our town did not have any name, so he with the suggestions of other people named our town Ittihad Park(Park of Unity). The name was later changed to Ibrar Shaheed Street when a young boy named Abrar sacrificed his life for the protection of our town. He was killed by robbers during his duty, and naming of our town after him was basically a tribute to him by us.
My father is still being hailed as the most hardworking and punctual social worker who did everything to preserve the rights of the people of the town.
His obsession with the poetry of Allama Iqbal
My father was the passionate and enthusiastic reader of the poetry of Allama Iqbal. He wanted to see the traits of Shaheen (Eagle) in us. He was so obsessed with the philosophical poetry of Iqbal that he used to sing the Persian and Urdu couplets of Allama Iqbal after praying for the Fajr. It was also the wake-up call for us, given the fact that we used to sleep tight even after Fajr prayer. So basically, he wanted to do the same thing to us what Allama Iqbal had done to the sleeping Muslims of the subcontinent.
He never missed an opportunity to visit the functions being held on Iqbal day and Pakistan day at Alhamra Hall or Aiwan e Iqbal. He was a true patriot whose role models were Allama Iqbal and Dr. Israr.
His utilization in the establishment of Mosque
Initially, our town was not developed, and there was not a single mosque nearby where Muslims of our town could pray. My father, with the collaboration of one of his friends, decided to build a mosque in our town, and auspiciously, an old woman decided to allocate her land for the mosque. She devoted her land and solved the problem of building the mosque. Construction started, and just after one year, a functional mosque had been established. My father was responsible for financial aspects, and it was his job to pay the salaries of Imam and other mosque employees. My mother often tells us that due to the shortage of funds by the general public, father used to pay the salary of Imam through his own pension, which he would receive from ASF. He was also very active on the matters of the mosque, and due to his relentless efforts in serving the mosque, people still pray for him and say that the development of mosque would not have been possible if he did not pay attention to it.
His final years
In 2015, he had been diagnosed with TB. This disease became very hard for him to curtail because he was also suffering from severe stomach problems. When someone suffers from TB, doctors advise the patient to improve dietary plans and consume more nutritious and proteins. They also suggest eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. But it was not possible for my father to consume a large number of fruits given his already deteriorated stomach. His stomach was not able to digest even simple foods, and he had been very careful and vigilant throughout his life about consuming food. So doctors gave some medicine and recommended some important instructions for him. He was regular in taking medicines of TB, but due to a low diet, those medicines proved detrimental for his lungs. Although he had recovered from TB, the perpetual consumption of medicine put catastrophic fibrosis on his lungs. Just after some months of his recovery from the TB, he started having problems while breathing. We took his health very seriously and got him admitted to a private hospital. There he felt a dramatic improvement in his health, and he once again became hopeful for living an energetic life. But his hopes immediately faded when once again, he started feeling problems with his lungs as well as stomach. We took him to many reputable Doctors, but all of them had told us that pulmonary fibrosis had inflicted his lungs badly and that there was no coming back. It was the most horrible and frightening news for us as all the doctors had told us that he would only be able to live for 6 to 7 weeks. During his final weeks, he suddenly stopped talking, and his voice became very dim. We once again took him to a private hospital, and the management of the hospital decided to admit him. They provided him a separate room where all medical equipment was available. Doctors tried their best to save his life, but they could not have gone against the striking order of Allah. He died on 12 March 2017 around 11:00 AM. His funeral was held after Ishaa prayer the same day. More than 2000 people attended his funeral.
My tribute to my father
He was the most important person for all of our family. He injected profound teachings into our souls, and we will always try to keep his legacy alive. My father was a person who had invested all his resources and time for the humble cultivation of his children. He was the person who felt the utmost pleasure in helping others. He used to conduct a family meeting on a weekly basis and tell us that all of you would remember me after my departure from this world. He was also a regular diary geek, and we have plenty of his diaries in which his whole life has been saved. He has mentioned everything that had happened to him in his diaries. If I had to choose between meeting my father again and all the worldly gains, I would choose the former. He will always live with us in the form of his teachings, and we will continue to propagate his messages and accomplish his missions.
May Allah shower His countless blessings on his grave, and may he acquire the highest place in Jannah. I also pray to Allah to ignore his sins if he had committed any and give us the strength to fulfill his unfinished missionary work. Ameen.
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