Sunday Times 2
Hameed: True to his name, his life was praiseworthy
View(s):When he was living, he touched our hearts. When he is dead, he refuses to leave our hearts. Winning our hearts with his acts of benevolence and his willingness to walk the extra mile for humanity’s sake and its wellbeing, Hameed Abdul Karim, the noble friend of many, died of a heart attack at Mina in the sacred city of Makkah last Saturday, two days after the tragedy in which more than 700 pilgrims died.
Hameed Abdul Karim: A warrior writer
Death embraced him while he was in a state of spiritual purity; his sins forgiven after the Hajj. He died a blessed death, which Muslims long for. Saying this we console ourselves, while still struggling to come to terms with the shock.
I got to know Hameed more than 25 years ago during my visits to attend lectures at the Centre for Islamic Studies at Wellawatte. Hameed was one of the founders of this centre which was established in 1985. He had been in the forefront its activities, helping the centre to raise funds, organising lectures by world famous Islamic scholars and setting up the library and the book store.
As we regularly bumped into each other at lectures, functions and mosques, our friendship grew. I found in him good company, for he was a man of principles. He lived for justice and fought for justice. He had a dream that one day the Palestinian people carrying their national flag would cry in elation, ‘We are free, we are free — free of Israel’s oppression and occupation.” To make this dream a reality, he became a warrior – a warrior writer. His articles in defence of the Palestinians’ right to freedom appeared in many newspapers, including the Sunday Times. He was instrumental in reviving the Palestinian Solidarity Movement and, till his death last week, played a pivotal role in championing the Palestinian cause in Sri Lanka through this movement. At several international conferences, he reminded the attendees from all over the world that Sri Lanka had been a true friend of Palestine.
In one of his last articles on Palestine, Hameed, an authority on the Palestinian crisis, wrote in strong and powerful words:
“Israel had a lot of myths, but many of them have fallen by the wayside as history proved them to be utter falsehoods. However, one that Israel clings on to for dear life is the one that says the Palestinians do not recognise Israel. The question that comes to mind is ‘which Israel do they want the Palestinians to recognise? Is it the Israel the UN created in 1947? Or is it the Israel of the 1967 borders? Or is it the current Israel that has no borders? Or is it the Israel that Zionists dream of day and night, the Eretz Israel that stretches up to river Euphrates in Iraq on the one side and the river Nile on the other? And once the Israeli ambassador to Sri Lanka answers those questions, then he can tell us if Israel recognises Palestine. This is crucial to the issue, because at no stage of its history has any Israeli leader ever recognised Palestine as a state. That’s a fact.”
His commitment to social justice was seen not only in his writings but also in his activism. He was one of those who went to Hulftsdorp to protest the impeachment of the then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. A man of erudition, Hameed would show me the books that adorned his shelf and deepened his understanding of politics, history, literature and religions. If he had an extra copy of a book, he would give it to me. Otherwise, he would take the trouble to photocopy the book that I was interested in and give it to me.
Recently he gave me a call to say he was outside my office and he wanted to go for a cup of tea. We walked up to the tea kiosk on a Dimo Batta parked near my office and had two cups of tea and a Chinese roll. We talked about the change in Sri Lanka’s political landscape, the role of the social media, youth activism and ISIS, which is playing havoc in West Asia. Engrossed in our conversation, we walked towards the place where Hameed had parked his scooter. A couple of hours later, Hameed gave me a call to say we had forgotten to pay for what we ate and drank. Such was the care he took to ensure that honesty was in every drop of his blood.
Hameed promoted interfaith dialogue and believed every religion shared a universal value system. He believed in the theme unity in diversity and denounced sectarianism which divides people instead of uniting them. Whenever the Sunni-Shiite issue cropped up during conversation or whenever various Muslim groups in Sri Lanka went for each other’s jugulars, he would say, “Stick to the spirit of the religion and do good. As for your disputes, Allah will judge between you on the Day of Judgement.”
A treasure trove of jokes, he had a great sense of humour. His presence often added colour to drab gatherings. He was also a willing host. His doors were open for meetings of various social justice groups. Of course, they all enjoyed the tasty food his wife prepared.
As a youth, Hameed was handsome, a Dilip Kumar lookalike. He was an active member of the Jaycees and a keen sportsman and sports enthusiast. Born to a Memon family, he was a family man, blessed with two well-brought-up daughters.
The last time I heard from Hameed was when he called me to say he was going on Hajj. It was all organised at the last minute and he hardly had time to visit his relatives and friends — a custom which many pilgrims follow before undertaking the journey. The crane carnage had already happened. “Fee Amanillah,” I wished him safe journey, little realising that it was his journey towards his Creator.
“O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him]” – Quran: 89: 27-28.
- Ameen Izzadeen