There were only a few minutes to one when I heard a stranger's voice on my mobile phone. The speaker seemed to be full of apprehension, agony and terror as he said in a trembling voice. "Jamia Al-Rasheed's van has had an accident. Come quickly." The stranger had found my cell number on a card in one of the victim's pockets. I at once notified the Jamia authorities and within minutes an ambulance had arrived. The distance hadn't been more than a furlong! It was a horrifying scene. On the road passing through a settlement, a brand new double-cabin Hilux traveling at 160mils per hour had rammed into the fragile Hi-roof and torn it to pieces.
In our beloved country the cheapest commodity is human life. A person is burnt alive, another one's body is riddled with bullets and yet someone else is crushed to death hy racing mini-buses, cars and trucks. There is usually a violent demonstration when such accidents occur ___ cars and buses are torched buildings are set afire, some more lives are lost and then life back into its usual routine. Accidents and demonstrations go band in hand. Neither is there a decrease in accidents nor in the violent protests that follow. Yet the family and spiritual survivors of the people who had become shaheed or wounded in this particular accident, believed neither in going up obeying an order of Shariah. The habit of following the happy mean is so ingrained in their natures that emotions are not allowed to rule over sense and sense does not turn emotions into a useless limb. For it is truly the characteristic of a Mumin that he proves to be as hard as iron in the battle field but s soft as silk in his daily life. When such emotion-inflaming accidents take place it is then that people are tested and if they are not strong deep down inside them, then the contradictions in their nature, between word and deed come to the surface and are there for everyone to see.At a distance of about 100km. from the Ahsanabad Police Post, the crushed and broken van, the splattered blood, the bodies of the shaheed, the torn and bleeding forms of the wounded provided enough reason for blocking roads, pelting stones at vehicles, and creating an uproar but nothing of the sort happened. No one picked up a stone or a stick; there was no baton-charge or police-firing. Those who say madaris are breeding grounds of terrorists should think that had such a school or college van met with such an accident would there have been such silence, such peace? Oh no. Dozens of cars, buses would have been torched, people would have been killed; roads would have been blocked by the raging protestors. And then the demands of the protestors would have been gladly met by the stiff-necked higher-ups. Intoxicated with power, wealth , a brand new, expensive car and perhaps with wine, little did the owner know that he had not killed just some people but crushed to death the living symbols of knowledge magnanimity and sincerity honesty and nobleness.
Among those who met shahada was the shariah-obeying, saum and salat-observing, god-maunered driver, Nasrullah Khan who had come from Waziristan to Karachi in search of halaal income. His friends were witness to his integrity, honesty dealings and pokite manners. They knew how hard-working he was too. Lucky was he indeed that the last moments of his life were spent in serving the anle-ilm.
The second shaheed was the young alim-i-deen, Maulana Ayaz Kashir who, after receiving his passing-out degree from Jamia-Farooqia had joined Jamia Al-Rasheed a year ago. Good humored, intelligent, quick-witted, affable, hard working and a loving young man, he had chosen the field of journalism from all the other options of teaching, oratory and imamat etc. He had begun writing columns in the 'Daily Islam' along with helping in the compilation of the editorial page. The responsibility of Sindh Magazine lay on his shoulders too and he was always found busy in trying to make it better and better. In his opinion I was a good writer and he often asked me to write for the Sindh Magazine also but how could I till him that the articles I was already writing demanded too much of my time. Moulana Ayaz Kashir, though a young man was an excellent judge of character. He knew the art of conversation and how to talk to a person according to his age, rank, position, nature and psychology. Mufti Muhammad sahib (his paternal uncle) told me that the shaheed had taken a lot of his responsibities upon his shoulders leaving him calm and free. Playing the host to guests, taking them to meet their relations, serving them in every possible way was if a part of his duties.
Among the group of shuhad was enviable, worthy-of-honour and respect, alim-i-deen also who was known as Mufti Amir Tabba. Allah Ta`ala had not only blessed him with outer beauty but with an inner radiance too. In fact his physical beauty was but a reflection of his spiritual loveliness, He spent fifteen years of his life squiring education in a single madresah among companions who had different languages yet al of his teachers and friends have nothing but words of praise for him. Never once in all the fifteen years did he have ever an attraction, let alone a fight, with any one of this friends or class mates. His face had a captivating innocence about it and always wore an enchabnting smile. The smile was still there dancing on his lips when, wearing a whiter shroud, he was embarking on his last journey. There was no duplicity about him, no affectation. He was a truly self-less person. He affectation. He was a truly self-less person. He looked as if he was just a student while in reality he was a distinguished mufti. In the worldly seuse he belonged to a family that is among the wealthiest in the country, yet his speech, dress, manners. Never indicated that he was the beloved only son of an extremely rich parents. He was so young that anyone looking at him would never have guessed that he was the patron of l-Madina Trust, Chairman of Suffah society and future Sheikh-ul-Hadith of Jamiah Al-Rasheed. How vast was his religious knowledge, how deep his insight, how fuly convesant be was witrh masa-il can be judged by the fact that he was before his shahada, shariah-relared questions of people on the plone in the manner o fMufti-i-Azam, Hazrat -i-wala, Mufti Rasheed Ahmad sahib (rahmatullah alaihe) A distinctive quality of the group of devotees to which Maulana Amir belonged is their deep respect for their teachers. This inspires of being a notable teacher and mufti he considered it an honor to serve and respect his teachers for he knew that in it lay a reward in Aakkirah. His love of knowledge knew no bounds and be studied with full concentration and he studied with full concentration and peace so much so that it seemed as if he had no other interest at all. He was devoted to pen, paper, book, madrasah, khanqah and masjid. He never know what is was to give up his mamulaat even for a single day.
A few months ago, one of Jamia's vans had been the target of a remote control bomb. One of the passengers had met shahada while the others had been badly injured. Maulana Amir was an eye-witness to the horrifying scene as his car had been following the targeted one. A burning anger and restlessuess had swept through the tortured cries of the wounded ones had distracted everyone from their studies but not so Maulana Amir. He had not allowed the accident to disrupt his routine. He had taken the classes as usual and answered masa-il on the phone. It was due to his unwavering interest in books and knowledge that he had reached a position within a few years that others cannot affair in many. It was due to these distinguished qualities of his that the management of Jamiah had chosen him for the post of sheikh ul Hadith. Had he lived, he would have graced the exalted post next year and been among the selected few sheikhul Hadith who in the lives of their teachers had achieved such a high rank, at such a young age, of such a vast Jamia.
It would come as a surprise for the readers to know that when he was a student, Moulana Amir used to repeat each an every word of his lessons to his sister on the phone who was as eager to gain religious knowledge as he himself was. Today she is among the numbered few whom Allah Ta`ala has she can pronounce verdicts i.e. issue fatawa. This feat of Muolana Amir's indicates his unparalleled memory as learned in religious knowledge as he himself was. Not only did be want them to learn but also act upon what they had learned. And how successful he was! When women arrived at his house to offer condolence they expected his mother and sisters to be besides themselves with grief, to have lost their senses in their anguish and sorrow but they were astonished to fid that it was not so. There was neither lack of control, nor lamentations; instead a state of quiet submission was offering them comfort instead. Every member of his house was resigned to the will of Allah Ta`ala. Their unmatched patience and resignation deeply moved those who had come to offer comfort and solace. They were told that Maulana Amir used to exercise such rigid control upon his emotions that he had never in his life raised his voice to his parents or sisters never said a hard word to his wife or children. Mufri Muhammad Amir was such a person that the more one knew him the more one fell in love with him. The person who had been blessed with such noble qualities, his death should have been noble too and what is nobler than the death of a shaheed?
Along with the shuhada it is necessary to mention those who were injured too. One of then, Maulana Sultan Alam sahib's is lying in hospital with a sheet of wounds covering his entire body. He was the favourite of Hazrat-i-wala Mufti Rasheed Ahmad (rehmatullah `alaihe) one of his special attendants and close to under his imamat many times during last will of Hazrat-i-wala. According to last will of Hazrat, it was Maulane Sultan who led his funeral salat. And when Hazrat was too ill to deliver the wa`az, Maulana sultan used to read out the printed mawa-iz of Hazrat in a clear, precise too keeping in view all the rules of reacing. A special style of dress and imamah are his distinguishing marks. Besides other subjects, he is especially skilled in Geography and Astronomy. His teachers say that there is perhaps no one else in all the madaris of Pakistan who has such a grip on the too subjects as Maulana Sultan does. In fact where astronomy is concerned, Hazrat who had unmatched skill in the subject, had some doubts about certain aspects but Maulana Sultan has solved them too. When such an intelligent, string and active mujahid is seen lying motionless on the bed, covered in wounds from head to toe, a person's heart breaks into a thousand pieces.
Ahnan Sohail is the other survivor of the crush. A student of Kuly-al-Sharaiyah, as handsome as a prince, tall and strong Adnan Sohail had spurned a salary of RS 150,000 per month in Britain to come to Karachi to acquire religions knowledge. He got married only a few months ago. May Allah Ta`ala keep the shubada under the shade of his blessings and bestow full recovery and a long life upon the injured, Aameen.
